concentration

[awonghk05]

Hi

My son is 3 years and 3 months old. Would be helpful to know.

1.Skillset that a boy of this age should have.

2.Additional activities which we can start for this age.

3.Concentration at this age, is it normal for children to move from one activity to another? how to build this skill?

Also we read about the right brain development. What is it that we can do at this age with regard to this?

Helpful to get this information.

Thanks

 

[loupou]

Hi awonghk05,

The Louise B. Ames books on child development are quite useful for "benchmarking", even though they were written in the 1970s. Her one on three year old's is called "Your Three Year Old: Friend or Enemy".
http://www.paddyfield.com/mainstore/searchisbn.php?q=0440506492

This information from the "Zero to Three" organization in the USA on child development is also useful.
http://www.zerotothree.org/brainwonders/sitemap.html

Here's some info. from Australia that also gives some listing of "normal" development.
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Child_development_(7)_three_to_four_years?OpenDocument

This page too:
http://www.howkidsdevelop.com/developSkills.html#typicalMilestone


Finally, my experience.
My son, when he was three could concentrate well when he was interested in something. For example, when I would take him out
to the playground in our housing estate, he would often wait very patiently outside a neighbor's window, because that neighbor had a white dog who often would come to the window and look at my son and he would wave. Or, one time I took him to a little zoo when we were on vacation, and I lost interest in feeding the sheep long before he did.

However, if he was not interested in something, he would pay almost no attention at all. ZERO concentration.

What I did w/ my son when he was three...
Sang to him a lot (nursery rhymes, lullabyes, etc.). Read stories to him, Took him to the playground and played w/ him - let him climb, etc.

playdoh - he played w/ playdoh a lot. Also scribbling and drawing w/ pens and markers.

 

[jools]

Hi,
Just on the concentration point. A child's concentration is roughly his chronological age plus 2 in minutes, so a three year old's maximum concentration anything is roughly 5 minutes. This is only a guide and yes he should be changing activity all the time to stimulte his learning and generate his investigative skills. His concentration will develop. To extend the amount of time on anyone activity you need to give him little breaks and then allow him to come back to it. Always keeping play in mind, if he's not interested you should move onto something else to sustain his interest; he's only three and life should be about having fun and learning through play.

Jools