Subcarpathian Hyperactivity, lack of patience and difficulty concentrating are increasingly common challenges that preschool and school-age children struggle with. Excessive stimuli, including digital ones, make it difficult for children to stay focused on one task. Is there anything we can do about it? A project conducted in four preschools in Poland has yielded interesting results.
The statistics are alarming. According to WHO data and statements by experts from the European Psychiatric Association, hyperactivity now affects even 7-8% children. They have increasing difficulty in maintaining focus on one task, a tendency to get discouraged quickly and overreact to external stimuli. These are phenomena that can have a long-term impact on the educational process and the social and emotional development of a young person.
Problems with concentration combined with a lack of patience can in turn lead to frustration when a child does not see the immediate effects of their actions. Experiencing these difficulties, especially in children with special educational needs, can affect emotions, motivation, self-esteem, and social and emotional development. And repeated failures intensify the negative and long-term effects that affect the mental health of a young person. Teachers of new generations of children in kindergartens and primary schools are already dealing with the effects.
– I have been working with preschoolers for 30 years and I can clearly see how with each successive generation, children’s attention spans are decreasing. They are also increasingly impatient, expecting to get what they want right away. They also often lack a sense of security – she adds. Beata Rączka, teacher and director of the Kropelka kindergarten in Wrocław. – In recent years, these problems have progressed even faster. It's a sign of the times. Children are increasingly overstimulated, they can't control their emotions. It's even hard for them to work or play in silence. In the youngest children who start kindergarten, all this is clearly visible.
The director of the Wrocław kindergarten emphasises that the causes of these problems may be many, from genetic predispositions, through environmental influences, to lifestyle, including excessive time spent in front of electronic device screens.
- From a biological point of view, we record everything that surrounds us and we do not have the option of automatically ignoring it. The brain of a several-year-old child in kindergarten also records all the information but is only just learning how to process it. I would venture to say that in the modern world it does not even have a chance to process it. This "stresses" the brain and affects the child's functioning. – emphasizes Paulina Kowalik, teacher, director of the Musicon Education Department. – We see this in hyperactivity, concentration problems or excessive impulsivity. It is difficult to build education, play or even child-teacher relationships on such a foundation..
In response to these challenges, educators and psychologists are looking for new, effective methods of working with children that could help them learn to concentrate, be patient and develop the ability to work in teams.
Music in Education. That sounds good
Music is of great importance even in infancy! Research shows that listening to music supports speech development and cognitive development from the first days of life. It has been used in educational activities and therapy for a long time.
Its impact on memory (accelerates learning processes), emotions (expressing and experiencing emotions), the ability to calm down (stress reduction) and stimulate creativity is invaluable.
– Music is a carrier of emotions. If we introduce it into the educational process, children engage their emotions in this process – he adds Paulina Kowalik. – We are certain that they are engaged and therefore focused. This is the best start for effective learning.
In the context of working with hyperactive children, music can play both a calming and engaging role, helping to focus attention on a specific task. Regular participation in classes that include physical activity additionally gives all participants benefits related to gross and fine motor skills or eye-auditory coordination. Listening to music, playing instruments, singing or dancing are activities that affect the comprehensive development of every person.
Based on this knowledge, Musicon was created. An educational and therapeutic device invented, designed and manufactured in Poland. An analogue music computer that works on the principle of a music box. Children can program sound sequences by simply pressing buttons on a rotating drum. They do it intuitively, so no instruction manual is needed. Children's natural cognitive curiosity encourages them to experiment, thanks to which they discover new sounds and create their own compositions. Musicon engages the child's touch, hearing and sight at the same time. It was designed to use music - a universal language combining fun and learning, while supporting cognitive, motor, social and emotional development, e.g. skills such as cooperation, mindfulness, and concentration. Is it effective?
– Thanks to over 3 years of research that we conducted with the participation of 300 children from all over Poland, we know that regular work with Musicon (the device and method) allows for faster cognitive development of children! – he emphasizes Jakub Kozik, co-founder of Musicon. – In children who worked with our method during the study, short-term auditory memory, i.e. the ability to record and recall auditory information, developed 3 times faster. Similarly, visual-spatial memory. The same children performed four times better in the executive functions test – which enable the creation, maintenance and supervision of an action plan. They achieved five times better results in the processing speed test.
