Contents
Hello! The development of concentration of attention in children is important to start as early as possible and, of course, in a playful way. To make them interesting and exciting. Then the development process will go almost imperceptibly. In a sense, without requiring titanic efforts from you and your child to withstand resistance, cope with it, and so on.
Common mistakes
Let’s first look at the mistakes that adults usually make and which do not lead to the desired results.
High expectations
Sometimes parents, having read literature on the development of children, begin to demand from them what they are not yet ready for due to their characteristics.
But the idea that they are obliged to comply with some kind of norms, schedules, and so on, happens to be so overwhelming for adults that they harm their babies more than help, so to speak, to mature. Exaggerated demands, increased workload and a demonstration of disappointment in physical and mental abilities usually do not stimulate, but rather discourage learning.
You will not be able to push the psycho-physiological maturation of your child with orders, but with the help of games and encouragement you will be able to arouse interest in the planned useful activity.
By the way, this also includes moments with a time limit. That is, when you want to do everything at once, so the baby is literally loaded with tasks, causing him to protest against the background of fatigue.
Do not forget that children are able to concentrate on something for a very short time, then it is important for them to rest, otherwise quarrels cannot be avoided. Calculate the duration of classes in such a way that they are “stepped”. For example, we train for 10 minutes, do a warm-up for 5 minutes, drink some water, and so on.
Terms
Make sure that in the room where you play, study, there is a minimum amount of extraneous noise. Turn off your mobile, TV, ask loved ones not to disturb you. Believe me, those noises to which you usually do not react can be very distracting and distracting for children.
Be condescending about mistakes, when you start doing new activities, you also don’t really understand what you should pay attention to first, how to behave, and so on. Support better, explain that at first it can be difficult for you to do something. But through perseverance and joint efforts, you can achieve the desired results and become better.
Because usually adults do not have enough patience when their child does not cope with a simple, in their opinion, task — this causes a lot of indignation.
And the idea that if you quarrel and humiliate him, then he will sharply show his talent and abilities — in fact, will lead to even more disappointment and resentment. On the contrary, you will only scare him, causing a persistent unwillingness to continue classes.
Be included in the game, and not just create the appearance of presence, chatting in parallel on social networks, watching videos, pictures … You won’t be interested — where does the baby come from?
Condition
Do not forget that after an illness, a move, even a short trip, the mental resources of a little man can be at a minimum level. Give him the opportunity to recover, because at such moments he will be absent-minded, passive.
Moreover, even the fact that he did not get enough sleep or did not eat on time can affect. Be attentive to his physiological and emotional state. When you’re not in the mood, things usually fall apart, right? So why should a child shine with success at such moments?
Games
Camera
Show a photo and ask them to look closely at it for 20 seconds. Then hide and ask him to name everything that he remembered. If it’s difficult with photos, replace it with a fragment from the cartoon.
Depending on age and skill, come up with the number of correctly named details for which he will receive a reward. Just let it be something useful, for example, a joint favorite active game, for which you usually do not have enough desire or strength.
We voice the cartoon
Also, depending on age, choose some segment from a cartoon or already a movie, let you listen to it once, and then turn off the sound and offer to voice it yourself. Trying to repeat even intonation.
It’s fun and helps develop mindfulness, and it’s completely unobtrusive, easy.
If the first time it doesn’t work out to remember the text, turn it on again. By the way, adults also participate in the process.
What has changed?
Lay out on the table or on the floor about 7 items of your choice. Toys are suitable for very young children. The task is to remember what lies in front of him, then turn away and try to describe everything that he saw. Alternatively, draw.
The parent can swap items, or even remove one of them. Then it will be necessary to say what has changed.
If over time it has become quite simple — complicate it by adding more school supplies, toys. And also reduce the length of time that was given for memorization.
Clap your hands
Agree that you will name a series of words, and the baby will have to listen to them carefully. As soon as the name of some animal is heard (in the future, at your choice, even the color or brand of the car), then he will have to clap his hands. If you didn’t have time and didn’t notice, you lost, you change places, or you just come up with a fun punishment.
Ability to distribute attention
In simple words, learn how to perform several tasks at the same time. You are reading some interesting text and at the same time tapping on the table with a pencil. The rest of the players must not only listen and remember what they heard in order to retell, but also correctly calculate how many hits there were.
Alternatively, do not retell, but answer the question that you initially ask, given the text.
The spell
For students who already know how to write, but still like to play and play, you can offer an exercise based on Harry Potter. Write a few lines of some abracadabra and ask her to rewrite it.
As if this spell allows him to create what he wanted. For example, for dinner, his favorite dish or an extra hour of board games. But if there is at least one mistake, then the spell will lose its power.
By the way, by checking the work, you will casually train your attentiveness.
Decoder
Also for younger students who can read. Let him try to decipher the message, which had to be encrypted for security reasons. Otherwise, monsters / evil agents and other negative characters, depending on their hobbies, will be the first to receive information and use it for their own purposes.
Do it this way:
“ppvl Open apro Nightstandapvl Tamay Sweetspzhv Fordshopd Youaprd Point”
I’ve highlighted the letters to show you where the word starts. It is clear that you do not need to repeat, otherwise this exercise will lose its meaning.
Recommendations
- Buy puzzles, taking into account the age and abilities of your child. Let him choose the picture he wants to collect. Help him, show him that you can sort the puzzle pieces by color into different piles to make it easier to find the right part. What to do first frame. It will serve as such a foundation from which you can build on in the future.
- The stores sell a lot of children’s magazines, newspapers and books with tasks to develop concentration. For example, “find the differences”, “find a way out of the maze”, “connect the dots”, “color along the contour” …
- If he, like most kids, is an active user of a smartphone, tablet, then instead of some shooters, download useful applications. Which will help him develop his cognitive abilities. But remember, no more than an hour a day, so as not to spoil your eyesight.
- When reading fairy tales with preschoolers, ask them to retell them to you as often as possible. Only not as: “come on, tell me, I want to check what I remember!”, But “tell mom / dad a bedtime story, I really want to listen to it before going to bed.” This technique will help motivate you to listen more carefully to the information. You can even arrange quizzes, asking questions and rewarding for each correct answer.
Completion
Finally, dear parents, I want to offer you an article that shows the most effective exercises for developing the memory of preschoolers and younger students.
Love your children, take care and be happy!
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina