Create Calm Learning

I suffered a serious period of burnout a few years ago after not listening to my body's signals to rest. Now I listen closely. Are you listening to what your body is telling you?

The sessions I offer provide the chance for children to practice internal mindful listening - an invaluable skill for life!

It's officially summer! The longest day of the year has arrived; the day with the longest hours of daylight and the point at which we in the northern hemisphere are closest to the sun. It's a turning point in the year; a moment of reflection. What achievements are you celebrating from the first half of the year? What goals / intentions do you have for the second half? What are you doing with this long day? Soak up the sun and let your inner child play!😊

Attuning accurately to a child's feelings, staying available and nearby, staying calm and expressing this with empathic reflection helps them to feel seen, heard, safe and can calm their activated nervous system. Here are some ways to do it...

In lessons we often expect children to be able to focus almost like we as adults do. However, childhood development experts generally say that a reasonable attention span to expect of a child is two to three minutes per year of their age. That's the period of time for which a typical child can maintain focus on a given task.

Average attention spans work out like this:

2 years old: four to six minutes
4 years old: eight to 12 minutes
6 years old: 12 to 18 minutes
8 years old: 16 to 24 minutes
10 years old: 20 to 30 minutes
12 years old: 24 to 36 minutes
14 years old: 28 to 42 minutes
16 years old: 32 to 48 minutes

Of course there are often additional challenges children may face that interfere with their ability to focus, such as anxiety, ADHD, sensory overload and sensory processing.