So you are at your wits end. You are talking, talking and she is just not listening?
What can I do to hold her attention.
Well one of the first problems is that she is now back at school with all her friends, new and old. Especially if this is her first week in a new school or just going into Senior Kindergarten. Mom or Dad, the fact is right at this point in time you are really very low on the totem pole.
Don’t despair though, because you do have a place in her life still!
Okay. The trick to hold her attention (his attention also)
These tricks apply for 4 – 8 year olds with varying success depending on how serious you are. What makes it serious is that your child needs to hear you simply because you have the wisdom of having been in school long ago. If you have family rules and traditions that probably will be challenged you will be trying to have their attention. So it is pretty serious. In addition, there are notices that come home from school that you have access to and not the child. Important.
Hold her attention at all costs when you are speaking to them. This applies to boys also by the way. If you do not have their attention whatever you are saying is a waste of time.
Trick One
Start with something stupid, something gross. For example did you see the girl who carried the lizard to school. This can continue for a bit until he or she tells you that is totally impossible. That means they are listening. Now you can talk about what you want
Trick Two
Sometimes they won’t eat. Maybe you can put off eating for a while as you do something outside which is totally unanticipated. The shock will lead to some discussion. You know at times when they come home from school they need time to settle in and then eat. It’s not always an easy transition. Besides they do learn something new when you do something physical.
Trick Three
For the 4 and 5 year old. How to hold her attention? Who is getting them from school? Is it a drive or a walk to school, or do you pick up from the school bus. Whichever one it is, don’t ask any questions about school for a while. I guess most of us have learnt that that does not fly. No questions. And then sometime later tell them about something interesting that happened to you today. As the conversation gets going you will be surprised to see the linkages made to whatever is important to hear and to what you have to communicate
It’s all about communication and listening. Both are difficult but necessary if we are to hold their attention.