The value of Musicon is its flexibility, which consists in the possibility of using various elements of the set depending on the needs of a given child or the entire group. Thanks to this, it has a wide application in educational and therapeutic practice.
As he points out Prof. Barbara Skałbania from Korczak University in Warsaw, scientific expert in the research and development project M-terapia, the method developed in Poland offers many possibilities of use both in the didactic process (learning letters, numbers, reading exercises, coding exercises, improving speech and language, hearing, sense of rhythm) and in the therapeutic process with the focus on developing a sense of agency, satisfying the need for success, developing cooperation with others or improving empathy in social relations. It works perfectly in both individual and team work.
LabOOOratorium, or theory tested in practice
The device was tested for three months in four kindergartens in Poland operating in the network educational foundation National Education Operator. They took part in them 418 children, including 67 with certificates and diagnosed educational deficits. Tests in the kindergartens Kropelka and Columbus in Wrocław, Octopus in Gdańsk and Rozgwiazda in Kowale were conducted during the CSR program LabOOOratorium, within which private companies, together with teaching staff, pedagogues, psychologists and speech therapists, examine the usefulness and effectiveness of products for working with children, at the same time diversifying the teaching process.
The obtained research results clearly indicate the positive impact of the innovative solution based on musical activities on the development of children, especially those with concentration difficulties:
- Children participating in classes using Musicon showed an increased ability to concentrate;
- This was particularly visible in children with ADHD and autism spectrum disorder;
- were more patient;
- were more likely to engage in tasks requiring cooperation.
- LabOOOratorium is an example of how education can be supported by building bridges between the world of business and education. The program allows companies to distribute their products to kindergartens and schools, where teachers develop lesson plans using them, integrating them with the curriculum - he explains. Barbara Wisniewska, program coordinator at the National Education Operator foundation. This is not only a way to diversify classes, but also to show children that learning is more than just theory.
Cooperation with Musicon allowed the foundation to test the entire educational and therapeutic ecosystem. It also gave teachers a lot of valuable knowledge on supporting children's cognitive, motor and emotional development using an innovative device.
- Music classes have a positive impact on children in many areas. In our kindergarten, they help with learning, play, and are also a method of work for kindergarten psychologists with children with attention disorders or autism spectrum disorders - explains the director Beata Rączka. – Using Musicon was very helpful in engaging all of the children's senses during play. And this is very important from the point of view of their development. Not only their sense of rhythm, creativity, patience or attention division, but also in areas such as motor coordination, active participation, the ability to work in a group, spatial orientation, and even mathematics and logical thinking, which had to be used to design their own melodies. During our LabOOOratorium project, I noticed progress in children in all of these areas.
Business and Education. Partnership for a Goal
The joint project of the Ogólnopolski Operator Oświaty foundation and the creators of Musicon also showed another important thing. Cooperation between business and educational institutions does not have to rely solely on a philanthropic model or volunteering.
- It's a perfect example of a win-win situation. We call it a "win-win-win model". Children learn through play, teachers are supported in their work, and companies gain the opportunity to test their product and collect valuable feedback from users - he enumerates. Barbara Wisniewska from the OOO foundation. – LabOOOratorium not only supports children's development, but also helps companies better understand the needs of the youngest recipients. The JakOOOści certificate is awarded only to products that meet specific quality criteria, which opens and opens doors to more schools and kindergartens. Joint action for education brings benefits in both the short and long term.
Musicon gained high recognition from children and teachers during tests. It received the Quality Certificate precisely for its positive impact and usefulness during developmental and therapeutic activities in kindergartens. Supporting the proper development of children through music and cooperation is a direction worth paying attention to. It works.
The National Education Operator Foundation since 2001, it has been conducting educational and social activities and supporting local governments in implementing educational tasks and projects. The Foundation is a public benefit organization. It runs free kindergartens and schools throughout Poland. 9,000 children and young people study in 69 facilities currently run by the OOO Foundation. The OOO Foundation also implements nationwide educational, social and development projects: #MAMYNATORADAĘ. Guides for parents • Speech therapist in every school and kindergarten • #LabOOOratorium. Create innovations with us.
Musicon is a Polish company that creates innovative educational and therapeutic tools that support the psychophysical development of children and adults. The Musicon device and method are already used in almost 300 facilities in Poland to increase the effectiveness of learning and therapy through play, analog activities and the stimulation of many senses simultaneously.
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