WELCOME

HELPING YOUR CHILD TO CONCENTRATE

In school the focus is children becoming active learners. This

includes: • Being able to Concentrate • Being able to Persevere • Being able to Co-operate • Being able to be Resilient

One of the main factors of a child being able to concentrate is distraction. A busy classroom has lots of distractions and our children need to be able to manage these. Our home has many distractions, children need to be able to manage these also. We, as parents need to be able to manage distractions.

Exercise: - Talk to your partner about when you need to concentrate what would be a distraction.

Distractions

• Positive Distractions

• Classroom normal noise

• Home normal noise

• Negative Distractions • Television • Talking on phone• Adverts coming up louder on tv• Checking facebook or other

social media • Interrupting or correcting • Not paying attention• Phone ringing • Something else being more fun

Child having to concentrate with distractions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxLk0Qwtu04

How ‘normal’ life can distract

How do we help a distracted child at home?

• Start young, sing to your toddler and look them in the eye.• Keep a calm home environment where there are periods of quiet. • Introduce the idea of an ‘inside’ voice which is quieter. If you shout to them they will

shout back to you.• Limit media distractions in your home.• Be sure there are no health issues causing the problem - have your child's vision and

hearing tested. Visit the optician and contact the school nurse for hearing• Stay positive in your child's presence.• Be "in the moment" with your child at least once every day.• Encourage eye contact• Praise your child when they are concentrating well• Be consistent! Have clear rules and reinforce them consistently• Enrol your child in an activity eg. sport to channel his/her extra energy

Sit still and listen

• Listening is a skill and this needs to be taught, lots of people do not really listen, as adults we often listen to reply and not listen to understand.

• Can you think of a time when you should have been listening to your child but your attention was elsewhere?

• So when do we want our children to listen?

What needs to be in place for our children to listen?

• An expectation that they will listen• Same Venue????? Consistency • Good eye contact• Calm low voice• Few words [not lots of explanations and reasons]• Repeated phrases• Touch and talk to gain their attention first• Limit distractions – turn of anything that has a picture or is making a noise, or move to a different room• Connect before you speak• Short instructions. • Ask them to repeat back so you know they have understood• Keep age appropriate time and do not expect to be sitting listening to you for long time• Be a good role model, children learn to listen to us when we learn to listen to them. Really listen, is their body language in

line with what they are saying. • Ignore the phone if it rings when you are speaking to your child, they will ring back. Your child may switch off permanently.

If you have to answer apologise to your child and make the call short and sweet. Don’t forget to return to them afterwards.• Be reliable, if you tell them you will be able to be with them in 10 mins make sure you are. Keep counting down the minutes

ie 5 more minutes….2 more minutes etc. so they know you are on your way and still aware of them.• Be honest. • Reduce the No’s and find the Yes.