How to increase your child's ability to concentrate

The attention span of toddlers is low in our eyes. You start something, let it lie, start the next one. And we adults find that you finally have to finish things and stay on the ball. Is that too much?

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A study from Oregon states that children's ability to concentrate is much more important for academic success than high grades in German or math. In the long-term study, children are better off later on, who could concentrate early, and not play or work, even if they are in difficulty equal tasks. As relaxing as these results are on the one hand, they also put pressure on them - so the child has to learn to focus as early as possible. But the easiest way to achieve that is not necessarily what most parents do.

In the silence lies the concentration

If you look at children in the kindergarten during the game, you will quickly see serious differences. While some spend a few minutes on something, then throw it down and start something new, the others stay focused for a long time. Parents like to push the mentality and the temperament of the child and are certainly partly right. But there is another aspect that determines the early endurance of children.

Watching little babies in their behavior, they need and demand a lot of attention. But there are other times when they spend a few minutes - for an infant for an eternity - dealing with a thing like their feet, a sunbeam or a rattle. This undisturbed employment is the first step towards developing the ability to concentrate. If parents frequently interrupt their children, they may be promoting one thing in particular: their child's problems to stay in business later. It is better to have the child at rest and at his own pace discover and explore. Most of the children are born with a good level of concentration appropriate to their age - and we make every effort to get them off the hook.

Variety is important?

Often you read that children need a lot of variety, because the attention span is so low. As a rule of thumb, concentration is possible for a time equivalent to two times in a lifetime. That is, a three year old toddler can concentrate on one thing for about 6 minutes before it loses interest. That in turn is equivalent to: I need a break! So it does not help to give the child the next stimulus or task after this time of concentration, with the idea that it could immediately concentrate on something new. In reality, the suggestion "variety is important!" Means something different, namely that a child who has worked with his head in the context of his attention span now needs time out, just following his impulses.

Tips for more concentration

Even children who are basically able to concentrate well can have problems if the environment is not right. So that your child can calmly and concentratedly solve his tasks, you can support it as follows:

• The number one distraction reason is television or radio, and other sources of outside noise can be distracting. So create an atmosphere that makes it easy for your child to stay focused. Incidentally, this can also be quiet and unruffled background music.

• First move, then concentrate - In addition to sufficient exercise before learning, a healthy diet is also a good and nourishing work environment.

• Not too much at once! If a task becomes too complex or if the child feels too much external pressure, it can also disturb the ability to concentrate.

• Make sure that your child enjoys the fun of learning and researching. This works best if you lower your expectations and do not put pressure.

• If a task is too difficult because the child lacks previous knowledge or is overwhelmed by age, it can not concentrate. Even with disinterest for a topic, it is badly ordered. Help your child by raising interest and exploring the background or gathering information - preferably practical.

All too often, we transfer our own desires, ideas and goals to our children, and wish them the perfect skills in each area. "You should have it better!" Still haunts as a motto in many minds. We do our children a great favor if we trust them and support them in their endeavors instead of them according to our ideas