How to get kids to pay attention
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Re: How to get kids to pay attention
#2TL;DR: Autonomy; which holds true for adults and children.
Re: How to get kids to pay attention
#3Autonomy,
What would you do if you didn't have to do anything else?
Then create space in their schedule for this activityI'm curious if their measurement of paying attention to an unrelated task performed by someone else is a measurement of attention or curiosity.
Re: How to get kids to pay attention
#4> For starters, he says, ask your kid this question: 'What would you do if you didn't have to do anything else?'
In the western world the answer to that question is often some addictive activity such as playing video games, or watching videos on youtube.
Re: How to get kids to pay attention
#5What's really interesting to me is this same thing can be applied to adults too.
The article writes:
> For starters, he says, ask your kid this question: 'What would you do if you didn't have to do anything else?'
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".
Re: How to get kids to pay attention
#6I guess my follow up is: which is better? Is it better not to pay attention to tasks and imagine other stuff or is it better to focus on the task no matter how trivial?
In other words, should the Maya kids be learning from the Americans?
Re: How to get kids to pay attention
#7What's really interesting to me is this same thing can be applied to adults too. The article writes: > For starters, he says, ask your kid this question: 'What would you do if you didn't have to do anything else?' 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 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".
Shorter.
As much as I'd love to follow my heart, I also know that the things I find personally interesting aren't the same ones I'm good at. Alas, it's also in a field where only the very best make any money at all.
Re: How to get kids to pay attention
#8> For starters, he says, ask your kid this question: 'What would you do if you didn't have to do anything else?' In the western world the answer to that question is often some addictive activity such as playing video games, or watching videos on youtube.
The question confuses me right away because most Americans are not keeping their kids' schedules full all the time. "Go play, I have to work/cook/shop/whatever." Kids are doing "what they would do if they don't have to do anything else," because they don't have to do anything else.
Maybe the question is more about the behavior of the adult than the child? Parents need to enable their children's interests. Maybe your child really wants to roller skate but can't do it unless you enable them by watching them, because it's a dangerous neighborhood. It's your responsibility to foster their interest by making the time to help them.
Or maybe the idea is that parents sometimes don't actually know the interests of their children? So the point of the question is not to open time in the kid's schedule for their activity (because they're doing that activity already). It's to make the parent more aware of what the activity is?
Re: How to get kids to pay attention
#9Autonomy, What would you do if you didn't have to do anything else? Then create space in their schedule for this activity and the time to focus on their interests. I'm curious if their measurement of paying attention to an unrelated task performed by someone else is a measurement of attention or curiosity.
I am so grateful my parents didn't need to "create space in my schedule" for anything. I created my own schedule (outside of school). That is autonomy, not your parents creating spaces in your schedule.
Re: How to get kids to pay attention
#10What's really interesting to me is this same thing can be applied to adults too. The article writes: > For starters, he says, ask your kid this question: 'What would you do if you didn't have to do anything else?' 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 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.