CONCENTRATION for fun and profit.

Concentration is a basic skill that can be taught and made fun at the same time. You need only the simplest things found anywhere and you’ve got a game and lesson for life.
The ability to focus attention invades all aspects of life from school study to reading for pleasure or advancement to comprehending what’s going on in the world.

Unfortunately TV has lessened attention span to the 30 second (or less) grab. TV has a great power to educate yet it can reduce children to zombies.
Recently someone visited with his 15 year old son. The boy didn’t believe I wrote for magazines so I showed him some amusing pieces to suit his age. The first was 300 words with a cartoon illustration. He wouldn’t read it because he said it was too long!
300 words were too long?! Great heavens. Is he ever going to read a page? For those who don’t count words as part of their life, 172 words is up to this asterisk *

Just from that, we can say that he does poorly in school, will leave early, get a job as a hands–on worker, will never aspire to anything other than a bit more money in the same industry and… You know the type.

But you’re not reading this because you are the type of parent who wants that for your son or daughter. You want your child to grow knowing what you weren’t taught, but should have been. You want your child to be better prepared for the world of their future. You care.
Let’s use a deck of playing cards. A deck has 52 different cards and therefore an enormous variety of combinations of numbers, suits, picture cards or any three.

We can start with the simplest game of “Snap” for the little ones, where a player puts his hand on the cards and says ”snap” every time two consecutive sevens, twos, aces, or whatever are dealt to a pile on the table. They could be sevens or hearts or picture cards. They take these two cards and the game continues. When the whole deck has been played, shuffle the remaining cards to restart.

You could make it harder by nominating any particular consecutive cards, like only red cards or cards numbered six or less in sequence, i.e. ace-two, two-three, three-four, etc. Whoever ends with the most cards wins the game. This teaches observation and concentration and reflexes in one game. The sequence game also reinforces number learning.

One for the slightly more advanced is just for concentration. Deal all the cards out on a table, face up. Explain the game and then turn them face down. Now each player may turn up two cards so everyone else can see them. If these two match in number or picture, they can be taken from the table and placed in front of that player, who then has another chance at another two cards. When they fail to match, the next player has a turn.
The winner is the one who ends with the most cards.

A harder variation of this is to match number and color, for example the two threes in red (hearts and diamonds); the two black kings etc. This makes for a longer game and you have to remember many more card positions and more detail.

This game can be stared by dealing all cards face down at the start so that everybody starts ’blind’.

All card games that people gamble on involve chance. But in some games, players try to maximize their chances of winning by ‘card counting’. Casinos don’t like this and take measures to discourage or confuse the practice. It consists of remembering what cards have been played and weighing the odds of getting the right card. It is quite possible to remember the sequence of a whole deck of shuffled cards. If a child can concentrate long enough to learn the technique, they’ll be able to do that and much more. Think of their later academic prospects.

Never think that a job is too complicated for the child. Their minds soak in anything and if they don’t get it right the first time, they’ll adjust the detail later. Teach them Chess. Be seen playing it. Go to the park with the Chess tables. Never tell them it’s too complicated for them. If you don’t know the game, ask a player to teach the basics. Most players will be very happy to share their interest. Watch and learn.
Very often a young player will beat an older player because the youngster tries non standard moves that confuse an older players’ pattern of play. It’s good for both sides.

Why Chess? There are a variety of moves with different pieces and the interplay between pieces can become quite complicated. It means skill in planning and strategy, concentration and interaction with another mind.
It teaches patience and analytical skills. It’s a game to take with you into adulthood. Maybe Golf is the game where deals are made but Chess is the room where the plots are decided before any deals are made.

You can play Chess for free or get free lessons and there are so many great animated games to choose from. Remember the Harry Potter game?
One of its beauties lies in its popularity with all ages and nationalities. You don’t have to speak Mandarin or Polish to mutually enjoy the game.
We can go outside our scope here to say you can design a six sided board for three players. Try it. The game really requires some thinking. There is also 3dimensional chess where some of the board is raised. True 3D Chess on an eight level cube would be a mammoth undertaking for any mind.
Anything to help a child concentrate is worth it and need cost nothing. If it’s made to be fun, it is more easily learned. A by-product of these games is that your mind is kept up to scratch too.

Just type 'on line chess' or 'teaching chess' into google for a wealth of info.

Long live the King.

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The vaccine issue raises its head again in the UK where some doctors have suggested that certain vaccines may help cause autism by damaging a child’s immune system. The vaccine acts like letting the child play in the dirt and thereby develop immunity to pathogens and parasites that harm the body. But all of us are different so while one child may suffer another may benefit by the same procedure. How can we tell? We can’t ban immunization because it causes dire side effects in some children. But autism is for life. How do we test it?

Your input is welcome as a comment or regular contributor.
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Little kid looking at Mums’ drivers’ license.
"Mum, you're 38 years old."
"That's right dear."
"How come you got an 'f' in 'sex'?"
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Be good, Jay Ross. iqchildren@gmail.com