How to develop your children's potential
It's back-to-school time. For some children, it's an obstacle course as they make their way through the school "jungle". New surroundings, new friends, new things to learn, and therefore new expectations on the part of parents and the entire educational system. It can all be a bit overwhelming for our little ones.
Chattering, daydreaming, restlessness, stress... there are certain obstacles that prevent our children from developing their potential.
For example, when you're a child, it's not always easy to sit still and concentrate in class for an entire day. Some of them will chatter, get up regularly to go to the garbage can, flutter about... These reactions may enable the child to escape stress when a task becomes too difficult, for example. But this lack of concentration often worries parents, who fear attention deficit, hyperactivity and, of course, failure at school.
Those who succeed in life possess many skills. We're going to share with you some essential keys to developing your child's potential, optimizing their well-being and personal fulfillment: concentration, self-confidence, being positive, the ability to let go, and continuous improvement.
Children's well-being is probably the top priority for every parent, grandparent or relative.
Concentration problems in children: how to recognize them?
Children with concentration problems are very restless and tired. Concentrating requires a lot of mental energy, so it's extra work for them.
After that, every child is different. Some can only sit quietly for a minute or two, while others can look attentively at a book. Some 3- and 4-year-olds run, jump and climb in the park, while others play quietly with a bucket and shovel.
If your child seems more active than others, it may be due to his or her temperament. Every child has a distinct constitution and character traits, and that's what makes each one unique. That's the beauty of it!
And don't forget that it's normal for a toddler not to be able to concentrate. And yes, concentration isn't innate, it's acquired over time. It's perfectly normal, for example, for a 5-year-old to be able to concentrate for only 10 to 15 minutes on a single activity while sitting down. In fact, by the age of 10, a child can only concentrate for a few minutes longer (20 minutes). However, children are perfectly capable of concentrating on an activity they enjoy.
What's more, children in industrialized countries are under great pressure to learn, and are increasingly losing the desire to learn.
The main causes of poor concentration in children
There are two main causes. First, there are children suffering from ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder). This brain dysfunction, which has nothing to do with intelligence, causes attentional difficulties. As a result, children have difficulty concentrating for long periods of time. This disorder also leads to cognitive impulsivity. Children will tend to start an exercise without reading the statement. This rush is due to the brain's lack of automatic regulation. The final consequence of this disorder is behavioral impulsivity. Children with ADHD tend to become agitated during games, or to speak without being given the floor.
Concentration problems can also be due to psychological causes, such as stress. When children are anxious, they no longer have enough internal mental space to manage their concentration, because they are always preoccupied. A bit like us adults, in fact! I invite you to read our article on concentration:-)
Instead of getting upset and adding to his stress, his parents will encourage him to express his distress, while maintaining their serenity. Calm is just as contagious as stress, and promotes concentration. So does physical activity. "Play after homework": this principle, unanimously shared, should be reversed. After a day at school, where they've been sitting for hours on end, children need to let off steam to release their energy. This in turn improves their attention span.
The child's attention can also be focused elsewhere. It's important to remember that a child's development is also marked by complex learning processes (language, cleanliness, writing...) that require reorganization, mobilize all his psychic energy and prevent him - temporarily - from concentrating on other tasks.
3 keys to help your child develop his potential
Here are a few tips to improve your child's concentration and, at the same time, help him learn and develop his potential.
1 - Do yoga exercises
There's a great video on Youtube that I invite you to watch. Delphine (sophrologist, hypnotherapist and yoga teacher) invites us to relax and unwind through play.
"It's thanks to this fun that we'll succeed in calming and concentrating the children".
It's a well-known fact that when things are fun, we integrate them much more easily. André Stern, for example, has developed this point extensively in his bibliography (see the end of our article). "We are all born with a formidable learning tool: play. What does a child do as soon as he's left alone? They play.A child who is left to play all the time will learn, without dissociating play and learning".
2- Practice meditation
In the same spirit as yoga, you can also learn self-control at school through meditation.
Here's an extract from the program mille et une vies with Frédéric Lopez. Frédéric Lopez tells us about meditation: "I discovered it when I was 45, and I regretted that we weren't taught it at school".
In the video below, we take a look at the Collège de Gaulle in Jeumont, in the Nord region of France, where punished pupils meditate during detention!
Marie-Aude Lanniaux came up with the idea. This French teacher at the Collège de Gaulle in Jeumont, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, decided to offer meditation sessions to pupils normally sent to detention.
This alternative enables the most violent and turbulent teenagers to calm down. For several years now, the teacher has been starting one of her weekly classes with five to ten minutes of meditation. Widely used in the United States and Nordic countries, this practice helps to capture the attention of students, who are then more receptive in class.
At the end of the video, we talk about the little frog meditation: a simple meditation to concentrate and stay calm.
Frog meditation
The "frog method" is a revolutionary technique invented by Eline Snel, a Dutch therapist. Her book, "Calme et attentif comme une grenouille" (published by Les Arènes), is a bestseller that has already transformed the daily lives of children in 27 countries.
La petite grenouille is a mindfulness meditation for children aged 4 to 10.
