{"id":1172,"date":"2022-10-11T16:17:49","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T20:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/?p=1172"},"modified":"2025-04-09T17:49:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T21:49:39","slug":"cultivating-the-habit-of-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/cultivating-the-habit-of-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultivating the Habit of Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row_content&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;true&#8221; custom_padding_t=&#8221;30&#8243; custom_padding_b=&#8221;30&#8243; row_hide_sm=&#8221;yes&#8221; row_hide_md=&#8221;yes&#8221; row_hide_xs=&#8221;yes&#8221; css_zindex=&#8221;999&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1706729516020{background-color: #faf5eb !important;}&#8221;][vc_column]<div class=\"templatera_shortcode\"><div class=\"container-fluid row_section vc_row_cp_lr_15 vc_row_cp_t_0 vc_row_cp_b_0\"><div  class=\"vc_row wpb_row 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Mason<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_3\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953b11b7e6f6789380758\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\">Articles<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_4\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953b11b7e80d881829461\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amblesideschools.com\/main\/educator-support\" target=\"_blank\">Members<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\"><span style=\"color: #003865;\">&gt; Return to Articles<\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Cultivating the Habit of Attention&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h1|font_size:30|text_align:left|color:%23020202&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;15&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It is impossible to overstate the importance of this habit of attention. It is &#8230;&#8221;within the reach of everyone and should be made the primary object of all mental discipline;\u201d for whatever the natural gifts of the child, it is only so far as the habit of attention is cultivated in him that he is able to make use of them.<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte Mason, <em>Home Education<\/em>, 146<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Habit of Attention is Important<\/strong>\u2014One of Ambleside School&#8217;s commitments to parents is this: \u201cAll students will be supported in mastering the habit of focused attention\u201d through inspirational ideas and natural consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Why is this habit of attention so important?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the standard classroom practice of presenting short, varied lessons and narration after a single reading, we work with each student in other ways to develop this habit of attention. These are simple interventions implemented daily in the classroom that are also useful at home. Some of these include:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Kindly requiring that a child keep eye contact when engaged in conversation or discussion with someone.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Asking the child to repeat instructions back to ensure they have understood them.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Using subtle gestures such as gently tapping or placing an encouraging hand on a child\u2019s shoulder to re-focus their attention back to the work at hand.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, the calm and simple movement of a teacher to closer proximity beside a child lends the student the strength and reassurance they may need to help them regain attention.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Some students may need a teacher or parent to help them by breaking down their work into steps and estimating for them the time a task will take. Charlotte Mason\u2019s idea of \u201cset work for set time\u201d is a way to remedy a child\u2019s tendency to let the mind wander and become distracted. It is important to have a finite amount of time planned for specific work to be done; a realistic expectation is established, the expectation is clearly communicated, and the expectation and timeframe are enforced. For instance, the teacher gives thirty minutes to complete an illustration in a copybook. If a student completes her best work before the thirty minutes has passed, she is then rewarded with that extra time for leisure before she begins her next task. A child will quickly get this idea and be motivated to use his time wisely.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Older students may need an inspirational appeal to their will:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>He should be taught to feel a certain triumph in compelling himself to fix his thoughts. Let him know what the real difficulty is, how it is the nature of his mind to be incessantly thinking.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Charlotte Mason, <em>Home Education<\/em>, 145<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When he brings his own will to make himself attend, \u201cWell done! You have done your duty,\u201d could be our encouraging response. Attention is both a trait and a skill and developing its power in our children requires steady practice and confidence that, no matter how weak the trait, each step of growth unleashes new strength.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Virginia Wilcox<\/strong><br \/>\nFormer Principal of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ambleside.org\">Ambleside School<\/a> in McLean, VA[\/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTVCeWFycHAlNUQ=[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is impossible to overstate the importance of this habit of attention. It is &#8230;&#8221;within the reach of everyone and should be made the primary object of all mental discipline.&#8221; \u2014 Charlotte Mason<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[88,202,102],"class_list":["post-1172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philosophy","tag-charlotte-mason","tag-habit-of-attention","tag-habits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cultivating the Habit of Attention - Ambleside International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cultivating the habit of attention in children requires steady practice and confidence, knowing each step of growth, strengthens the trait.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/cultivating-the-habit-of-attention\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cultivating the Habit of Attention - 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