“Are you a busy professional or a full-time homemaker struggling to keep your child focused in a digitally advanced world?”
Then this article is for you!
Children are high-energy beings who enjoy jumping from one task to another. They are naturally curious, constantly seeking new things to discover, learn and experiment with. However, they often feel constrained by the limited time in a day to explore everything they desire. They gradually increase their attention span as they age, although it varies from child to child.
Observing and allowing your children to naturally develop focus and sustained attention is essential. Simultaneously, it is beneficial to establish a suitable environment for them to grow into it. Creating the right space doesn’t necessarily require out-of-the-box techniques. It simply involves channeling the energy you already spend in your daily life towards enhancing your child’s attention span.
Strategies for Succeeding Through Punctuality in Education
Not only children but also parents find themselves at a crossroads navigating a world that has forgotten deep focus. Struggling to find a balance while fulfilling the demands of the modern world makes it challenging for you to serve as strong role models for your children.
Following is a short exercise to help you experience how limited focus has engulfed lives:
Did you begin reading this article
going through each paragraph sequentially,
OR did you
skim,
focusing mainly on bold headings and key points?
If you did that, here are some reasons why:
- Fast-Paced Lifestyle
Engaging in numerous tasks within a tight timeframe due to the high activity level often poses a challenge for maintaining complete focus on a single task.
- Multi-Task Culture
As a consequence of a fast-paced lifestyle, frequent switches in focus between various activities and inputs can lead to attention deficit.
- Short Entertaining Content
Constant overflow of quick bursts of infotainment has accustomed us to follow similar patterns in our daily tasks, even those requiring a longer attention span.
- Know-it-all Culture
Instant access to information and expertise has contributed to fleeting attention as we rely on quick answers and surface-level knowledge.
All the above-mentioned factors permeate your daily lives, creating a challenging environment for maintaining focus. It is essential not only to recognise the direct influences on your children but also to be mindful of certain indirect aspects affecting them.
Direct influences on your children affecting their attention span:
Brimming with curiosity and innocence, children are eager to explore the world by wholeheartedly immersing themselves in it. It is fascinating to witness their firm intention, enthusiasm and commitment to attaining their goal of achieving the privileges of being a “full-grown adult,” regardless of future consequences, making them solely reliant on adults to guide them.
Yet, here are a few aspects that may have affected children’s ability to develop focus naturally:
- Easy Access to Gadgets: All the entertainment applications in a gadget is designed solely for high engagement. Therefore, its constant usage encourages fragmented focus among children, leading to frequent distractions.
- Instant Dopamine Hit: Online games, fun YouTube shorts and Instagram reels offer quick, instant dopamine hit in all of us. Children exposed to this have poor tolerance for longer tasks that don’t provide immediate contentment.
- Instant Gratification: Playing games is not just graphically attractive and eye-catching, it also provides instant gratification through rewards and achievements. Our young gamers develop a taste for immediate rewards, hampering the patience required for focused tasks.
- Lack of Creativity in Daily Tasks: If there is an abundance of engaging and fun online content floating around, the attraction for sustained focus/attention would appear monotonous and dull or, in Gen Z terms, “lame”.
- Rote Learning: Children accustomed to memorisation-focused education or learning may reduce interest and engagement in tasks requiring deep work.
Simple ways to transform your home into a focused atmosphere:
- More Play Time
Contrary to common belief, the best way to observe children naturally focusing for more extended periods is by letting them fully engage their high energy outdoors. After substantially expending their energy, they naturally settle down and enjoy focusing on what’s in front of them, much like during play-time.
- Wake-up Music
Various researches on ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) recommend music therapy to promote attentiveness and improve focus among children. This is the simplest way to elevate little ones’ focus effortlessly. Play focus music before they wake up, filling their environment with attentive energy. Here are a few songs you can begin with right away: Morning Music, Buddha’s Flute, and Study Focus Music.
- Redefine Tasks
Always refrain from labelling homework as boring. Instead, embrace a positive approach by redefining tasks children might typically dislike. For instance, instead of presenting studying or homework as a chore, refer to it as a focused, fun exploration period. This method of transforming perspective simply by positive and enthusiastic words encourages engagement and enthusiasm among young ones.
- Right Nutrition
Prioritising nutritious food is crucial because your diet shapes you. Opting for energising choices like fruits and nuts during the mornings enhances clarity and focus. Including spinach and other greens in their afternoon meal supplies vital daily nutrients. Lastly, a dinner platter with lean protein such as paneer or tofu paired with roasted vegetables and a whole grain roti or quinoa pulav, with fewer spices, is ideal for a peaceful night’s rest.
As you create a focused environment within your home, finding a similar one outside is crucial for your children. This could involve enrolling them in performing arts, visual arts and sports classes such as dance, painting, swimming, or karate, among others. These activities help them channel their energy and build a life of discipline. Selecting a school that genuinely nurtures and amplifies their natural development is of utmost importance.
Creating an enriching learning environment outside your home:
Schools are the best place to enrich a child’s learning experience, an opportunity for them to learn and grow with like-minded ones. It is crucial for you to find schools that discourage outdated learning methods, such as rote learning, and encourage a well-rounded, learner-centric experiential curriculum at par with global standards.
Ekya Schools empathises with parents’ concerns and addresses the need of the hour by seamlessly integrating diverse methods of learning into the curriculum to help our young ones exponentially build sustained focus. The educators at Ekya have taken several initiatives, such as creating a positive classroom, promoting physical movement during class, imparting important life skills, and teaching the right nutrition.
Our technology-rich immersive learning experiences constantly embrace the challenges of the new world to foster – structured routines and consistency, introduce mindfulness and mind-body connection and continuously encourage and challenge inquisitive young minds.
Your children will embark on a reformative journey with Ekya Schools, a pioneering IGCSE, ICSE & CBSE institution nestled in Bengaluru’s heart. Join us across our five vibrant campuses: Ekya Byrathi, Ekya ITPL, Ekya JP Nagar, Ekya NICE Road, and Ekya BTM Layout.
Let’s help our children to find a world beyond the boundaries of the classroom and digital cage!