No matter how talented a child may be, it really doesn’t count for much if those skills or talents aren’t put to use properly. And to effectively nurture talent, it’s incredibly important to be able to concentrate and focus.
Sadly, in the modern era, the ability to focus and pay attention are traits that seem to be becoming more and more difficult to develop in our young ones.
These days, there are so many distractions around that our kids find it so hard to concentrate on things like reading, doing their homework, or trying to learn new skills or instruments, that we parents also end up getting frustrated.
But despite how challenging it may be to develop longer attention spans in our little ones, it’s not impossible.
Here are 5 easy but effective ways you can help your child become a more focused individual in their everyday lives.
1. Make your kid’s learning environment distraction-free
To kick things off the right way, you’ll want to identify the biggest distractions present in your kid’s daily routine, and eliminate them. Different children will respond to things in a different way, and it’s your responsibility as a parent to find out what distracts your kids the most whenever concentration is required.
One easy trick you can use is to create a purpose-made space where your kid can study or read without distractions, and make sure to minimize the amount of toys or other fun stuff that can grab your kid’s attention.
You should note that screens are especially distracting. Whether it be a TV, a phone, or a computer, you should try to minimize the number of screens around your kid whenever concentration is necessary (unless they’re using a computer to learn, of course).
2. Let them fail every now and then
Caption: Learning from mistakes is one of the best ways a child can learn. (Image: Verywell Family)
One of life’s greatest teachers is failure, and it pays to let your kids stumble and make mistakes every once in a while.
When they understand why methods work and others don’t, they learn the consequences of their actions way quicker, which will prepare them for even tougher challenges later in life.
As long as it’s safe, you should always allow your kids to fail at a new task before stepping in to provide some guidance – you’ll be surprised at how much of an effective teacher failure can be.
Just be sure to reassure and comfort them during these moments, and tell them that everyone experiences failure throughout life.
3. Remember to guide them
Being stuck at home during a pandemic can cause a child to feel all sorts of emotions, most of them not so nice. So when it comes to discipline, it would be best if you used positive reinforcement on them whenever you need to instill some discipline.
Caption: Your kids will need you to guide them every now and then. (Image: Best Life)
While it’s true that kids learn from their mistakes, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t step in every now and then.
Sometimes, a problem might prove to be too difficult for your kids to solve, and you can step in with opinions or suggestions to help them solve it. But if you do, remind yourself not to give away the solution wholesale.
Instead, you can offer them steps they can take to find a solution, or explain to them how you would go about solving the problem. For example, you can break a problem into multiple parts, and tackle problematic areas one by one until they’re solved.
You should always be reminded that children are extremely fast learners, and don’t be surprised when they actually show the capability to follow your lead.
4. Get them to help you.
Caption: Allowing your kids to solve your problems will
give them a sense of accomplishment. (Image: Freepik)
Kids feel a sense of accomplishment when they solve small problems, but you can amplify this feeling by getting them to solve problems that you yourself are facing (or are pretending to face).
For instance, you can ask a toddler to help you determine how many days there are left until a family member’s birthday, so that you can plan a party. This may seem like a fairly simple task, but will prove to be a bit of a challenging math problem for pre-schoolers.
Let them try and figure out a way to break down the days in each month, and see if they come back to you with a correct figure. If they can’t figure out how to break down the days into manageable portions, step in and show them how you would do it.
5. Expose them to creative (and weird) content.
Let your little ones be exposed to magical stories that will inspire their imagination and creativity. (Image: TeleRead)
Last but not least, you should understand that creative thinking is inspired by exposure to creative things. This doesn’t only include puzzles and complex logic questions, but also stories, songs, and art that are imaginative and sometimes weird.
For example, classic fairy tales or superhero movies often break the rules and convention of logic and science, and considers many
If you give your children a chance to watch these movies or read stories that go beyond the normal, it’ll be easier for them in the future to become comfortable with out-of-the-box thinking.
The most creative thoughts can sometimes be suppressed by trying to be too logical, so even if a story or a video appears a little weird or nonsensical, you should consider that these can help your kids become more ingenious thinkers in the future.
The above are just a few things you can do to create a base on which you can rely on to help you navigate your parenting duties during the pandemic. While they won’t always turn out perfect, they can be used to form a strong base on which you can plan your parenting activities during the pandemic.
If you’re looking for more resources to help you on your journey as a parent, you can check out our blog page filled with lots of insightful parenting articles.
And if you ever need fun educational material that will help your kids become more imaginative, simply browse our store and pick from our incredible selection of entertaining and engaging children’s books!