How to Teach Your Child to Concentrate

The first thing you want to do is make your child aware of what concentration is, how to recognize the feelings he gets when he is concentrating, and how to recognize what happens when his concentration is broken.

Before you start talking to your child about these things, spend a few days observing him. Try to answer these quetions:

v  What is my child doing when he seems to be concentrating hard?

v  How long does he spend on these activities at a time?

v  How easy is it to distract him during these periods of concentration? If I speak quietly to him, does he hear me?

Once you have a basic understanding of your child's patterns of concentration, you can usefully start talking to him about it. In order to explain to your child what concentration is, first help him to recognize concentration in others:

ü  "Look at Daddy reading the paper. He looks like he is concentrating really hard! Did you see just now I asked him if he wants a coffee, and he just went "hmmm" - he can hardly hear me, because he is concentrating so hard!"

ü  "See the cat on the lawn, what's he looking at? Do you think he's after mice? See how he is concentrating all of his attention on the grass under the bush? Cats are very good hunters, because they can concentrate so well."

ü  "Look at your baby sister eating her dinner. She is still learning to use her spoon; she is concentrating very hard on getting her food in her mouth! We learn well when we are concentrating."