Can I improve ds's concentration?

[ilovespinach]

Ds1 is has just started seeing a S&L therapist.We live abroad and whilst ds's English is fine his second language is developing slowly. He has lots of exposure - about 5 hours a day through the week and some activities after.

We have had his hearing checked and there are no problems there. He did one test where he had to listen to something on a cd and then repeat and he struggled so the dr recommened S&L therapy.

We have just started this and the the lady has noticed that ds struggles to hold focus. He plays with one toys, then his attention flits to something else and something else...it doesn't help that there are always trains going past the window as well :) She has said that the world is a noisey place and that we learn how to block out the unimportant stuff and focus. This is how we learn and could explain why ds is having a delay with his second language. Ds needs a little training on this.

Does anyone have any tips on how I can help ds improve his concentration.

Thanks - that was a long one!!!

BTW he's 4.11

How desperate are you? Omega 3 oils are not proven but considered to improve concentration.
If you are not keen on that idea I would try story cds for short periods and small rewards if he can tell you 5 facts about the story once it has finished or something like that. Try to make it fun and a game. You could do it too and the one who remembers the most gets the sticker!
On the toy front I would reduce what is available really. My dniece flits from one toy to the next every five minutes. You can spend ages getting out the stuff to paint and she is bored in 2 minutes and wants to do something else. I realised that if I said, "No" and sat down and painted with her and talked about the painting with her and gave her subtle hints what she could do to her painting next etc her focus improved and we soon realised we had been painting for ages.
I would also make sure that the tv is off as much as possible as well as the radio and music etc unless that is the focus of the activity.
It wont fix itself overnight but things like this should help over time.

thanks for the tips :)

I will get some omega 3 and will check out cds - not sure whether to get them in English or the other lang though. Tv is something we could limit a lot more.

From what I can gather, it is the dha content of the Omega 3 which makes the difference.
You could try posting in Special Needs. I am not in any way suggesting he has special needs but many of the posters in that area have a huge amount of knowledge about children's behaviours, concentration being one of them.

There are reflex exercises that i do with my DS.

He has mild cerebral palsy - but it is really mild and I do the reflex exercises with someone called a behavioural optometrist because he wears glasses and has a squint.

The exercises are doing things like crawling for a few minutes a day, skipping etc and other co-ordination things.

I think they might be similar to brain gym???

Anyway its all helped my son's co-ordination and concentration - definitely.