The attention and concentration skills in a child can be improved by modifying the environmental cues which help them to sustain attention and learn better. The attention skills allow children to engage in tasks. We can also use a number of tips to enhance a child’s memory and attention.
Here are Some Tips that may help your Child Focus and Retain Better:
1. Minimize Distraction
When your child is trying to focus on an activity, minimizing environmental stimuli such as noise is a great idea. Do not talk loudly, watch television, or pace around the house when the child is sitting and doing any activity requiring mental effort. Modifying the environment by controlling the temperature, keeping the space and surrounding clean and organized will also help.
2. Give your Child Breaks
Children who struggle with attention often find it hard to do an activity in one go. Therefore, you should give your child plenty of breaks and include physical activity such as jumping or playing after half an hour of doing that activity.
You can also break the task into parts, a process called chunking. For example, if your child has mathematics homework to do and it is a long worksheet of 30 questions, break the worksheet into 3 parts of 10 questions each while giving the child a break of at least half an hour between each part.
3. Play Games Together
Playing games that require the child to focus and recall is a good idea to increase your child’s retention abilities during challenging situations in a fun way. Playing games will boost the child’s confidence and providing appreciation will encourage the child to indulge in tasks that are more challenging. For example, playing tongue twisters, dumb charades, etc.
4. Make a Routine
Prepare a routine for your child and you can make it flexible. This does not only help your child with time management but the child will know at what time, what activity has to be undertaken. It may even motivate the child to indulge in activities he/she finds boring such as doing homework because the child will know that study time is followed by playtime!
5. Encourage your Child to Take Naps
Most people are able to concentrate the best when they wake up after a sound sleep. Proper rest and sleep increase concentration levels tremendously. Hence, taking a power nap for twenty minutes sometime in the afternoon, after school, or after doing a heavy task may help the child relax and focus on things better after he/she wakes up.
Hence, by following these simple tips, you can help your child concentrate on different activities and tasks in a better way. Indulging the child and appreciating them for small achievements will motivate the child to display these behaviors again and again. This will also improve your relationship with the child.
