Floral Visions Design Studio

At some point, we all experience moments when we struggle to concentrate on what we are doing. The difference is adults can intentionally decide to concentrate on a task, while children may not be able to do it, especially if there are distractions. Children, on the other hand, do not find it as easy to concentrate. They are easily distracted, and this affects learning. Attention training for kids will improve concentration. 

Buy detailed colouring books.

Colouring is not just a way to keep children busy and test their creativity. It is also a way to improve concentration in kids. Have you noticed how focused children are when they are colouring?

When you get detailed colouring books which will force the child to use multiple colours. The child will need to work for longer. After some time, the child will be able to concentrate on tasks that take a longer time to complete. 

Set a longer time for more enjoyable tasks

One of the recommended responses to how to improve concentration in kids is to give them enjoyable tasks. Children easily lose interest in activities they find boring. It isn’t easy to improve concentration in kids by introducing tasks they don’t enjoy. 

As children grow older, they will have the mental capacity to appreciate that sometimes they will have to complete tasks that they don’t enjoy. However, younger children don’t have the mental capacity to understand that task completion is not always based on how much they like the project. 

Since your target is improved focus and concentration, you should ensure you choose age-appropriate fun activities. 

Introduce one task at a time

Multi-tasking may be necessary for adults, but it is not how to improve children’s concentration. When you ask a child to perform several tasks simultaneously, he is likely to become confused and frustrated. 

In the end, no task will be completed, and he would have lost interest in all the activities. Instead, introduce one activity at a time. For example, when teaching the alphabet, focus on this until the child understands before moving on to another lesson. 

Play games that require critical thinking skills

Children are naturally curious. Critical thinking is a skill that children develop as they grow older. If you seek attention training for kids, you can introduce games that require the child to focus and concentrate. For example, jigsaw puzzles and card games are great for testing a child’s concentration and encourage the development of critical thinking skills. 

Choose a distraction-free environment.

 

Children often lose concentration if there is a source of distraction. One of the lessons on how to improve concentration in kids is to limit distractions as much as possible. If the outdoors serve as a distraction, you can choose the indoors for lessons that require maximum concentration. 

Introduce breaks between tasks

Children can only concentrate for a limited period. Children can’t focus on a task or activity for long periods. Childhood development experts who handle attention training in children put an upper limit of five minutes multiplied by the child’s age. This means a two-year-old can concentrate for up to 10 minutes, while a five-year-old has a maximum attention span of 25 minutes. 

Other experts recommend an average of 2-3 minutes per the child’s age. This means 4-6 minutes for a two-year-old and 12-18 minutes for a 6-year-old. Older children, like sixteen-year-olds, can concentrate for an average of 48 minutes. 

Knowing how to improve children’s concentration and focus will help you determine how best to introduce breaks between tasks. 

These tips will help to improve your child’s concentration irrespective of the environment. 

“He could perform better if he concentrated and stopped being playful.” How often has your child’s teacher told you this? Do you sometimes wonder about your child’s cognitive potential? Every parent wants their child to be a success, both academically and socially. 

This is why many have turned to the cognitive development learning centre to help their children achieve their intellectual potential. 

Cognitive training exercises are carried out on children aged two years and above. When verifying a child’s intellectual power, the trainers test the child’s IQ before comparing it to their cognitive development stage. 

Unfortunately, much emphasis is placed on a child’s physical milestones as they grow. However, a child’s cognitive development stages are equally important. 

Sensorimotor stage 

Children under the age of two are in the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development. During this stage, infants use sensory stimuli and object manipulation to discover this new world. Newborns usually respond reflexively to stimulation. 

For example, when you put your finger in a newborn’s palm, he will reflexively grasp it. Smiling and sucking are also reflexive actions. 

Between the first and fourth months, babies are more intentional with their actions. At this stage, babies coo, laugh and kick to show joy or pleasure. By the time they turn one, babies can plan and coordinate their actions and responses. For example, a child can crawl to pick up a toy or turn when he recognizes a word or sounds. 

Preoperational stage

Children aged two to seven years are in the preoperational cognitive development stage. Many children who undergo cognitive training fall under this cognitive stage of development. During this stage, children begin developing memory and imagination. 

Unfortunately, children in the preoperational stage are considered illogical because they respond to questions intuitively, without using logic. However, this stage is critical because children are developing an interest in language to communicate. 

It is at this stage that children start preschool. At this point, a child’s knowledge structure is expanded. Their beliefs are challenged, expanded, and rearranged. This is when a child starts seeing the world through a different lens. 

