2 Year Old Has A 30 Second Attention Span

[AmyKidsCo]

Here is a great article outlining what I am talking about.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-gail-gross/how-boys-and-girls-learn-differently_b_5339567.html

Here is a good video caled The War on Boys

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OFpYj0E-yb4

I never said boys are slower and I am not making excuses for boys at all. Many studies show boys and girls do not have the same brain development and hormones even at a young age. I am not saying we lower expectations for boys I am saying they have a different learning style (I am not saying all boys but I am saying most). Now that a lot of schools are focusing more on academics and testing and having the kids sit more and move their body less no P.E. or recess) we are seeing a large decline in boys performance in schools. We have adjusted the classroom in a way that naturally works better for girls but we are leaving boys and their kind of learning styles out. I do not have lower expectations for boys at all since I have been working with only boys for years now I have noticed a difference in how they like to learn and how they do better if I keep in mind how they think and process things. Everyone has a different learning style.

Let me be clear that my sons are expected to sit down and listen to a story and they do (my 2 yo just turned 2 last week so I am working with him on sitting in longer phases but I do not strap him down because there is no danger in him walking around the older kids know they are expected to sit and they all do). I never said we only do what they want or I only sing so they can learn but I have noticed all of my kids learning styles and appeal to them all. I understand listening and sitting and so on are skills that are taught and I do work on that with all the kids. Going to the extreme and assuming I meant zero control is a little much, I have very high expectations for all my kids no matter what sex they are. I learn a lot like my 5 yo son who I am not worried about going to kindergarten this fall because he can learn without music or moving but does better when he does. When I went to the training about boys I learned that I learn a lot like a boy and may be why I absolutely hated school growing up. If my son comes home from school and is having difficulty I don't expect his teacher to change I will make him a song or dance or whatever it takes for him to learn (this is were being a parent kicks in) and as he grows up he will learn how to make thing work for him since schools are more girl learning style centered.

Boys do not or should not have lower or different expectations but I do not expect all kids to be at the same level whether it is a boy or girl. I just wanted the OP to understand that some boys (even girls but more commonly boys) are not as mature and take longer to master some of the skills that we might think would be easy for them to do.

ITA.

My question isn't whether expectations should be raised or lowered, but whether they're appropriate for each individual child, and where they're coming from. Where's the rule that says that all 2 yr olds need to be able to sit for 5 minutes to listen to a story?

[MunchkinWrangler]

I totally believe boys are 'wired' different than girls. I also think that at 2 there should really be no expectation of any time limit for an activity. Is this child a young 2 or older 2?

My son is 2.5. His attention span is consistently getting longer i.e will color for 15 min., will set up train tracks and play for 20 min, will sit down and look at books. I have a 3 year old girl who will scribble on a page and say she's done coloring, won't sit and look at books, and pretty much has a 2 second attention span.

I think this has to do with what happens at home and what they are normally engaged in by adults. Screen time could be a factor but maturity does as well.

[Ariana]

All of the "science" behind boy brains being different has been debunked time and time again. Hormones do not come into play until adolescents when the brains actually become different and change. Even that change is highly suspect because many of the changes have mostly to do with socialization and an identity with a certain gender so scientists cannot even say for sure that those changes are predetermined by sex. Also when you take into account the plasticity of the brain you can see why traits are very rarely hardwired. Anyway I have read enough to know that this type of science does more harm than good.

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree. I see the decline of boys as being directly related to this type of "science" that tells people boys are different and need to be treated differently.

I appreciate you explaining your post a little further because it does sound like you set expectation for them and that they have learned some self efficacy and regulation which is wonderful!

[Play Care]

I feel your pain. Before this year I would have been saying how inappropriate it is to expect a 2 yo to sit, kids need to move, etc.

In September I started two brothers, oldest is now 3 1/2 and younger just turned 2. They are all.over.the.place. Tons of screen time, getting out of bed at night, lots of whining, etc. The 3 1/2 has a severe speech delay and it's becoming apparent the 2 year old is developing the same speech pattern. While they are good here, they require more supervision than any one else - the 3 1/2 yo is "potty trained" but heaven forbid he's in the bathroom by himself Also, he still has to be buckled in to a booster at meal times other wise he's up and around. At 3 1/2! I don't think I've ever had to buckle kids in at that age. We usually don't use boosters with kids that old. Add to the fact he still communicates by pointing and grunting....during Circle and story here (short!) the three other kids (a 5 year old girl, an almost 5 year old boy, and a 2 year old boy) sit and listen - excited to help, etc. meanwhile the brothers are rolling around on each other

Mom has the "boys will be boys" mind set and just kind of lets it happen. It's sad, but also getting frustrating because due to their wild and crazy behavior, they turned off a potential dcfamily (during the interview the boys ignored the other kids, ran all over the place and kept tackling each other, add to the fact you can't understand a word that comes out of a nearly 4 year olds mouth... ) and unfortunately they were the only kids here that morning so I'm sure the mom thought that was how things run here (um, no)
I had a visitor from the referral agency to talk about getting a CDA, and while only the older child was here that day, she had major concerns about his development. After she left my assistant said "it's a good thing only one of them was here today!" I can only imagine what her thoughts would have been then.

So yeah, I'm kind of over the whole "boys will be boys" mentatility, especially when I see it used to justify behavior by boys who are out of control.

[Unregistered]

OP here, thank you all for your responses, the conversation here has been so interesting and covered so many view points! I'm sorry I did not reply sooner.
There are concerns with this child beyond the attention span, it's also following directions (simple, one step), and not getting along with other kids (he likes them, they don't like him because he cannot keep his hands to himself, and is big for his age and a bit of a bull in a China shop)
Story time has gotten better, he sits longer than before. The main struggle now has been getting him to sit for meals. He gets up- over and over- rolling his eyes up and walking off in a way that says "I can't heaaaaar youuuu la la la!" With food. We don't want to be accused of denying him food so unless he decides he is done or mealtime is over, it's just bringing him back or sitting right by him and physically preventing him from getting up (even with a teacher right there, he still tries) I feel like after a few months of this he would stop trying, the rules about food are consistent every day! I don't think it would frustrate me so much if he didn't make that face! It's not cute. It was never cute. His other faces are cute. Not that one.
It's no longer something I can do anything about though as his last day is next week (mom will be able to be home now)