Month: January 2024

By Teacher Ravisara What is an Attention Span? Attention or concentration span is a child’s ability to give attention to the specific task. It requires blocking out all distractions and other stimuli – such as sound (from the room next door), visuals (things hanging in the room, or anything outside the window) or unnecessary information (text on the board, or technology).  Children at a young age often struggle to pay attention. When they receive a task which they find difficult, they often choose to give up rather than give it a go. If you notice your child regularly losing focus, here are some strategies that may help increase your child’s attention span and improve their overall performance.  Children who struggle with focusing on a specific task often do better if they are given breaks for active play in between their activities. Taking a break to bounce on an exercise ball, running & playing catch, a quick stretch, can all help the attention-challenged child stay focused. Have the child start with 15 minutes of active play before starting a task, have them take a quick 5 minute in between and have them end with an active task. This will surely help the child stay more engaged & motivated throughout.  Teach the child how to pay attention, give them a brief description of the word attention and what it means to pay attention, a visual example at this point would be great. Allow the child to practise attention behaviour. Include a timer, have a signal go off during the work period and make sure the child can mark themselves as to where they were in the activity to see if they were paying attention. This can help train the child’s brain to understand what attention is and how they are in control to disengage.  When a child struggles with a task they tend to look around at the clutter and disorganisation in the classroom. They control their brain to focus on a space in the room with the most objects. When they focus on these objects they tend to take time which removes time from participating on their actual task. Remove the unnecessary clutter and visual experiences from the area. This will allow the child to have fewer distractions from focusing on the task.  Memory isn’t all muscle, but it surely improves focus. Memory games help the child to focus in a fun way which allows them to concentrate when anything challenges them. Add memory games during the child’s free play to engage this type of muscle memory in the required space. Memory games do not have to be complicated, a simple red-green-light (placing our coloured circles and having your child match them), number matching (have them collect two of the same numbers), or i-spy (having them find an option in the area).  These activities and strategies may help your child to concentrate and focus which allows them to learn and have fewer distractions. Increasing their attention spans with puzzles, breaks, memory games & other engaging activities will help them focus better and it will equip them with the ability to have control over their brains in terms of engaging and disengaging movements. 

By Teacher Shannon Creativity, what is it and why is it important? There may be many factors that come to your mind when you think of creativity. Most people may think of artists such as painters, actors, dancers, etc., when in reality, creativity is an incredibly valuable life skill for everybody to have. It is true there are many different types of people, personalities, and creativity levels. Children tend to be more curious and creative than most adults, the question is how do we encourage children to build on this skill.  The benefits of creativity can include things such as having confidence, curiosity, problem solving skills, empathy, innovation, originality, communication skills, understanding logic as well as cause and effect. “Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others” (Franken 396). Aside from the jobs that we would typically associate with being creative such as artistic fields, creativity should also be associated with problem solving skills which are necessary for any and all jobs.  “Every Child is an artist. The Problem is how to remain an artist once they grow up” -Pablo Picasso (2) As prominent role models in a young children’s life it is important that we as parents, family members, and educators do not dismiss a child’s creativity but to encourage the growth and development of it. Some ways in which we may do this is to… All of the above suggestions are a step in the right direction and things you may already do for young children. As children continue to grow into teenagers and young adults it is also important to recognize that creativity should not be lessened as you grow older. Creativity is a lifelong skill and even adults can benefit from creativity building exercises. Next time you do an activity with your child, think about the above suggestions, how you can incorporate them into your child’s routine and maybe even your own.  References

Picture this: A 3 year old is screaming and throwing toys across the room. She slaps at her caregiver as they try to pick her up.  Is this normal or should we be concerned? We need to first understand what  “typical” or developmentally appropriate behaviour to expect from children according to their age. In general, young children experience a range of emotions which can change rapidly. As they may not yet have sufficient oral communication skills, or are simply too frustrated to find the words, they will express themselves in many different ways, including screaming, throwing and lashing out with their bodies. So, yes – it is normal for toddlers and young children to have tantrums and break rules while their language, social and emotional skills are developing, and there are things the supporting adults around them can do to try to calm these tantrums and lessen the frequency. What does challenging behaviour look like? You might see behaviour such as: What causes challenging behaviour? Some of the common triggers include: How to respond in the moment? Some long-term strategies to minimise challenging behaviours. While we may not like some of the behaviours we see in toddlers and young children it is important as adults that we have realistic expectations of how children should behave, and an understanding of what behaviour is age and developmentally appropriate. So work through the tantrums, have consistency in your long-term strategies, praise the wanted behaviour and know that as your child develops so will their behaviour!

