Attention of younger students: features and methods of development

Younger students need to learn how to pay attention as they start their schooling. Enhancing concentration skills can aid kids in learning more efficiently, remembering knowledge better, and feeling more competent. But it can be difficult to pay attention, especially in a world where there are so many distractions.

The first step in assisting younger students in developing attention is to recognize the distinctive qualities of their attention. Children’s minds are curious and ready to explore at this age, but when given challenging or boring tasks, they can become easily distracted.

Parents and educators can support and improve children’s ability to focus with a variety of easy techniques. Children can learn to pay attention in an engaging and natural way if we use games, routines, and gentle guidance.

Features of attention development

• Volume. This characteristic shows how many objects a child can concentrate on at the same time. Normally, in primary school, the volume is 2-5 units. When it decreases, a first-grader cannot concentrate even on two tasks, keeping them in mind.
• Concentration. This is the ability to pay maximum attention to a certain action or object. It helps to perform work most successfully. With insufficient concentration, the child develops a tendency to look at objects superficially, he becomes absent-minded.
• Selectivity. This is the name of the ability to single out significant phenomena or objects from the environment. With problems with selectivity, the student cannot concentrate on those moments that are necessary for him to solve a specific task.
• Stability. This is the name of the ability to focus attention on one object for a long time. In the first grade, stability is 7-12 minutes, but from the age of 9-10 it actively increases. If there are problems with this property of attention, the child will be constantly distracted, and teachers will call him restless.
• Switchability. Thanks to this property, a schoolchild easily alternates the type of activity, deliberately concentrates on a new task, and then returns to the previous one. This is useful when tired, for example, if the work is monotonous. In this case, switching attention will be a certain rest.
• Distribution. This property allows you to do several things at the same time. It is used when writing with comments, checking your work, mathematical dictation. In first-graders, distribution is usually underdeveloped and begins to manifest itself when one of the skills has already become habitual (automated), for example, if a child already writes well without remembering each of the symbols, then he can easily speak at the same time.

The child’s temperament has a full impact on attention as well. People who are sanguine or choleric find it easier to switch, accomplish a lot, but they are restless. Phlegmatics and melancholics are able to focus for extended periods of time, but they appear passive and uninterested to others.

Experts claim that the formation of attention takes a while and is a challenging process. It starts early and is actively continued through the elementary school years.

Youngsters who are just beginning school are still reorganizing their mental processes and frequently encounter challenges because they are easily distracted and lack the ability to divide their attention between multiple items.

And one of the most important learning tasks for elementary school success is learning how to pay attention.

How to improve?

Attendance is a crucial personal trait that is formed when a child is learning to pay attention in school. There are different kinds of attention, so keep that in mind when setting up your classes. The first is involuntary attention, triggered by novel and unusual stimuli. When you want to focus on a particular subject, you can use the second type of attention, called voluntary attention, which is conscious and volitional. Thirdly, post-voluntary attention refers to the emergence of an interest and desire to learn something new.

Younger students tend to exhibit involuntary attention, meaning that while they respond well to new information, they still lack the ability to consciously control their attention. To help students learn to focus on assignments with deliberate effort, educators and parents should work to instill in them the skill of strong-willed attention (arbitrary) as well as develop after-production attention.

Children are initially given easier tasks, and only after they complete them successfully are they given more difficult ones. For instance, a drawing of a straightforward pattern made from counting sticks is presented to a student. After addressing a minor pattern, they move on to more complex ones, so he needs to replicate the image in accordance with the model.

If this is a graphic dictation, it can start out simple, consisting of only a few steps that form a figure, and eventually get quite complex and lengthy.

Creating attentiveness games that are just right—such as finding common ground, repeating actions after an adult, looking for differences, and providing a detailed description of what you read or saw. Text, picture (coloring, pattern continuation), poem, and number lessons work incredibly well together. Board games are important to keep around because, while playing chess, lottery, backgammon, or checkers, kids can focus for extended periods of time while also developing their ability to reason, predict their opponent’s moves, and organize their own actions.