Trainers at the cognitive development learning centre use scientifically researched programs to set the right intellectual foundation for children in the preoperational cognitive development stage. 

Concrete operational stage

Children aged 7-12 years start being aware that there is more to the world than they know. For example, at this age, children are more aware of other people and their feelings. They are more sensitive to the beliefs, thoughts, and feelings of others. Children in this cognitive stage are more willing to share their possessions and time. 

In this stage, cognitive training for children tests short and long-term memory, auditory processing, reading skills, visual processing, attention, and information processing speed. 

Formal operational stage

Children 11 years and above are in the formal stage. The formal operational stage goes all the way into adulthood. Children in this stage solve problems using logic, are more aware of their surroundings, and appreciate planning for the future. 

Cognitive training programs for children in this stage include creative thinking, abstract reasoning, mathematical calculations, and the use of hypothetical questions seeking particular actions and outcomes. 

For example, at the cognitive development learning centre, children may be asked, “if Joe is taller than Mary, and Mary is taller than Jeff, who is the tallest?”. The child has no idea who these are, he has never met them, but he is expected to imagine them and come up with a correct answer.  

Age-appropriate questions are critical during cognitive training at the different cognitive stages. Asking hypothetical questions to a child in the preoperational stage, for example, may give a false outcome since he lacks the cognitive capacity to reason or even respond to such questions. 

Some children tend to have an advanced brain development for their biological age or expected cognitive development stage. Such children are said to have a higher IQ and need cognitive training to help them reach their potential. 

The human brain is not static. Interestingly, you have the power to determine your brain’s functions. Many people assume we are stuck with the brain we were born with. This is why some people assume some children and adults are naturally gifted to perform well in whatever they do. However, with the effective brain booster, anyone with low productivity can see a change in their performance. 

These activities can help improve your brain’s capacity and intelligence. 

Meditation

A few minutes of meditation daily will help clear your mind and leave you prepared for any mental activity. If your days are hectic and you barely have time to sit back and relax, early morning meditation will help you cope. 

Breathing exercises is one of the activities you will discover when you enrol in online brain training. This is an important activity for children and adults because it helps to improve blood circulation to the brain. 

Regular physical exercise

When you exercise, you are not just working your body. Remember, your body cannot function without brain activity. The brain controls virtually everything you do or feel. 

Think about it, has there been a time when you were sick and were able to make sound decisions because your brain remained active? You probably pick even one moment because the brain and body are interconnected. 

When your body is in excellent shape, your brain will function optimally. When you are unwell, your brain is not as alert as it usually is. So, when you exercise, you are working on your brain’s functions as well.  

Physical exercises are a brain booster because they are essential for the development of new brain cells. 

Play board and online games

Online brain training has hundreds of games for adults and children. Games encourage you to use and develop various skills, including critical think and decision making. Some of these games become more complex each time you master a level. 

This pushes your brain to think deeper and look at things from a different perspective. Online games should never be seen as a waste of time. They are brain boosters and a great way to relax when your brain is exhausted after intense activity. 

If you are concerned about the things your child does online, you can introduce him to activities that are helpful to his brain’s development. There games for children of all ages. Besides testing your child’s brain capability, your child’s attention and interest in completing tasks will improve, especially if he finds a game he enjoys. 

Reading

Social media, long work hours, and other responsibilities have pushed reading to the back seat for many Singaporean adults. A National Reading Habits Study on adults and children shows that only 25% of adults pick up a book to read, compared to 40% of teenagers. People who once spent their free time reading now spend it on social media. 

Not that there is anything inappropriate with social media. However, reading, whether it is a hardcover book or an e-book, is vital for your brain. 

If you were an avid reader before life happened, can you identify differences in your thinking process and memory? You probably spend more time today trying to recall a word that would have naturally come to you during your reading days. 

Reading is no doubt a brain booster and a necessary activity for people of all ages.

These are some of the brain booster activities you can undertake. There is so much more you can do to ensure optimal brain activity. Some of these activities could easily turn into a hobby. The brain has no limitation. You can be as productive as you wish by preparing your brain adequately. 

Singapore is estimated to have 32,000 children with special needs. 80% of these children have mild learning needs, while the remaining 20% live with moderate to severe needs. As a parent with a child with special needs, you know the joys and challenges you face when raising your child.

Child development workshops offer parents tips on how to cope during a hard time. You will also learn how to make life more fulfilling for your child. 

