Why Are Attention and Listening Skills Important?

Why are attention and listening important?

Some children start primary school education but they do not have the appropriate attention and listening skills. This means it is difficult for them to do the work and behave correctly in the classroom.

Attention and listening skills develop in stages as children’s communication develops. The ability to listen is an active process, which is essential for interaction and communication.

Babies can pay attention for a short time but they are easily distracted. As they grow, they can listen and pay attention to one activity. Then they develop the ability to move their attention between two activities or two speakers. Finally, they develop the skill to focus on many things or to integrate their attention skill in busy environments.

We know that children develop at different rates. There is a wide difference in what is considered ‘typical’ development. Below is a table that shows developmental norms. This is guidance for what children are usually able to do at different ages. It isn’t a definite rule that every child must have the same development time. For some children the time might be faster and for others it might be slower.

The six developmental stages of attention and listening development are:

Stages	Development of Attention Skills
Stage One: 0-1 year	They are very easily distracted. Attention is on their current interest and will quickly change to any new stimulus (e.g. voice, noise, toy, food).
Stage Two: 1-2 years	They can concentrate on a task that they want or like. Children cannot focus on more than one task. It is difficult for an adult to direct the child.
Stage Three: 2-3 years	Attention is on one task but the child can move their attention away from one task and then go back to the original activity with adult support.
Stage Four: 3-4 years	Children start to control their own focus of attention. They are able to change their attention to and from tasks more easily and require less adult support.
Stage Five: 4-5 years	The child is usually starting school. They can now do an activity and listen to the teacher giving instructions. This is called dual channelled attention. Their concentration span can still be quite short, however, children can cope with group situations.
Stage Six: 5-6 years	Children can use their attention skills in different ways and for different amounts of time. They can easily combine the information that they see and hear.

Now we understand about attention and listening skills, let’s talk about what happens when there is a problem.

Difficulties with attention and listening can be a problem for all areas of learning. If a child cannot listen and pay attention they will be unable to understand information they are given and they will not be able to learn or join in.

For example, Lola is four years old, started reception class this year. For Lola to join in with classroom activities she needs to be able to listen and pay attention to more than one thing at a time. She needs to listen to her teacher and write things down even when other children are making noise in the background or if there is noise outside the classroom.

After the second term, Lola was referred to our Speech and Language Therapy service because her teacher and school staff said Lola was not interacting with the class. She was not following instructions and was not joining in.

We did an assessment and we found that Lola’s attention and listening skills were not fully developed, according to her age. She had difficulties paying attention and listening to her teacher because she finds the classroom environment very distracting; there are lots of background noises and things she could see that made her stop listening to the teacher. She could not change her attention to focus on what was important like the teacher’s instructions or her work. She could not sit still, she was moving a lot and distracting other children in her group.

After ten weeks’ intensive therapy, Lola has now learnt to sit still. She knows she must look at the person talking. She can actively listen and pay attention to one task for up to 20 minutes.

Who Can Help?

Speech and Language Therapists are professionally trained to support children with attention and listening difficulties. If you are concerned about your child’s ability to pay attention in a noisy environment, please get in touch and our team will be happy to help.

Get in touch: [email protected] | 66 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NA