Concentration Your Child's Mental Workout!

Lizette van Huyssteen, a child development expert, helps us to uncover the ways in which to promote ‘whole mind’ workouts for our children, improving their ability to concentrate and get the most out of every learning opportunity

Concentration refers to the brain’s capacity to keep going at a task, not unlike the way in which physical fitness allows a person to keep moving during exercise. There is no particular region in the brain that is dedicated to concentration such as the areas focused on speech, emotions, visual processing, analytical reasoning, and so on. That is why concentration is not viewed as a ‘skill’ but rather as being mentally ‘fit’.

HOW DOES CONCENTRATION IMPROVE NATURALLY?

A child’s ability to concentrate goes hand in-hand with the brain wiring process, which starts from birth, mainly during the first three years of life and up to the first seven years. During the wiring process and related to the ability to concentrate are two important by-processes: myelination and brain cohesion.

Myelin is a waxy covering that insulates every neural connection in the brain. Not unlike insulating electrical wire, myelination keeps sparks from flying all over the place and develops stronger neural networks and connections between brain cells. The more an area of the brain is used, the thicker the myelin becomes, and the smoother and quicker information can travel. As myelination progresses in all areas of a child’s brain, they gradually learn to process more information more effectively, and for longer and longer periods – in other words, they develop the ability to concentrate.