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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

How long should a 3/4 year old be able to concentrate for?!

13 replies

Barmymummy · 18/03/2009 20:04

My DS is 3 years 10 months. Have read loads about concentration/attention spans but I have no idea how long a suitable time span is!!

So, if we are playing a board game, doing some drawing or something quiet, how long is a reasonable amount of time for a BOY (we all know boys are born with ants in their pants lol!) of this age to sit still/concentrate for?!

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mrsmaidamess · 18/03/2009 20:06

I don't think there is an average is there? When i am at nursery the 3 4 year old boys can concentrate for 15 minutes or so during a story.

gagarin · 18/03/2009 20:07

10-15 mins?

Hulababy · 18/03/2009 20:12

Some of the children in the Y1 class I work in struggle to concentrate beyong 10 minutes TBH!

It varies loads at this age. Concentrattion span can be anything from 3or 4 minutes to 20 minutes or more.

Does your DS go to nursery pr preschool? I think those whp are used to the strucre of nursery are possibly more used to having to sit still for longer periods of time. Similar those who go to activity classes where there is circle time, etc.

Lindenlass · 18/03/2009 20:15

How long is a piece of string? All children are different. My DD1 (nearly 6) is like a butterfly, flitting from thing to thing very quickly. My DD2 (4) can spend hours on something she's engrossed in. It really doesn't matter IMO until they go to school (which mine don't, handily ) - my DD1 is in no way hindered by her short attention span, but I suspect she would be if she were in school. And the same for DD2 except for her long attention span!

Barmymummy · 18/03/2009 20:18

Thanks! Am not worried at all TBH, was just curious! Have never really timed DS to see how long he concentrates for but as I say, was just curious.

I asked playschool whether he was any better at sitting on the rug at storytime and they replied with "Its not his most favorite activity of the day . Couldn't help but laugh at that, sums him up!!

I don't envy reception teachers who have 30 kids who all have ants in their pants, its hard enough dealing with one!!!

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Barmymummy · 18/03/2009 20:20

Do you home educate Lindenlass? Have always been interested in this but way too nervous about doing it!

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Lindenlass · 18/03/2009 20:22

Yes, we home educate and love it! Have you ever talked to anyone about it who does it?

Barmymummy · 18/03/2009 21:48

No I haven't, tell me more!! Very very interested!

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Lindenlass · 19/03/2009 06:36

Well firstly, did you know about this? You might find it helpful to read the threads about books about home education - personally I can recommend the book Free Range Education as a starting point to see if it really does interest you .

I first learnt about it when I was pg with DD1, suggested it to DH who was over the moon that the law didn't say we had to send her to school as he said it had been the one thing he'd dreaded about parenting, having hated school himself. Mentioned it to my mum (a primary school teacher) who thought it was a great idea and wished she'd done it herself. Also spoke to my uncle (a secondary school teacher and father of four) who had the same opinion as my mum. That pretty much decided us and we started learning about it.

We started going to home ed groups and meeting up with other families who planned to HE when our oldest was 2 and our DD2 was just 4m old, so we made a lot of friends with children around our children's age. The more I read, the more convinced I was that HE would be the best choice to make for our children.

We plan to HE until they want to go to school (which I'm hoping never happens!). I really love it, working at their pace. We do what they call 'autonomous education' which basically means trusting in the efficiency of informal learning - learning through life. We don't do any lessons or curriculum or even any planning! We just follow the children's interests.

DD1 (now nearly 6) learnt by herself to read a few months ago and has a fantastic grasp on maths, as well as great general knowledge and knowledge about science - all just by playing, living etc. They sometimes choose to do workbooks, or pick an experiment out of one of their usborne books, or ask to do a craft thing off mister maker or something. They play on the internet - cbeebies, education city, club penguin.

I could go on forever - ask me questions if you like

ScummyMummy · 19/03/2009 06:41

My nearly 10 year old boys can concentrate for only about a millisecond unless the subject matter is match attacks or comics.

Barmymummy · 19/03/2009 18:57

Had no idea there was a Home Ed section will spend a good amount of time ploughing through that. Will definately look into doing this with my DS who I feel is not going to like school much but we'll see.

Its so lovely to see people being positive and enthusiastic about doing this, its very infectionus

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thecloudhopper · 19/03/2009 21:32

Hi just thought i would say that usually a child can be talked to and listen to the adult to 2plus their age so for example if they are 3 then they can usually concentrate for 5 min.

deaconblue · 19/03/2009 21:48

ds is nearly 3 and can concentrate for up to about 45 mins if he's really into something (so will sit and look at a book on dinosaurs for ages, plays with his Happyland stuff for a long time) but totally refuses to do anything at all at someone else's request.

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