I hadn't heard of it before, so I thought I'd check it out! You too can discover it!
Beginning of the lyrics to "Calm and attentive like a frog":
"The frog is a funny animal.
It can jump very far, but it can also stay still.
It notices everything that happens, but doesn't react to everything. She breathes, quietly. She doesn't let herself be carried away by the ideas running through her head. She's calm. Completely calm. Her belly inflates and deflates, coming and going.
A child can do exactly the same thing: he can be calm and vigilant at the same time. All he has to do is pay attention to his breathing
Why meditate with children?
This type of exercise enables children to:
- learn to listen to their body's signals: distinguish and name feelings of relaxation, discomfort, stress, fatigue..
- learn to relate these bodily signals to an emotional feeling: joy, enthusiasm, sadness, disappointment, fear, anxiety, frustration, anger..
- togo and get what they need, or to ask for it
- to experience a community adventure that fosters a sense of belonging
3- The benefits of mandalas for children
To achieve a state of harmony with ourselves and those around us, mandalas are an excellent option, whatever our age.
Let's see how to use them!
Color a mandala
It was Carl Gustav Jung who first noticed that when people were going through difficult phases, they spontaneously drew what looked like rosettes. After a great deal of research, he came to the conclusion that, in psychological terms, the mandala represents the whole person. And that this drawing, structured around a center, enables us to achieve balance and harmony.
So, if we're going through a phase of chaos in our lives - whether psychologically or physically - being able to work with a mandala, either by drawing it or coloring it, will enable us to reconnect with our deepest structure. With all our potential, our self. This applies to adults and children alike.
They generate circular harmony
Their circular shape and designs help to organize the interior of each individual. That's why coloring mandalas - from an early age - is so beneficial for children.
The visual stimuli encourage them to create, imagine and find harmony in their emotional disorder.
They encourage concentration
Ideally, children should be concentrating and silent when coloring mandalas. Depending on the complexity of each individual, the benefits will vary. Indeed, the cognitive processes mobilized to create them will increase. This in turn will develop their imagination, attention and flexibility.
That said, each mandala must be completed in order to achieve the visual and emotional effect it offers. Children will be eager to finish and show them off with pride. This stimulates their sense of responsibility and achievement. It also boosts their self-esteem.
Perfect allies for children with special needs
For children born with Down's Syndrome or Autism Spectrum Disorder, coloring a mandala will help them coordinate their movements. It also contributes to relaxation and helps them find their channel of expression. Hyperactive children will also find it a very fun way of calming down.
We need to let them choose the drawings that attract their attention the most, and encourage them to gradually increase the difficulty.
They help develop coordination and psychomotricity
Mandalas help strengthen hand and foot coordination. This in turn promotes finger psychomotricity. They help to gradually improve brain connections in children aged two to eight.
In addition to these benefits, they help children to improve the precision of their handwriting, as well as tying their shoelaces or manipulating certain objects.
Introducing new vocabulary
Coloring mandalas is an excellent stimulant for the brain. It allows children to develop their knowledge and vocabulary with new colors, geometric shapes (circles, squares, triangles, stars, among others), sizes and even emotions. They also stimulate their sense of aesthetics.
They boost their self-esteem
This is one of the most obvious benefits of children's mandalas. Children associate a drawing with something clean and original. This boosts their self-esteem. As a result, they'll have more self-confidence and find it easier to cope with later difficulties on their own.
It's very important to understand that coloring a mandala shouldn't become an obligation for children. They need to have a good time doing it. That's why it's essential to find the perfect time of day to invite them to color.
Over time, you'll see that they'll be the ones asking you for mandalas that are increasingly difficult to color. These will become new challenges for them.
To conclude:
The mandala is a tool for concentration. When children focus their full attention on the drawing, they're brought back to the present moment. This naturally leads to a state of relaxation, calm and peace: they stop thinking about their worries (depending on their age, of course).
In addition, there are much more subtle energetic impacts: the shape of the mandala and the center automatically lead to a state of unity. They help you refocus. But there are also the colors which, combined with the shapes, will visually create volumes from which very different sensations and energies will emerge.
Concentrating on a mandala
Children can also concentrate on a mandala to resonate with its vibration.
Surprisingly, at the wellness fairs we attend, we've noticed that certain mandalas stand out from the crowd..
Children will naturally gravitate towards the Honesty Mandala, the Peace of Mind Mandala, which radiates out to the heart, the Concentration Mandala (we'll come back to that!), the Enthusiasm Mandala, etc...
All these colors and shapes call them inwardly. Sometimes we have fun watching babies, comfortably installed in their strollers, stare at our canvases hanging on the walls! Our mandalas speak to their souls, to their hearts, that's for sure!
All the symbols act on their own, without you needing to concentrate on them. So if you put our mandalas in the child's immediate environment, they'll act and radiate their beautiful energies.
Depending on your child's age, you could, for example, place a mouse pad/harmonizing disc on his desk or bedside table.
You can also place a mandala under his pillow at night. Don't forget that we're 70% water, so the energy of the mandala will have a powerful effect on your child.
Or hang a mandala canvas in his room.
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