Teaching young children is tough, to say the least.  Well, the teaching part probably isn’t as hard as the learning part.  Kids have a very short attention span and if you bore them, you will definitely lose their attention.  We have to make learning fun or we risk losing the interest of the child.

If you’re a parent then you know just what I’m talking about.  Many children between the ages of 4 – 8 are extremely curious creatures.  They want to know everything, and I’m sure most will tell you they already know everything.  How many of you have experienced 5 year olds constantly saying “I know?”  Yet, when you try to sit and explain how to tell time they would rather grab your nose or conveniently change the subject.

So, what is it that kindergarten teachers do to maintain the attention of their young students?  You can be certain they’re not trying to force the material on the children even though most have strict curriculums they must abide by, especially in the interest of the No Child Left Behind laws.

Grade school teachers are highly trained in the use of stimulus in maintaining the attention of children.  No they don’t offer government bailouts, that’s a different kind of stimulus.  The stimulus I’m referring to is in the form audio and visual.  This stimulus is delivered in a manner to keep the child, not only entertained, but also engaged in the material.  There is also a tempo in the delivery and subjects are covered for 20 minutes at a time, max.

As a parent, surly you have been subjected to the hours with Barney, Bob the Builder, Dora the Explorer, Teletubbies and even the Muppets.  All of these programs have a similar structure.  They start with a theme and build on it with short skit-like segments.  These shows keep children engaged by way of entertainment. 

Now, most parents wouldn’t want to place their child in front of the television and hope they “get” what the show is offering.  Parents want to take a more active role in the education of their child, though sometimes lack the time or experience to do a proper job.  So, what do we do?

We use all that we have learned here to engage our children with audio, visual, entertainment, and short segment themes.  We can do this with the use of certain tools that are designed to be like games.  Two very important brands to remember in this arena are Leapfrog and V-tech.  Both of these brands offer dozens of applications that are designed specifically to engage young children and make learning fun and in a way that they don’t realize they are learning.