I recently had a conversation with a friend about the importance of concentration. While I know so well the importance, I struggled with verbalizing it in a way that satisfied me so I decided to refresh my memory by writing a post. I have chosen to use the words of Maria Montessori and Mihaly Csikzentmihaly with a few additions from me.
What is Concentration?
Focus
It is the action or power of focusing all of one’s attention. It can also be described as close attention, close thought or attentiveness
Researcher Mihaly Csikzentmihaly has found concentration to be one of the characteristics of life’s most meaningful and satisfying moments (flow).
Why is it important for the child to concentrate?
He had been working on these nesting bowls for a while and was concentrating so deeply that I wanted to capture it. Somewhere along the line, he started to smile and looked so happy! When I saw this quote, it made sense.
“The child who concentrates is immensely happy”
“An interesting piece of work freely chosen which has the virtue of inducing concentration… adds to the child’s energies and mental capacities, and leads him to self mastery”
“Without concentration, it is the objects about him that possess the child. He feels the call of each, and goes from one to another. But once his attention has been focused, he becomes his own master and can exert control over his world.”
“After concentration will come perseverance. This repetition, which begins after the first concentration… marks the beginning of yet another stage in human character formation”
He tried so many times and failed so many times before finally catching the ring and since he did not have enough control yet, he let go almost immediately and started trying again… Perseverance
Ability to carry through whatever he has begun
“The first essential to the child’s development is concentration. It lays the whole basis for his character and social behavior.”
“Just as in using a compass, the fixing of the point enables us to draw a circle , so in the child’s formation, the fixing of his attention (concentration) is basic to all that comes afterwards”
How can we help the child concentrate?
“…He needs things to concentrate upon. This shows the importance of his surroundings, for no one acting from outside can cause him to concentrate. Only him can organize his psychic life.”
“For this we must provide ‘motives of activity’ so well adapted to the child’s interests that they provoke his deep attention”
He had been working with this nexting
“An interesting piece of work freely chosen which has the virtue of inducing concentration… adds to the child’s energies and mental capacities, and leads him to self mastery.“
The peg and cup is one of my favorite items for infants. It is so simple but oh so engaging. He had spent several days concentrating deeply on it and trying to master it. Then I saw him one day spending a LOT of time examining the pegs from the peg box and then he stood up with what was obviously a purpose, took the cup and tried to insert the peg in it. I wonder what sensorial information he gathered from examining it and what he was thinking. “They are the same shape and about the same size, I bet this also fits in the cup. Actually, I don’t have to wonder, I can just test out my hypothesis”
I LOVE the Montessori philosophy and the opportunities the environment provides the child!
Other requirements for flow identified by Csikzentmihaly include interest and a feeling of control. These to me are exactly the same as Montessori’s indication that concentration requires an interesting piece of work freely chosen by the child. This is another reason why I love the idea of using shelves
“It is not enough to provide objects at random, we have to organize a world of progressive interest”
Another characteristic proposed by Csikzentmihaly is that the challenge is matched to skill. The skill should be stretched to it’s limit to meet the challenging goal. Again, I see a parallel to Montessori’s words. The objects have to continue to progress to continue to challenge the child and help him continue developing.
“Praise, help or even a look, may be enough to interrupt him, or destroy the activity. It seems a strange thing to say, but this can happen even if the child merely becomes aware of being watched. After all, we too sometimes feel unable to go on working if someone comes to see what we are doing. The great principle which brings success to the teacher is this: as soon as concentration has begun, act as if the children do not exist. Naturally, one can see what he is doing with a glance but without him being aware of it.”
Csikzentmihaly found that activities with forthcoming and immediate feedback are required for flow. Does this not sound like control of error? One thing that makes it easier to not interrupt the child to make sure that the activities that we provide have an inbuilt control of error. This means that when the child does something wrong, there should be an indicator that he can see for himself
What does concentration look like?
“Concentration is different from occupation. The essential thing is for the task to arouse such interest that it engages the child’s whole personality.”
I really like this quote. My son is always occupied but not always concentrating, You can see the difference, the intense focus that one activity that engages him entirely for some time. Battery operated toys that have buttons for the child to press, may occupy the child but they rarely, if ever, lead to concentration.
“No one says it must fix in the same way or on the same things but unless it does fixate, formation cannot begin.”
When you have observed or worked with older children in a Montessori classroom or have observed a child watching a Mobile, you have the impression that concentration looks like at least 30 minutes of intense focus. A long process with lots of repetition. Even if you have not observed a class, as adults we associate concentration with sitting still.
And then you observe your infant or toddler and wonder why they do not concentrate but don’t they? No one says it must fix in the same way. My son concentrates. It looks completely different from my expectations of concentration but once you put aside your preconceived notions, you see it.
He was so focused! Even as he moved around, he never lost focus. I have so many pictures of his focusing/concentrating on different activities and they all have one thing in common, he keeps changing position.
He chooses an object… usually one he is still struggling with. He may start out standing, and then he sits, he may even then lie down, and roll over, kneel down, and turn this way and then that way… all the time trying to figure it out and then repeating and repeating. Concentration. Then he’s done! he drops it and happily moves on to the next thing. It might have been 20 minutes or only 10 or 5 or even 2 but in those two minutes, he concentrated, he was in control of his world, he was experiencing flow, organizing his psychic life and building character!
Just to summarize,
Concentration helps build character, causes happiness and leads to learning.
Concentration requires a prepared environment with interesting activities with built in control of error, freedom/choice and, no interruptions
Concentration looks different with every child and sometimes with different activities. It may last very long or be very short. The biggest indicators are focus, active engagement and repetition
Please contribute to the conversation.
Live a Good Life
*All quotes are by Maria Montessori from the Absorbent Mind
0 Comments
montessoricarrie · July 2, 2014 at 3:40 am
Deeply reflective and great quotes! I really like this one “concentration engages the child’s whole personality” as an indicator of what to look for. I think you stated it but I really wanted to emphasize how important it is for the adult to NOT INTERRRUPT once concentration has begun. You covered some great outcomes when a child is concentrated so we as the adults need to ensure our actions are fully supporting the child’s development to reach this outcome.
nduoma · July 2, 2014 at 10:54 pm
Thank you montessoricarrie! There was a quote about not interrupting but of course it helps to hear it again and again. Thank you for the emphasis. I also wrote a follow up post that emphasizes this even more. I hope you’ll add any thoughts to that post. Thanks for stopping by!
dgvarney · July 3, 2014 at 12:52 pm
I’m reading your posts as O. naps … thanks for your very important reminders. I often feel as though I provide plenty of space and opportunity for O. to concentrate, but I know I must do better, by turning off the ever-droning radio (I’m an NPR addict) and providing more interesting work/materials for O. You have done so much to provide an enticing environment for your son, and you are an excellent observer! Now that O. is 18 months, I want to more astutely observe his interests and aid his already good capacity for concentration. Thank you!
nduoma · July 23, 2014 at 6:59 pm
Than you for your comment dgvarney. I think the most important thing is to constantly strive to do better. I am working on remembering that even taking pictures can be distraction so I’m there with you!
schlaflosinwien · January 1, 2015 at 9:11 am
Reblogged this on Montessori in Vienna, Austria and commented:
“Concentration is different from occupation. The essential thing is for the task to arouse such interest that it engages the child’s whole personality.”
10 things you can do to help your child concentrate | · July 2, 2014 at 10:23 pm
[…] This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post about the importance of concentration […]