Does your child have difficulty focusing or finishing things they start? Do they get distracted easily? They possibly are trying to do too many different things at one time. We live in a busy world, where multitasking is becoming more prevalent. We may think that this helps us to be more efficient, but research shows that the opposite is true. Our brains are not wired to multitask. It takes time for our brains to become engaged in a topic. If we switch from one thing to another, our brains need to re-engage with the new activity, and that can reduce performance. When a child works on one thing at a time, their brains are wired to be less distracted.
While technology can play a role in our children’s short attention spans, as imitators, they will also mimic what we model for them. When we are distracted while talking to them, that can play a part as well. Just like them, we adults might need to change some ingrained habits. Instead of focusing on another task when our child tries to engage with us, we might try dropping what we are doing and giving them eye contact and our undivided attention during communication. Let me be frank: this is challenging me as well!
This week The Puppet Kids discover that multitasking can get in the way when they are trying to do activities that are new, hard, have multiple steps, or are in a distracting environment. They learn the power of doing one thing at a time. Your children can try to adopt the same principle in their own lives.
This week of lessons includes four scenario videos that you can watch with your students Monday through Thursday, with follow-up questions for class discussions. Kids can join Queenie on Friday when she gets a visit from Superhero, Math Man, who saves the day by teaching her the power of doing ONE thing at a time.
This week also includes a Simple Summary video in Spanish to help those who are developing simple language skills, while focusing on the target social-emotional skill of the week.
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