Wow, you mean it isn't automatically easy?

Sorry, that's my sarcastic streak expressing itself. A new study out of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington and the Learning and Development Lab at Georgia State University suggests that young children's learning is enhanced by their own struggle with a task, and also by observing an adult struggle with the same task. Sounds like it goes back to problem-solving. Here's a link to a description by the researchers: http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=CA44DA1E-FC09-11E0-B00E000C296BA163&aka=0
I think it's interesting, because the adolescents I teach tend to immediately give up when a task becomes or even seems the least bit difficult. I'll have to share this article with them and see how they respond. Wonder what the researcheers have observed with older children.