Minds in the Making: Focus and Self Control

This month we continue our exploration of “minds in the making,” as we delve into the first of the seven critical life skills every child needs. Ellen Galinsky, author and former president of National Association for the Education of Young Children, notes the first critical life skill to be Focus and Self Control. Living in a technologically-immersed world, we live in a fast-paced society with expectations of constant availability. Many children also feel this same sentiment of high-pace, rush, and stress.

A group out of Columbia University recently concluded a series of studies to determine what skills acquired in early childhood children need to be successful in school. Out of hundreds of complex analyses three skills emerged as the strongest predictors of achievement in school: strong emergent literacy skills at entry to K-12 schooling, strong foundational math skills at entry to K-12 schooling, and attention skills (Gunn, 2008). It is these attention skills, focus and self control, that we will explore in more detail this month.

Focus and self control are actually comprised of four sub-skills. These are focus, or the ability to orient and remain alert; cognitive flexibility, or the ability to shift one’s attention and thinking; working memory, or the ability to hold something in one’s mind and actively process it; and inhibitory control, or the ability to stick to a task with a purpose in mind. While these are skills that continue to develop across the childhood years and into early adulthood, the foundation for these skills begins at the earliest ages.

Focus and self control begin with paying attention; be this the deep stare of a newborn, the curious gaze of a young infant, or the wide-eyed joyful watch of an older infant, attending to the world begins early. Helping children learn to focus and pay attention should be a part of your daily interaction with your child in a variety of ways.

• Read books in a dramatic way—change your voice, point to the pictures, involve hand movements, and encourage children to listen and repeat repetitive portions of text in the book.
• Play games that encourage attention—Games like “I Spy,” “Red Light/Green Light,” and guessing games force children to listen, attend, process, and use inhibitory control.
• Play games that encourage flexible thinking—Puzzles and games of pretend are the best examples. Play a game of pretend with your child and then change the scenario somehow. This forces him or her to rethink the pretend play in a new and different way.
• Encourage interests—Play into your child’s interests and help him maintain focus on these areas of interest. If your child wants to sell lemonade, work with him or her to make a plan, go through the steps, actually do the task, and reflect. If your child is focused on firefighters, encourage him to look for fire trucks on the ride to school or to count fire hydrants. These tasks all encourage focus and are a chance to engage working memory and inhibitory control, or the ability to continue to process information and to stick with a task.
• Lastly, model these skills for your child—While it is easy to get swept up in checking email on your phone or listening to the football game playing in the background, model the ability to switch focus, fully attend to the situation, and to stick to a task. Your child will do, or attempt to do, what he or she sees.

Lauren Starnes, PhD- Manager of Curriculum and Instruction

Chesterbrook Academy Royersford is part of Nobel Learning Communities, Inc., a national network of more than 180 nonsectarian private schools, including preschools, elementary schools and middle schools in 15 states across the nation. Chesterbrook Academy provides high quality private education, with small class sizes, caring and skilled teachers and attention to individual learning styles. They also offer before- and after-school care and the Camp Zone® summer program. Chesterbrook Academy in Royersford, Pa.  is a part of Nobel Learning Communities, Inc.   Please visit our website Royersford.ChesterbrookAcademy.com  for more information about our school and how you can enroll your child today.