One of the last things to develop in a child from a mental or emotional standpoint is their attention span. The younger the child, the less amount of time they are capable of remembering, focusing and concentrating on what they are doing. Therefore, you must concentrate your efforts to improve your kid's concentration.
So that when you think your three-year-old is ignoring or disrespecting you because she didn’t pick up her toys when the two of you came home (the ones you’d told her she would need to pick up on the car ride home), you know she’s not.
She probably doesn’t remember the instruction to do so.
Working to imrpove your kid's concentration
Your child’s ability to concentrate can be maximised as far as their mental capabilities go, but to try to get more out of them that what they are capable of is a mistake.
It creates stress, frustration and feelings of failure and low self-esteem in a child. Not being able to concentrate to your expectations repeatedly makes a child feel as if there is something wrong with them.
To improve your kid's concentration to the best of their ability, though, try using these techniques:
- Limit distractions. If your child is doing homework, do not allow others to be watching television, playing or carrying on conversations in the same room.
- Make sure you aren’t expecting too much. Is the game, puzzle or activity age-appropriate?
- Is your child physically able to concentrate? Make sure their hearing, eyesight and coordination is normal.
- Play games that encourage concentration. These include matching games, simple trivia games, games such as checkers and tic-tac-toe, simple cooking, conversation between the two of you and age-appropriate reasoning and deduction activities.
- Don’t overload your child. Small children need one instruction at a time. For example, telling a two year old to put their book away is all they can really handle. To tell them to put all their toys away is concentration overload. Yes, you’re going to have to be patient and give lots of simple one-line instructions, but in the long run everyone is happier and your child’s concentration level is higher than it would be otherwise.
- When instructing your child it is important for you to maintain eye contact. Eye contact draws their focus and concentration onto you-where it should be.
- When you give your child instructions, ask them to repeat what you’ve said. By repeating what you tell them, the instructions are more deeply embedded in their minds.
- In addition to checking for vision and hearing problems, you may feel you have a need to have your child assessed to rule out learning disabilities such as dyslexia and ADHD. These conditions don’t allow a child to focus and concentrate; causing frustration for everyone involved (especially your child). But there is help for children with these and other conditions-help that allows them to focus and concentrate better than they could ever imagine.
Why you must improve your kid's concentration?
The ability for a child to concentrate is important on many levels. Therefore, your efforts to improve your kid's concentration should also be paramount.
Children who are able to focus and concentrate usually have higher self-esteems than those who can’t. The reason for this is that those who are able to concentrate are also able to complete tasks; giving them a sense of satisfaction.
Children who are able to concentrate usually do better socially. Part of this stems from the fact that those who lack the proper concentration techniques often lag behind in class. This leads to poor self-esteem and frustration. And this can lead to poor people skills.
Concentration skills don’t just happen--they have to be developed and matured. This development and maturity is in your hands. It is up to you to provide your child with the techniques they need to get the job done.
Also read: Help your kid concentrate while learning
Republished with permission from: theAsianParent Singapore