Hear from educators of children with special needs

If your child is yet to go to school for formal education, you may be questioning whether you should enrol him in a special needs school or if he will cope in a regular school. Singapore’s Ministry of Education encourages inclusion in mainstream schools, especial for a child with mild learning needs. 

Although children diagnosed with mild autism, ADHD, and dyslexia will have some difficulties, they can still perform well when they learn with other children. When you attend a parent workshop, you may get insights on how to approach the selection process of a school for your child. You might realize that you are worried about something that is not an issue. 

Discover support structures for your child

Parenting a special needs child is a journey that can be quite lonely. You don’t get to take your child to the park. You may not have the luxury of enrolling your child in daycare for a few hours a day because you are worried your child will not cope in the new environment. Additionally, some facilities don’t have the personnel to give your child the attention he needs. 

Child development workshops will enlighten you on some of the resources available to help children with special needs. Some centres are specially created to care for these children. The teachers and caregivers have the expertise to ensure your child is safe and that he gains the skills he needs to be as independent as possible. 

Learn from other parents

It is not easy to meet parents who share your thoughts and concerns regarding a child with special needs. In 2020, 12.5% of Singapore’s population was made up of children aged 14 years and below. This is about 17,000 children in a population of 5,690,000 people. 

The best place to meet parents with special needs children is at workshops for parents. Sometimes information on how to help your child is not readily available. However, you might meet parents ready to share tips on what works for them. 

For example, if your child is on the autism spectrum, how do you help him with a meltdown? Can you do anything to make learning easier for him? 

Receive emotional support 

You can’t support your child when you are emotionally drained. Caring for a special needs child can take a toll on the family. It can create unnecessary conflict, which, if left unchecked, can result in family breakdown. 

Child development workshops are not just a chance for parents, but other family members as well, to get emotional support and guidance on how to cope with their challenges. Unfortunately, most people tend to be overwhelmed with their emotions that they forget the child with special needs has feelings. 

The family’s strain may negatively affect the child, and he may regress from the progress he has made over the years. Instead of risking this, it is better to get the family the necessary emotional support so that their frustrations do not spill over to the child. 

There is much to be gained from a parent workshop. Parenting is a journey of many successes and failures. These workshops will help you have more things to celebrate because you no longer

need to make mistakes to learn. You can now be better prepared for the journey with the help of experts and other parents. 

Singapore has approved six curriculums for preschools because it acknowledges that children are different. Some children learn best through play, while others may learn better through interactive activities. Brain training can help identify the curriculum that is likely to be most beneficial to a child.

Brain training activities help to put into perspective a child’s cognitive skills. The activities introduced aims to help parents and teachers find out why some children struggle with learning. Is the problem reading, memory or attention? 

Experts in kids brain training can easily detect weaknesses in a child’s cognitive development. They can then recommend the right mechanisms to help the child improve the brain’s functions and, ultimately, his academic performance. 

Learning styles targeted by brain training

Imagine giving two children the same problem to solve. While both may give the same final result, the process they used to reach the solution may differ. One child may visualize the solution, while another may verbalize the thought process. Can you fault either child for the learning style they choose even though both got the right answer?

Children have different learning styles. Teachers need to identify the style a child prefers so that they can focus on it should the child fail to respond positively to other styles. However, this does not mean that other learning styles should be overlooked. Instead, right brain training Singapore encourages children to adopt the other learning styles as well.

Learning categories 

Learning styles are in four major categories;

• Visual learning involves the use of images. 
• Auditory learning through the use of music, rhythm, listening and speaking.
• Reading and writing
• Kinesthetic learning style, which focuses on the sense of touch and body movements. Writing and drawing also fall under this style of learning.

When children are exposed to the right brain training Singapore, their memory, logic & reasoning, auditory processing, visual processing, processing speed, and word use are tested. Once the trainer discovers gaps that make learning difficult for the child, he will introduce mental exercises that target the child’s weaknesses.

For example, if the child’s memory makes visual learning difficult, the trainer may introduce card matching games. These games help to boost visual learning, and it tests a child’s visual attention. 

Why do children respond differently to the various learning styles? 

While categorizing learning styles has been hailed for its effectiveness in identifying cognitive strengths and weaknesses, it has received some criticisms. 

Critics have argued that since children are born with a clean slate, they can respond to all learning styles. Instead of blaming cognitive weaknesses, these critics believe that a child’s environment and social interactions influence a child’s preference for one learning style.

Does a child who performs best from visual learning do so because her cognitive strength lies in this learning over auditory learning? Is a child intentionally excelling in kinesthetic learning because it is her preference? 