By Teacher Shannon Starting from birth, social interaction is a large part of a child’s life. Babies are never left alone or unsupervised. Young children need the comfort of a familiar face nearby if not right next to them. This is an important part of the development of children to note as children begin to start the separation process. Having a friendly and recognizable face nearby will allow the child to feel comfortable and explore the surrounding environment stress free. The first time a child comes to school is a huge step in their development that allows them to create more familiar faces. Teaching staff and classmate’s faces will soon start to bring comfort to the child. Soon the child will even be calling everybody by their name.  Once students are comfortable with the people around them and they start to explore and play with the toys, there comes the interactions with their peers. Before starting school children have limited interactions with students their own age and need direction and language to handle situations such as sharing and taking turns. Some of the important goals for toddlers when it comes to their social development include… So as an adult what can we do to help facilitate these social interactions? Our job as adults in these social situations is to make sure children feel comfortable and to lead by example. While children are still developing their language skills and understanding of spoken language one way to lead by example is to set up a social interaction between two children. Find toys that they both seem to be interested in. For example, two children who both like to play with the dinosaurs, start to demonstrate how their dinosaurs can start to talk to each other. By showing them first how to play and interact together will give them examples and situations to copy. Young children often observe and copy adults.  You can also start to give them vocabulary around social play simply by asking questions. As students at this age are still developing the ability to communicate using their language it is helpful as an adult to come in and give some direction towards their play. Ask questions such as “What are you doing?” “What is your friend doing?” “Can you make me one?” “Can I play too?” This way the children start to connect their actions to words which will help develop their language skills as well as their ability to communicate in social situations further giving them the opportunity to start to think for themselves and develop their own creativity and imagination with their peers.  As with all areas of development it is important to have patience and not to force any child into a situation they are not comfortable with. Encourage but do not push. Give examples but do not force. Facilitate opportunities such as play dates and give students time to build social skills with one another. 

Children are coming into contact with digital media at an increasingly early age. Parents should accompany them in their media use and select offers that are suitable for children. Before the youngest children even pick up a smartphone or remote control themselves, they already see how mobile devices, laptops and televisions are used in the family – and they imitate their parents by swiping across the screens seemingly intuitively. This is where parents are particularly important as role models. Children need lots of sensory experiences, especially in the first few years of life: Smelling, tasting, hearing, seeing and feeling are fundamental to the child’s development. Young children learn about their environment through trial and error and do not need a tablet, smartphone or television to do so. However, media is a part of our environment nowadays. So how can we introduce children to media usage in a way that also protects them and does not overstimulate their senses? First, very sparingly dosed experiences with media can be exciting for babies – in moderation. They enjoy listening to noises, voices or melodies. However, this can quickly become too much and requires a sensitive approach. Once children between the ages of one and two have developed an understanding of imagery, they can distinguish digital content from real objects. Simple picture stories that are close to the child’s everyday life can now be interesting for them, as can simple movements such as tapping or swiping. In general, however, it is more important for children under the age of three to experience the real world with all their senses before they discover electronic media. After their third birthday, children can use media in a more targeted way – accompanied by their parents and to a manageable extent. Laying the foundations and setting an example Families are advised to set their own rules for media use. This also includes parents taking a close look at how they use media themselves in front of their children. Because they are under observation: the very young ones first imitate, the older ones eventually want to do what their parents (or grandparents) do. And if adults look at their smartphones every few minutes, their offspring will most likely try to do the same. As the youngest children have their first media experiences passively, it is the adults’ responsibility to keep an eye on whether the child is getting restless and to make sure they get enough breaks. Periods of rest and calm are particularly important for a young brain, which already has to process a lot of new stimuli. It is important that media does not interfere with direct interaction and distract from feeding, for example. At seven or eight months, looking at picture books together becomes interesting. Toddlers enjoy being read to by their parents or listening to simple stories and songs. Here, the media (book) is still used as a tool of interaction between the parents and their child. As parents and siblings often use media, even the youngest children’s interest is awakened at an early age. However, young children in particular need holistic experiences such as playing together as a family, exploring nature and playing sport. If parents expose their children to electronic media too early, there is a risk that these holistic experiences will be neglected and that children will be overwhelmed by the media world. Every child is different and handles media differently – even if they are the same age. Parents know their child best. They know whether they react sensitively or robustly to certain situations and observe how far they are and what they are afraid of. For the youngest children in particular, it is important that parents choose very carefully what their child watches and for how long. In this way, they create a good basis for their child’s future media use.