When teachers report to parents that their child has a short attention span or is always distracted in the class, they are often puzzled and worried as to what to do.
As it is, children between the ages of 3-5years are full of energy and low on attention-their attention keeps wandering every few seconds.
They are distracted by the smallest things in their class, from their classmates’ small plastic or tin versions of their favourite cartoon characters, or cars or “ungli ghumaake bol” tiffin—in fact anything will take their attention off their lessons.
So teachers of this age group have their hands full trying to get a class of 20- 30 tiny tots to listen to them and somehow get some teaching done.
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR CHILD’S ATTENTION SPAN
A quick real story
At a Parent-Teacher Meeting, a teacher was in conversation with the parents of twin brothers—Saurav and Gaurav(names changed).
One twin, Gaurav, was in another section. The other, Saurav was in hers.
Saurav was lively and had a cheerful, laughing expression always.
Even when the teacher would address the class, he’d keep talking to someone and this would disturb the rest of the class. This happened a lot. So she had to isolate him at times.
When the teacher shared this with the parents, they were concerned and were willing to do anything to help.
She suggested they get some activity kits that would help Saurav in gaining concentration.
His parents understood that if they teach the kid some of the lessons at home and help him do a few activity kits, their child will definitely be more curious about his education and also it will help him to concentrate better on the lessons at school.
They went ahead and bought learning kits which had games and activities about the lessons he was to learn at the school.
They used it at home with their child and saw Saurav’s performance in class and his attention span improve tremendously.
This is one of the methods that you can use to help your child improve his/her attention span, as learning kits are time taking yet interesting which help in slowly increasing the attention span of your child.
In order to develop your child’s attention span, there are a few things worth remembering:
Love & Attention:
Your child loves you and depends on you.They need you, your time and your company. At ages 3-5 your children are still very tender.
They want you and no one else. So give your child your company and your time.
Togetherness:
Do things together with your child like constructing Lego models and number learning with abacus.
This not only makes them confident and interested in learning process but also help you build a strong parent-child relationship which will last forever.
Outdoor Activities:
Create activities which involve your child-don’t ignore them. Take them to the park and play with them. Outdoor games can include kick the ball, throw and catch, hop-scotch. Your child can walk on the lines made on the cemented floor outside.
This will help them be more active and attentive in school as they already had their play time.
Indoor Activities:
Indoor activities can include finger painting, vegetable printing, making paper boats, kites etc.
There are plenty of activities that you can devise because you’ll know what your child likes.
Art & Craft is another great way – Get an art and craft kit for just Rs.300/- here.
All these activities aid in improving your child’s attention span as they require your child to be at one place and concentrate on what they are doing for quite some time,
Finally,
Choose a time when your child is ready.
Let your child play by himself while you watch.
After some time he’ll get bored and he’ll come to you. That’s the time he’ll be ready to try out something new and you can probably do an activity with him/her that kindles their curiosity into learning.
Most importantly be patient with your child.
As you spend time and listen to your child and give them attention, you’ll begin to understand them and you’ll know what works and what doesn’t with your child.
This will help you build their attention span and also your relationship with him/her.
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