How to develop attention in younger students

The main activity of children of primary school age is teaching. It makes significant changes in psychological processes, making high demands on concentration. The ability of children to work effectively in the classroom is the result of the ability to focus on the learning process, the topic and content of the lesson, the teacher's words and their own actions. This is why it is so important to develop attention that will help the child to fully learn and successfully cope with the assigned tasks.

What is attention

Attention is a concept in cognitive psychology that means the selective focus of perception on certain objects. This is a special state of consciousness in which the subject (child) is able to focus cognitive processes (thinking, perception, imagination, memory) on specific objects that have personal or situational significance.

Attention is a person's focus on objects and phenomena that are most important to him.

How attention is formed in children

To develop attention skills in the learning process, it is important to comply with several requirements:

sufficient pace of learning and the absence of long pauses;
reliance on active mental activity (the use of tasks for generalization and comparison, the search for examples and the formation of conclusions);
the absence of external stimuli that attract involuntary attention and distract from the cognitive process (loud remarks, comments, abrupt movements);
clarity and conciseness of explanations before the child starts any work.

It is strictly forbidden to comment on the actions of the child when he is focused: make comments, prompt. By speaking by hand, you distract the child from the task at hand and force him to concentrate on your words and again at work, which leads to fatigue and loses interest in the activity.

Various games and exercises for observation contribute to the formation of attention. The search for correspondences, mistakes, changes attracts and maintains the child's attention, teaches him to concentrate without an additional call to mindfulness.

How to improve the attention of children 7-10 years old

Small volume, insufficient selectivity, undeveloped switchability and stability of attention are disadvantages that can be eliminated thanks to special exercises included in the educational process. To improve the attention of a 7-10 year old child, two types of exercises should be used:

special exercises for the development of the basic properties of attention (stability, distribution, concentration);
exercises that form attention as a personal property.

Inattention is the result of children's focus on the general, not the particular. Grasping the general meaning of the story, the essence of the statement or mathematical problem, children do not delve into the details, do not take into account important elements.

The purpose of specialized exercises is to teach a child to perceive details against a general background.

The development of attention of primary schoolchildren, with proper organization, develops into attentiveness - an integral feature of a successful person. It is important to explain this to children, convincing them of how necessary observation, the ability to look for flaws, compare, and see changes are necessary. Tell the children that considerate people always have a goal and can easily achieve it.

By shaping a daily routine with your child, you will teach him to pay attention to important activities in a complex and separately. By developing an action plan step by step, you will teach the student to concentrate on the details.

Equally effective for improving the attention of children are exercises with paired control, when the neighbors on the desk exchange the results of their work and look for mistakes from each other. Seeing the failures and shortcomings of others, children learn from the mistakes of others, more attentively to their own work and its results.

You can improve the child's attention by teaching her discipline, responsibility and accuracy. Attentive children are collected children who take good care of things, know how to take care of loved ones and themselves. Do you want to make your child responsible and attentive? Get a pet and entrust a student with caring for it.

Exercises to train the attention of children 7-10 years old

Constant training of attention and memory is the key to the formation of the skills necessary for effective and successful learning in a younger student. Including the following games in primary education has a positive effect on children's academic performance and their ability to concentrate.

The game "I remember everything"

The game is perfect for couples or small groups (3-4 people). The main task of the players is to memorize words in a strict sequence, and an outside person (parent, teacher, student, appointed by the judge) monitors compliance with the conditions, writing down a chain of words. So that the game does not bore children, use words of the same subject: fruits, vegetables, cities, countries.

The process of the game looks like this: "Carrot" - says the first player. “Carrots, radishes,” says another. "Carrots, radishes, tomatoes …"

A child who mistook the sequence or forgot a word is eliminated from the game. The winner is the player who has not made a single mistake.

The competitive nature of the game motivates children, forcing them to participate with interest and train their memory and attentiveness.

Find Words Exercise

The game is appropriate for Russian lessons and perfectly complements grammar exercises. Children are invited to find words in the letter row, highlighting the excess according to a certain criterion: part of speech, gender, number, case.

For example:

1 PHA CATNVPRA COWEURA DOGSTsRVM

Correct answer: dogs are an extra word, as it is a plural noun.

2 NRALS COATYEAP ARBNEA SHAMPOO

Correct answer: shampoo is an unnecessary word, as it is a masculine noun.

Exercise "Name the color"

An interesting exercise that can be turned into a competition to choose a winner. The essence of the task is to accurately name the colors with which the words are written. The game develops concentration of attention, because the child focuses on the color of the font, and not on the word for the color.

Spot the Difference Exercise

The classic mindfulness exercise. The child's task is to find all the differences between two similar images that can be found on the Internet. This exercise is suitable for both first graders and students in grades 2-4.

Young children aged 7–8 are better off showing images with few large elements in subtle tones. For older children, bright pictures with an abundance of small details are suitable, the consideration of which trains not only attentiveness, but also improves stability and volume of attention - the ability to concentrate on several objects at the same time.