The Concentration of Babies

"The time when you need to do something is when no one else is willing to do it, when people are saying it can't be done. " - Mary Frances Berry

THE CONCENTRATION OF BABIES

Judith Leipzig has an informative chapter, "Supporting the Development of a Scientific Mind in Infants and Toddlers," in the Child Care Information Exchange publication, The Wonder of It:  Exploring How the World Works.  In this chapter she talks about young children's ability to concentrate:

"There is a special kind of focus that scientists bring to bear upon the subject of investigations.  This is an intense beam of interest, an absorption which cannot be deterred by the enticements of less important activities.  We have an image of the serious scientist working in her lab into the wee hours of the morning, absorbed in her work in a way that makes her disregard all else.  This ability to concentrate on a matter of interest is, in part, something that many babies are born with.  Babies are paradoxical — on the one hand, much of their learning is global and undifferentiated, but, on the other hand, it is an incredibly minute examination of experience.  How many adults would not only notice, but also explore, the variations of feeling when brushing up against blanket edge and blanket middle?  It is the rare adult who would display the impressive ability to become absorbed in a question that the toddler shows when he pushes a chair back and forth from one side of the room to the other, while he learns about space and movement and himself and more.

"Adults can either assist children in developing their concentration further, or we can teach them to derail their trains of thought in mid-journey in much the same way that television commercials interrupt our absorbed experience of a story and program our minds to expect these breaks from cognitive engagement.

"In this area, one of the important things teachers can think about is learning the skill of watching and waiting.  It is important for adults to recognize when not to interrupt as a baby crawls in and out of a box on the floor repeatedly, or a toddler concentrates for a full five minutes on sponging off an already clean table.  Children need time to process their experience, so if they continue to look absorbed, we can know that they are still working on learning and integrating information.  They also need the time to gain a sense of completion of the task.  When possible, a teacher should think about whether that baby really needs her diaper changed this very minute, if it's absolutely necessary to go the store right now, or if the adult can honor the child's absorption for a little while longer."

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