“Oh dear! What must I do to increase my child’s concentration span?”
“Sit down and don’t look around. Why don’t you concentrate?”
“Stop roaming around!”
“Leave that toy and focus on your homework.”
“Your teacher says you just cannot concentrate on her lecture!”
Are these familiar questions and instructions? If yes, you, like the millions of parents out there, are struggling with trying to increase your child’s concentration. Getting your child to focus on a piece of homework or activity is no mean feat. It is said that the average attention span of a 5-year-old is about 15 minutes in an activity of their interest. The range can go up to 30 minutes to 1 hour when they almost reach teenage.
Children can concentrate better if their sitting activities like reading and listening are interspersed with some physical activity. If you ask, there are a zillion ways of improving children’s concentration that friends, family and the internet could suggest. But Talentnook always handpicks only the best of the ways to suggest to its readers.
And, hence, here we are with the top 5 methods to increase your child’s concentration immediately:
1. Get rid of the distractions
The first step in increasing your child’s concentration is this!
An average American kid, they say, spends nearly 6 years during childhood in front of screens. That is if we add up the average time spent on screens daily! Roughly this is 8 hours per day, enough to attend a second school!
So intuitive enough, the first step is to minimize screen exposure. Mark Cuban says that he makes sure phones are turned off every late evening at his home or he switches off the WiFi. If a billionaire could do so, you too must start with this tiny step.
Set an example by not checking your phone after a certain time in the evening. Spend that time participating in your child’s learning process.
Also, get rid of the following distractions:
- Loud music (switch to soothing music for better ambience for learning)
- Television (say no to binge-watching!)
- Any visual clutter of clothes, shoes, utensils, etc. in the studying area
- Old books, newspapers, toys – they are all distractions of a different kind that make kids curious
Also read: How to Make Afterschool Learning More Effective
2. Get more visual content working
It is said that 50% of our brain is involved in visual processing. Needless to say, children absorb knowledge best when it is presented visually or better still, experientially. Using visual aids more than reading or listening method of pedagogy can help instantly with increasing your child’s concentration.
Do the following to get your children to concentrate and learn more quickly in a smaller span of time:
- Use charts, diagrams, and models while teaching them a subject
- Use computer graphics, educational videos, and animations every once in a while
- Take the children to educational excursions – for example, a planetarium trip, a science park outing, etc.
- DIY models that encourage your children to build scientific models on their own and understand the working are useful
- Use of maps while teaching History and Geography can help children visualize and memorize facts a lot better
- Using video tutorials, whiteboards, etc. can all help your child focus better rather than just reading or listening to a lecture
- Encourage your child to take part in dramatics, skits and other theatre events
- Play teacher-student roleplay games. Get your child to concentrate by asking them to teach you a subject as a part of the game. Make it fun by allowing them to scold you and write a red note on your notebook!
3. Get creative with setting up timetables
As said above, children tend to concentrate better when their learning schedules alternate between sitting and physical activity.
It is for this reason that schools have a gym or a games class and a recess along with history and math periods. Use the right mix of studying, art and physical activity.
An ideal timetable for a child who must be taught how to concentrate should include the following:
- No session should be more than 30 minutes long
- Every subject-specific session should be alternated with a stroll or a small game
- Use snacking breaks as a way to break the monotony of learning a particular subject
- Objective questions could be a good way to introduce productive breaks in routine learning sessions
Get specialized tutors for the subjects you don’t feel sure about. A good tutor can bring in the right amount of activity and interesting method of teaching to the table. It makes all the difference to a child’s concentration.
Also read: 3 Signs Your Child Needs a Tutor (and how to find one)
4. Engage your child’s brain with concentration boosting games
Structuring the play routine without letting your child know is the best way to enhance concentration and memory. Video games have been touted as one way to boost focus in children. But moderation is the key. Allow for only a specific period and then alternate it with an outdoor activity.
Memory games, puzzles, chess, building blocks of certain kinds, etc. are all memory-boosting game options. The toy stores are inundated with such products and children usually respond well to them.
When it comes to cognitive exercising, crossword puzzles are a huge favorite among adults and children alike. There are many apps out there which have such puzzles tailormade for children of all age groups.
5. Get more clean and green foods to their plate
This is the last and the most important habit that goes a long way in building your child’s concentration power. Green vegetables contain many useful antioxidants and carotenoids that are directly linked to increased brain power and improved concentration.
Children often detest eating vegetables in the usual form and hence getting creative here is again important. Here are some ways you can encourage healthy eating by adding a flavorful twist to the veggies:
- Add pesto or spinach puree to pasta sauces
- Adding broccoli to soups can make it much more delicious
- Vegetables like capsicum and zucchini can be camouflaged in roasted salads
- You can also add finely chopped spring onion to cutlets or pasta or regular sandwiches (children won’t notice if it is very finely chopped)
- Make healthy juices by adding a pinch of rock salt to make them delectable
- Whip up lip-smacking avocado spreads instead of serving salted butter on bread
- Choose roasted millets over fried chips (there are also millet-based chips available)
- Swap the fries with baked potato wedges (add rosemary, oregano, and thyme as seasonings)
- Use pink salt or rock salt instead of regular salt (choose low sodium variants)
So, these were the 5 ways that are pivotal in boosting a child’s concentration. We hope you’ll try these out soon and see good results come up instantly!
If you’ve enjoyed this article, you are most likely a parent involved deeply in your child’s learning curve. Looking for a tutor to help you take your child’s learning to the next level? Look no further, Talentnook helps connect students with tutors right in their neighborhood. You can explore hundreds of convenient and valuable after school lessons for your child right here!