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How to get kids to pay attention

npr.org

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Re: How to get kids to pay attention

#171

Post by jonhendry18 »

i_love_jc wrote: post #144

"The parents intentionally give their children this autonomy and freedom because they believe it's the best way to motivate kids." This is basically the philosophy behind self-directed learning: unschooling as well as learning communities like Sudbury schools, liberated learners centers, and agile learning centers. I work at one of these schools, and our kids are really good at paying attention. ADD is a real thing a…

"diagnosed with ADD and it turns out when they are interested in what they're doing, their attention span is completely normal."

Of course the problem is that, even when something is interesting to the person at a high level, there may be subsets of that activity which are dead boring.

Re: How to get kids to pay attention

#172

Post by sumedh »

tqkxzugoaupvwqr wrote: post #37
maltalex wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I often wonder what civilization would be like if adults asked the same question to themselves and then lead a life where they focused on that instead of being pressured into "making a living". I imagine we'd have an abundance of pilots, and actors and a severe lack of toilet cleaners.

The salary of cleaners would rise until enough people are willing to do the job or it is more profitable to install self-cleaning toilets.

> The salary of cleaners would rise until enough people are willing to do the job or it is more profitable to install self-cleaning toilets.

or we could pass laws to bring in temporary workers from other countries and keep the wages down.

Re: How to get kids to pay attention

#173

Post by c22 »

c22 wrote: post #150
ivanhoe wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just for the sake of all parents reading this and comparing it with their own experience, we need to remember that kids are all very different. And also that other parents usually don't tell the full story and try to show themselves and their kids in the best light (all us humans do that). One might be a great parent, or might just got lucky to have very cooperative kid. And the vice versa, if your kid is hard to han…

I definitely didn't tell the whole story, but the anecdotes I picked are representative of my parenting technique, which is why I picked them. I think the most important trait when parenting is empathy--reconstructing the scenario in your mind from the child's perspective. I think a lot of people do this with other adults, but forget to do it with children, and especially small children. Perhaps because they assume t…

Downvoters: can you be more specific? Usually it's obvious on a reread when I've failed to contribute to the conversation and I'll take the downvotes gladly, but this one has me stumped. Do you just not agree with my opinions, or have I come off as too sanctimonious?

Re: How to get kids to pay attention

#174

Post by burntrelish1273 »

jinfiesto wrote: post #143

I often wonder whether this has a lot to do with how we treat our kids. I often catch myself acting uninterested in my daughter's interests (she's two and often wants to show me things for the 50th time that were pretty boring in the first place.) She doesn't have any attention or behavioral issues in general, but I was amazed when a friend of mine came to visit who is an early music educator. They didn't do anything…

Reciprocity of being interested, by example, FTW. Makes sense to model and ensource behavior

If I get amped up, I become a firehose of consciousness tangents ADD-I but it's usually better to chill, listen and only say what's most important than no-filter crunk-tired.

Re: How to get kids to pay attention

#175

Post by yy77 »

The genereal idea is to let the children themselves want something with passion and they will pay attention. (not only to child in fact). However, one of the simple way to do that is NOT autonomy as the article suggest, but to make that thing sparse, precious and difficult to get. The children does not have the right to be well educated, will pay more attention comparing to those who have plenty already.

Re: How to get kids to pay attention

#176

Post by dboreham »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #82
tqkxzugoaupvwqr wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The salary of cleaners would rise until enough people are willing to do the job or it is more profitable to install self-cleaning toilets.

Why do pilots and cleaners need different wages, Is there something a pilot needs to live comfortably that somehow a cleaner doesn't?

Adam Smith pondered this 250 years ago. His writings on the subject are still some of the best.

Re: How to get kids to pay attention

#178

Post by geomark »

s4vi0r wrote: post #114
unit91 wrote: post #109

I have 6 kids, and I've found it's pretty simple to get kids to pay attention (or anything else). Be consistent, and willing to discipline if necessary. Here's the order I follow: 1. Polite request 2. Polite command 3. Stern command 4. Warning 5. Push-ups 6. Spanking They know I love them and because of that love obedience is required. Situations rarely escalate past step 2, and step 6 is memorable. ETA: for anything…

Don't spank your kids. It has no benefit, and many negative effects.

Indeed. I was spanked as a child (I was very stubborn and looking back it's clear that nothing else really worked with me). As a result, I suffer from a condition known as respect for others. It's a terrible affliction to have in this day and age.

Re: How to get kids to pay attention

#179

Post by zasz »

jinfiesto wrote: post #143

I often wonder whether this has a lot to do with how we treat our kids. I often catch myself acting uninterested in my daughter's interests (she's two and often wants to show me things for the 50th time that were pretty boring in the first place.) She doesn't have any attention or behavioral issues in general, but I was amazed when a friend of mine came to visit who is an early music educator. They didn't do anything…

Well, it sounds like in the Mayan village, a kid would have the opportunity to run off and interact with someone else, or do something else, a lot more easily than in an American suburb or city. I don't think we can conclude from the NPR article that the Mayan mothers actually have to put up with looking at the same thing 50 times. It sounds like Mayan children have a lot more physical space to explore, and a lot more other children nearby.

Re: How to get kids to pay attention

#180

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

jinfiesto wrote: post #143

I often wonder whether this has a lot to do with how we treat our kids. I often catch myself acting uninterested in my daughter's interests (she's two and often wants to show me things for the 50th time that were pretty boring in the first place.) She doesn't have any attention or behavioral issues in general, but I was amazed when a friend of mine came to visit who is an early music educator. They didn't do anything…

It surprises me how much this sort of behaviour towards children still goes on.

I remember being a kid and how people would be disinterested in you beyond anything superficial.

I often wonder how much of this effected my later behaviour.

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