These are some of the questions that brain training seeks to answer. Children who prefer a specific learning style can easily be trained to perform just as well in other learning styles. However, for children who genuinely struggle with the other learning styles, the trainer will use kids brain training to identify the weakness so that a solution is sought.  

Brain training targets children with learning difficulties. It also helps children adapt to different learning styles. A child who has undergone kids brain training will have an easier time adjusting to the different learning styles, especially as he advances in his education. 

Active listening skills are essential learning elements of children. The active listening skills influence the students in building up their communication techniques. If you like to improve your child’s active listening skills, first, you need to know the definition of active listening and its benefits for children.

Active listening skills depict a full attention span that a listener needs to give to the speakers for understanding the entire message given to him/her. It includes both verbal and non-verbal (smiling, hand gestures, and body postures) symbols of listening. Like Singapore and other Asian countries, people prefer active listening skills for children for multiple benefits.

• Active listening skills ensure a positive conversation. Like, it provides high privilege the young learners to give their positive feedback towards the conversation.
• Active listeners can improve their listening skills, both in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Active listening skills make our children excellent communicators and future leaders.
• Active listening skills make children confident and self-reliant.

Best 4 tips to improve the active listening skills of children

Now, let’s see the best tips to improve the active listening skills for children. The following guidelines play a significant role in developing active listening skills for children in Singapore as well as overall the world. These are:

Make sure, your eye contact is appropriate

Whenever you teach the children in developing their active listening skills, your eye contact needs to be precise. You need to teach your students to make proper eye contact while hearing from others. If their eye contacts are appropriate during listening, it leads them confident, reliable, and social. 

The perfect eye contacts make the listeners more focused on their communication skills. Also, the active eye contact makes the listeners confident enough to understand what the speaker tries to convey the message to them.

Never interrupt someone during speaking

If you like to improve the active listening skills for children, you need to tend to train them first. You need to suggest to them not to interrupt others when someone is talking. The interruption can lead to a negative impact on productive communication. 

Ask questions for better understanding

It is mandatory to ask questions for the children to know what they have understood overall. After discussion or reading a storybook, you need to ask questions to the children to know what they have comprehended from the text. If you ask questions to them, it can encourage them to be active listeners.

Encourage the listeners to write

If you like to practice active listening skills with the children, you must encourage them to write. After a useful conversation, you suggest them to write the moral of their overall understanding that they have recently heard. It also helps them to practice active listening skills through writing.

Hopefully, you have understood the definition and the importance of active listening skills for children. The above four mentioned tips are essential to maintain for enhancing the active listening skills of the children. Therefore, the educational consultants of Singapore and other countries follow these rules to improve the active listening skills of children.

Listening skills or listening comprehension ensures an individual’s capacity to understand the meaning of each word that they hear. At the same time, it helps the children to co-relate between similar and new words.

Therefore, listening skills for children are essential to building up their communication skills at an early age. Not only in Singapore but also all over the world, people employ five methods to enhance the listening skills of children.

Top 5 practices used for developing listening skills for children

Face to face communication

The parents need to prefer face to face communication while they are interacting with others. Try to grab the full attention of the young learners by responsive conversation. If they respond with you, it means they are capable of taking information and ideas from you. 

Read books through interactive activity

If you like to develop your children’s listening skills, the best way is to read books with them in an interactive way. If you read fairytales and storybooks with your kids, it may automatically improve their listening skills. The proper suggestion is for you to ask questions to them while reading books. If they answer your questions, it means they are developing their listening abilities. Please, select engaging and interactive books so that they feel the interest to practice listening efficiency with you.

Encourage the kids to play listening games

We all know, the kids love to learn with fun and games. Thus, the parents can arrange in house listening games to encourage their children to practice listening competitions. For example, you can tell an exciting story to them. Later, you ask them to write or speak about the moral of what they have heard. In this case, you can prefer flash or cue cars to make the listening game more engaging.

Cheer up your kids to learn a new vocabulary

If your child has enough vocabulary for communication, he/she can be a great listener. Thus, you need to arrange some home-based games from which your child can develop his/her vocabulary. To make the vocabulary learning session impressive, you can get help from online resources, games, flashcards, and books. Don’t be hurry. Never try to pick up two new words in a one-day learning session.

You need to be a good listener to develop your child’s listening skills

Always try to give privilege to your child when they talk. Don’t interrupt them when they are talking with you. If they see you listen to them, sincerely, their listening skills may develop instinctively. Also, you need to give positive feedback, a smile, and supportive interaction with them to build up their listening capacity. Don’t forget; the children love to follow their parents.