Experienced parents/teachers - are there ways to help a child develop a longer attention span or is this a developmental/age thing? My 3 year old is pretty much on par with her age group developmentally, but she can't sit through a movie, and it's gotten harder to read to her because unless it's something really short and something she's already familiar with, she'll blow it off. There are a ton of books that I think are age appropriate for her but I keep them on the shelves because I'm not sure she'll sit through something that's more a line or two per page. Not sure if my expectations are too unreasonable or if there's a way to help develop this a bit better.
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It seemed to take a long time until my LO would sit through a movie at home, but at 2-1/2 she would watch a full movie in the car (we went on a road trip) but it wasn't until closer to 4 that she would sit and watch a movie.
When are you trying to read books? If it's at bedtime, maybe she's too tired to concentrate? Also, silly question, but have you explained to her that she's supposed to sit still and read the whole book? You could also try reading the book differently - asking her to find things in the pictures, point out letters, find something blue, etc. Or let her tell the story.
As for attention span, I find it comes and goes. Even at 4-1/2, some days she can't make it through a whole book sitting still.
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@JennyD: It's pretty impossible to get her attention during the day, she wants to play and roam, so our only real reading time is before bedtime. And she usually does sit and listen and engage with the books, but only if they're super familiar to her. Most new things get a few pages and they're never heard from again. The only exceptions have been some books with her favorite TV show characters. We make it really interactive with her, and when we do read during the day on rare occasion, it's the same thing. Just not sure if I could be doing more to foster her attention or if I just need to wait for it.
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Does she want to read? DS gets really antsy sometimes reading books and we have to tell him that if he can't sit through the whole book then we are done reading. But he usually really wants to read. At 2.5 he's just starting to sit through longer books but only ones that he is interested in (trucks, boats...).
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@brownepiano: She loves books, in general, and does want to read (she asks for storytime and will often bring us books she wants to read) but seems to get distracted very easily if it's not a book she's already memorized or something that has a favorite TV character on it. I try to pick ones that would catch her interest and anchor on subjects and things familiar to her, but it seems like I strike out 90% of the time. I might be antsy because there are so many books I really want to read her (big book nerd over here) and I would love to take her to a movie, but it seems like a waste because she doesn't connect with anything longer than a few lines/20 minutes of a movie.
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The books that are too long I still read to DS (who is also 3) but an abbreviated version. I'll just read the first and last line from each page or point out the highlights of the story line. Once he gets kind of hooked I add more and more in!
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@Mrs. Carrot: Sadly, I think you just have to wait for it. I'm in the same boat, with a big shelf of all the books I'm dying to read with her, but she doesn't have the attention span AND I just discovered her comprehension is NOT what I thought it was! She's dying to read by herself and I think it will totally open a whole new world to her, but I think she's still a couple years away.
Just keep slogging away at t and try to be patient and make it fun. It'll come. In the meantime, set am example and get yourself a new book
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Kids are different so be patient. Try to do it every once in awhile Don't push it (like make LO unhappy or dislike it) but be consistent if that makes sense. Like I consistently ask my daughter to read. Even if she only reads a page once in awhile. Also try to catch her when her defenses are down. Sleepy (but not overtired), sick, in the car, in bed. When LO was a baby I would read to her in the swing. That is just off the top of my head and I don't know what works with watching movies because my LO just liked movies off the bat. We do talk about what she watches and do a related hands on activity often. I used to pause the movie or talk through the show to discuss what was happening if I felt she needed explanation.
We do reading blanket/picnic and read to stuffed animals to spice things up. Read to her in the bathtub. You can try variety.Also for that age, 5-10 minutes of reading is plenty so don't worry about the longer books.
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I think this must be kid-dependent and I don't know if there is anything you can really do to work on concentration. My son has had a very long attention span since he was 9 months old. He could sit for 20-30 min at a time, even then, and listen to me read without squirming or losing interest. He would stay focused on the teacher in our baby music class instead of running around like all of the other babies/toddlers. He's 5 now and can concentrate on things (stories, playing with certain toys like Legos) for long periods of time. My daughter wasn't like this though. She could barely sit through one book when she was a young toddler. Now, at 2.5, she still doesn't have the attention span that DS had at the same age, but it is gradually getting longer and she can sit through more stories when she's interested.
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This is really interesting, I hadn't thought about training for longer attention span...I just kind of thought to myself that my son is how he is in terms of his interests and that I couldn't and shouldn't try to lengthen time spent on activities he didn't like, but it kind of makes sense to me to at least think about activities to help that along. It's kind of like training for a sport, very few people have natural ability, the rest of us need to put some time in. Right now, we're doing a sight word game, it's little bits of board that are shaped like popcorn and we also have cards that make it like a game. Oh, and Rory's Story Cubes are fun, my son loves to make up stories about those games. I have long held to the concept that it doesn't have to be a book for it to be reading.
I feel kind of conflicted about forcing reading though, because my parents didn't really read to us (English was a second language) and I was the kind of kid that had to be told lights out because I was reading too long at night. My brother on the other hand, no interest and couldn't be made to pick up a book.
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@looch: I definitely don't want to force her into anything she doesn't like, it's more of an intellectual curiosity - whether attention span is something you can train for. She can play for periods of time with certain toys or play pretend, so I'm not worried about it, but I noticed myself wondering when she might sit through a movie (she likes TV and movies just fine, but just won't pay attention for longer than 20 minutes at most) or books with more words than just a line or two per page. Ironically I'm very similar - my attention span sucks - so it's just something I got curious about.
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@Mrs. Carrot: I am no expert, but I am leaning towards being able to train for an increased span...it seems logical that it would be possible.
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