Mindfulness Meditation and Yoga Exercises to Improve Concentration in Pre-school Children

According to the revision of Kindergarten Curriculum Standards on March 2017 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology in Japan, the fifth guidance emphasizes the importance of considering children who require special attention including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). When teaching children with disorder disabilities, the focus should be on promoting their overall development through physical activities, educational content, and teaching methods with reflection on the conditions of students. The author had working experiences with ASD children for several years at a kindergarten in Thailand. There were many difficulties and various challenges in the classroom and school events such as activities in class, sport event, and music festivals. In the study, mindfulness meditation and Yoga exercises were the methods to improve children's concentration. The result from the teacher's observation indicated that these methods help students improve their concentration and learning.