Pay Attention

Children under 6 years of age have very short attention spans, right? The funny thing is that American adults have about 2 minute attention spans, yet they expect their children to focus and concentrate for long periods of time. If the parent can't sit down and do math for an hour, then how does he/she expect to model it for the child, or to help them learn to focus for such long periods of time on difficult subjects? Parents must learn to focus, to pay attention, and to teach their children such self control. If your toddler gets a puzzle out, sit on the floor with them, have them take each piece out - one at a time - and set them on the floor. Next, help them match up the shapes. The toddler will probably want to get up and run, change positions, and basically wiggle their way out of the "challenge" of putting the puzzle back together. The "challenge" is the important part and most parents give up rather than try to teach the toddler to focus, pay attention, and complete what he/she started. So, what would the parent be teaching if he/she consistently worked with the child to complete tasks? What do you do and what are you teaching yourself and your child(ren)?