The Attention Span Of Children Leaves Much To Be Desired!

Playing the same game for five minutes seems a lifetime to them.

I have to say again, that teachers need a medal and much more money! Keeping children alert and focused for a whole lesson is an achievement in itself.

Bob and I go to another village further away now ( yes, a 45 km round trip does qualify ) once a week to have English conversation with 6-7 children. Their ages ranges between 4 - 11. Oh, you better believe that they are a nice but a very tough crowd.

They were eagerly waiting for us at the front door as we got there and

" Yeah, Bob and Biggi are here. "

was dominoed at a great decibel through the school. A nice start indeed and I could see Bob was pleased as punch. Already they were jumping about like little colts and asking whether we could play in their gym for part of the lesson.

By request we did a round of Uno, and then Memory. Yes, it seems simple but it does help them learn the English word for odd items ( yes, the makers of these games clearly feel the need to include phrases such as: doing the washing up / pyjamas / wellingtons & driving in a car to name but a few ) But those games are ice breakers and it does give the children a sense of accomplishment.

That is, if they stay focused. Yesterday, five minutes into the game, the first one started:

" Biggi, I want to do something else, this is boring. "

Fair enough, it can be if they don't focus or get any matching squares. This game has 144 pieces and there were 9 of us to play. A 15 minutes affair at best. Yet, the kids only were alert when they had to pick and after that they did the usual stuff:

• pick their nose.
• get up and run around the table
• pinch on the person sitting next to them
• form little mini groups to discuss this that and not the game.

We have been having conversation classes with children for two years now and I have realized and learned that whatever you choose to play or do, they think it is boring after 5-10 minutes. Even if they themselves brought the game along.

As this was only our second lesson there, I thought to myself that they had to understand that we are not going to roll over and give in to their every whim...

" Kids, we are going to finish this game, however long it takes. Only when it is finished can we go to the gym. "

" But it takes so long and I want to play a game in the gym now. "

" Look, if you all pay attention we will finish sooner. When you start something, you have to finish it too, so you might as well play. "

Gosh, even Bob was getting in a state and he kept on stage whispering to me that we should abandon the game and do something else. I believe he mentioned that I was stubborn as a mule to boot...fair enough, but I felt that if we had to have weekly lessons with them, they needed to know that we were in charge and not them. In desperation Bob sweetened the pot with:

" Listen up kids, whoever wins this game gets a big bar of chocolate next week! "

As per usual, bribery seemed to do the trick. At least they were making the effort and as I kept telling them that the sooner they applied themselves the sooner we would go to the gym. I think they understood that I wouldn't budge and resigned themselves to the task ahead.

Here is the funny thing. Once they knew they had no choice but to play they had tremendous fun and were trying to out-smart each other. When finally the last pair of Memory bits were collected, they were happy.

" Kids, I am so proud of you for finishing this game. You worked as a team in the end and look, you got it done. Really, I am very proud of what you achieved "

We had about 10 minutes left and accompanied with a sense of achievement all of us ran to the gym area. When finally we did go home, there was a triage of girls waiting at the front door in order to remind us not to forget the chocolate next week....let's see if they voluntarily pick a game of Memory next time!

Biggi