The best exercises and games

It is advised to practice improving stability, selectivity, volume, and other attention-related skills every day. Various techniques and methods are employed for this, and the training lasts for 15-20 minutes (start with 5–10 minutes if your attention is erratic and your concentration is poor).

A training approach that is competitive has shown to be effective and also fosters leadership traits.

"I remember everything"

A game like this is ideal for improving focus and recall. The young student is tasked with learning a string of words related to a particular subject, such as the names of nations, cities, fruits, or vegetables. The first person to say a word—let’ssay "broccoli"—must repeat it and add his own word, "broccoli-potato." The first person then adds another word, "broccoli-potato-cucumber," the next person adds another—let’ssay "broccoli-potato-cucumber-carrot," and so on.

Adding more players and a judge who will record the words spoken will make the game even more engaging. The child who pays the most attention wins because the one who forgets a word loses. The competitive aspect provides a multiplicity of incentives for improving memory and attentiveness training.

"Find the words"

Teachers can use paper teaching aids to conduct this type of game at home or during writing lessons.

Finding "hidden" words among a row of solid letters is the primary objective.

Unnecessary words (inappropriate in number, gender, case, and other parameters) can also be excluded from this grouping.

"Name the color"

Use sheets with words that represent different colors for this exercise. The words themselves are printed in a font with a distinct color at the same time; for instance, the word "red" will be printed in black, and the word "blue" in green. The child’s job is to focus and list only words that belong to a particular color. This game is also appropriate for a group of kids; at the conclusion, you can set up a competition and select the player who has never made a mistake.

"Find the differences"

This is a traditional attention-training exercise. Two similar images with minor differences are given to the child, who has to find them.

The level of difficulty varies with age, so images with big components and subdued colors are chosen for students in grades 1-2, and bright images with lots of little details are already appropriate for those in grades 3–4.

Studying them will improve the stability and volume of attention while also teaching attentiveness.

"Connect the halves"

Two-part words are presented to the child. The words’ two halves are dispersed throughout the second column, while their first halves are written in one column. Putting the pieces together and writing entire words in the workbook is the task. The practice aids in developing attentional skills like focus and stability.

"Many-one"

You will need a ball for this game. When a child catches a ball thrown by an adult who says a word in the singular, like "cat," they have to respond in the plural, like "cats."

The activity can also be done with a group of kids, and if it is carried out in a lesson on nouns in grades 3–4, the student who caught the ball can also identify the gender of the noun that the teacher has named.

The game develops switching attention flawlessly.

"Draw from memory"

For one to two minutes, a card featuring several images related to a specific theme (flowers, fish, furniture, numbers, dishes, pets) is given to the student. After that, the card is taken out, and the youngster is required to sketch what he could remember on a blank piece of paper. The practice works well for improving focus, recall, and creativity.

“What has changed”?

Prepare ten to fifteen small items that are arranged on the table for the game. The adult must move three or four objects while the child is staring at them for thirty seconds before turning back to the table. The child must recognize changes when he turns to face the table and carefully looks at the objects.

Each right response earns one point if multiple kids are participating in the game. A mistake also results in the loss of one point (if the object was not moved). The person who finishes with the most points is the winner.

It is imperative that younger students learn to pay attention if they are to make academic and personal progress. Their capacity for concentration can be greatly improved by using easy strategies like making a calm workstation and establishing short, attainable goals.

Creative projects and memory games are examples of engaging activities that help them focus better and keep their minds active. Encouragement of regular pauses is also crucial to preventing mental exhaustion and preserving a healthy balance.

By implementing these doable strategies, educators and parents can foster a positive learning atmosphere where kids feel inspired and able to pay attention, laying a solid basis for their future academic success.

Younger students’ learning and development depend on their ability to pay attention, which enables them to concentrate, comprehend directions, and finish tasks efficiently. Easy tactics that can help keep kids interested and focused in the classroom include breaking down assignments, incorporating games, and promoting active participation.

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Attention of primary school children: features and methods of development

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