My Thoughts on Attention Span…
“I sometimes worry about my short attention span, but not for long”(Ha!)
Our world has become fast paced, constantly moving, and scattered. Children are surrounded by media, movement and the manic busy-ness of our adult lives. So, in all this, how can children learn to develop an attention span that will serve them later in life?
One of my main goals of education from the beginning was to create ways in early childhood to sustain children’s attention span. At Wee Friends, we’ve figured out alot of things that generate long attention spans in children. A few that top our WF list of best practices are:
- Not interrupting children with unnecessary transitions.
- Allowing children to finish work at their pace without telling them to “give your friend a turn”.
- No media other than music recordings.
- Conversations with an adult to sustain play that otherwise would be over.
- Following the interests of the children.
This blog on attention span was inspired today as I watched the extended work time of two of our young 5 year old children. Kai has been deeply involved in researching, planning, building and equipping his own USS Arizona Battleship. It is unbelievable in detail and accuracy. It has been a great exercise in developing attention span as well as investigating & following through on a project. Today, Vivian joined Kai in his continued work on his battleship. With very little assistance from teachers, the two worked together for just over 2 HOURS looking at the diagrams, discussing what items to add, discussing what materials and how they would affix them, choosing colors and mediums, and then doing it. This act of attention span was more than most children can sustain at any age and more than many adults can perform. 
Here are 7 ways to foster a long attention span at home (Adapted from Janet Lansbury’s blog):
1) Minimal entertainment and stimulation. Children are creatures of habit and can become accustomed to expect entertainment rather than doing what comes naturally — occupying themselves with their surroundings. Constant stimulation leads to an exhausted parent and an easily bored, over-stimulated child.
2) No TV or videos. TV and videos are the most drastic way to undermine your child’s developing attention span because they engage and overwhelm a child’s attention rather than encouraging the child to actively flex his focus muscle. Imagine the powerful pull of the TV screen in a restaurant. You can be sitting with the most fascinating people in the world, and still you find your eyes drawn to the TV.
3) A safe, cozy “YES” place. In order to remain occupied for extended periods of time, a child must have a safe place. Children cannot play for long periods of time when they are distracted by the tension of parents worried about safety and the interruption of “NOs”.
4) Simple, open-ended toys and objects that build in complexity as they get older. Start with the simplest version of the toy or activity and build complexity as they go.
5) Observe. And don’t interrupt. Observing the way our children choose to spend their time makes us realize that they are actually doing something.
6) Give choice. Simple fact: children are more interested in the things they choose than the things we choose for them. Children who are given plenty of opportunities to focus for extended periods of time on activities they choose are better able to pay attention in situations later (like school) where activities are adult-prescribed.
7) Don’t encourage distraction. It is common practice for adults to step in and try to entertain their children. Children are interested in all aspects of their lives. They want to be included in each step of a task that involves them and be invited to participate as much as they are able and they don’t need the adult to make routine things exciting.
Some great activities to build attention span together are reading aloud, storytelling together (one starts a story and you weave it together verbally), playing board games, and drawing together.
All of this inspired by one really cool battleship! Thanks to Kai and Vivian for giving this successful moment to the Wee Friends teachers.
Tami
For breakfast we had Corn Bran and pears. For a mid morning fresh veggie snack at our water station we had pea pods. For lunch we had whole wheat PB sandwhiches, fresh broccoli and apples/pineapple. For snack we will have yogurt and granola.
A few shots from this morning:
