Hi Sean, could you please ask David to help. I have twin boys aged 7 who are COMPLETELY different. I need advice to on how I can help one improve his concentration. He is very absentminded and homework time is painful.
No twins are ever going to be exactly alike. Each has their own unique temperament and personality. Each has their own particular cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Although they may look exactly alike we can't be fooled into thinking they will interact with the environment in the same way.
When it comes to children's concentration there are a lot of factors that can cause difficulty. Sometimes it is the match between the child and the environment or the personality of the child and the parents/teachers. Every child will have a different degree of concentration capacity and it is hard for parents to discern what is in the range of normal deviation and what may represent a genuine disturbance of concentration abilities.
Probably the most useful thing you can do when you are concerned is to talk to your child's teacher. Teachers, especially primary school teachers, are well schooled in child development and they are quick to notice when a particular child may fall outside the range of the expected norms. Concentration difficulties can sometimes appear in one area and not another. For example a child may have difficulty concentrating on things they hear and not on things they see. Or it could be the other way around. Is your child only having difficulty when completing homework? This indicates an unwillingness to engage in homework or perhaps a battle of wills between parent and child. Does the child seem forgetful most of the time, have difficulty following 2 or 3 step directions? What is your child absentminded about? The answers to these questions will help you determine a course of action.
To build concentration skills you can play some memory games such as giving the child 4 words to remember, waiting 20 minutes and seeing if he can recall them. You can play memory card games with your child, turning over two cards to see if you can find a match and then turning over, taking turns you and he, other cards. Once you find a match you get to keep the cards. Most parents know this game. If concentration problems are severe in both school, home and in leisure activities there may be a need for an assessment. Again, probably the best thing you can do straight away is to get more information, talk to teacher and discover more about what you believe is the concentration difficulty.
If you have a question for Moncrieff's Parenting Expert, David Carey, email it toafternoon@newstalk.ie and tune in every Wednesday at 3pm.
David J. Carey is a psychologist in practice in Stillorgan, Dublin. He is the author of the book, The Essential Guide to Special Education in Ireland.
