Lack of concentration in a 3, 5 and 7-year-old child: how to help the child depending on age?

At what age can a child be expected to be able to focus longer on a specific task? Should difficulties in concentrating attention in a 3-year-old child be considered in the same categories as lack of attention? concentration in a 7-year-old or 10-year-old child? What to do if a 5-year-old child has difficulty concentrating, and what strategies should be implemented if an 11-year-old child lacks concentration?

Although "lack of concentration" is a colloquial term, it is commonly used on the Internet to describe various degrees of attention deficits in children. To make it easier for parents to understand the issue, we will use the term in the article lack of concentration in children.

Czy lack of concentration in a 3-year-old and 5-year-old child is this a cause for concern?

Many parents of preschool children worry about the lack of concentration in a 3- or 5-year-old child who gets bored quickly, is impulsive and constantly seeks new experiences.

How to recognize the problem lack of concentration in a 7-year-old and 8-year-old child?

School means a completely new reality and challenges for a child: 45-minute lessons, the need to sit at a desk and absorb a lot of knowledge. These are just some of the aspects of school reality that highlight the problem of lack of concentration in a 7- or 8-year-old child.

We can talk about the lack of concentration in 7-year-old and 8-year-old children when the student:

• often cannot focus on a task for even 12 minutes;
• makes mistakes inadvertently and is unable to concentrate on the details of the task;
• frequently does not finish the task/play he has started, follows instructions carelessly;
• often loses various items, forgets about assigned tasks and responsibilities;
• has trouble organizing one's own work, keeping order on the desk/backpack, etc.;
• is reluctant to undertake tasks that require prolonged concentration and precision;
• is very easily dispersed.

Lack of concentration in a 10-year-old and 11-year-old child it may be a temporary loss of concentration, but not only that

Children of this age are expected to be able to focus on a specific task - even for 20-30 minutes. Therefore, the lack of concentration in a 10- or 11-year-old child may contribute to the accumulation of school difficulties, which constitute a huge source of stress and contribute to lower self-esteem. Therefore, the problem of lack of concentration in an 11- or 10-year-old child should not be underestimated, hoping that the child will grow out of it.

Lack of concentration in a 10-year-old child may also result from temporary difficulties, e.g. moving house, birth of a sibling, parents' divorce, or too many extra-curricular activities.

A few changes worth making in case lack of concentration in a 3-year-old, 7-year-old or 11-year-old childo

When we want to help a 3-year-old or 10-year-old child who has a lack of concentration, it is worth introducing: 3 x R rule:

• Regularity: In the case of lack of attention span in 5-year-old but also 11-year-old children, the following solutions work well: fixed times of going to bed and getting up (and making sure the child gets enough sleep), systematic learning and performing exercises to improve concentration. Let's teach the child to divide work into smaller batches and time blocks, e.g. 15-20 minutes of study and 5 minutes of rest.
• Routine:

• Repetition: i.e. repetition of exercises and commands, and then patiently making sure that the child understood everything.

Additional areas worth making changes to

If a 3- or 7-year-old child lacks concentration, changes in areas such as:

Diet

If we observe lack of concentration in a 5-year-old or 10-year-old child you should also make sure that your toddler drinks an appropriate amount of water during the day and eats a healthy and varied diet (it is important to give up excess sweets, sweet drinks and processed foods).

In the case of lack of concentration in 3-year-old and 8-year-old children, it is also worth ensuring that the diet includes an appropriate amount of omega-3 acids (including DHA acid), vitamin D and B vitamins, the deficiencies of which may contribute to abnormal functioning of the nervous system and deterioration of the ability to focus.

Movement and rest

Children need min. 1,5-2 hours daily physical activity, preferably outdoors. Let's not forget that rest and regeneration are just as important as learning and sports (as long as they don't take place in front of a phone/computer screen).

Limit exposure to blue light to a minimum

Television programs, computer games and social media can quickly overstimulate the nervous system and contribute to problems with lack of concentration in a 7- or 11-year-old child.

How to practice in case lack of concentration in a 5-year-old child, and what to do with a 10-year-old child?

I: exercises for lack of concentration in a 3-year-old and 5-year-old child

• Reading fairy tales and talking: about what the child saw in the pictures and what the story was about.
• Remember the details: we show the child a picture, e.g. in a book, give the child 1 minute for thorough analysis, and then cover the picture and ask, e.g., What color was the car? What was the boy doing?
• Selecting and sorting: e.g. Select all washed socks and put them in a box. Let's separate the cars/dolls from the teddy bears - can you help me?

II: exercises on lack of concentration in a 7-year-old and 8-year-old child

• Putting together the puzzle: with your favorite fairy tale characters/animals
• Drawing objects: in a mirror image, and drawing with both hands
• Game: in puns or "guess what item I mean." The parent selects one item in the room. Then the child asks questions to find out what it is (the parent can only answer YES or NO).

III: exercises on lack of concentration in a 10-year-old and 11-year-old child

• Drawing on the back: the parent draws a finger on the child's back and the child has to guess what the letter/number/word is.
• Having fun together: solving crosswords and crossword puzzles, as well as playing interesting board games adapted to the child's age.