It can be a challenge for children to pay attention these days. There are so many distractions! Electronics, activities, and friends can all take a child’s focus away from their homework. What can we do? If your child is having trouble concentrating on homework, try establishing these essential habits to keep your kids concentrated:
1. Get into a routine
When children create a routine and know what is expected of them at various times of the day, they are more likely to get their homework done in the time specified.
2. Give them time for a break
Studies tell us that when children have time to relax, unwind, exercise and spend time out in nature, they are more likely to focus on academics when the time comes to do so. Exercising and doing physical activities can also release their minds and prepare them for the times when they need to buckle down and study.
3. Encourage goal-setting
What do they hope to achieve? Ask them to write down the academic goals that are meaningful to them and they are more likely to go after them.
4. Praise progress
They may not be getting everything right and they may still lose focus from time to time, but are they making progress? When you see they’ve been concentrating, recognize it. It’s not easy!
5. Provide a quiet, clutter-free place to work
A child who has trouble with focus needs a room that doesn’t have a lot of distractions. If such a room doesn’t exist, provide earplugs, noise-canceling headphones and try to block your child’s view from people walking by or interacting with one another.
6. Inform others of “Quiet Time”
When your child is working, make sure others in your family know that it’s quiet time. Your other children can engage in other quiet activities or, perhaps this would be a good time for others to go outside and play.
7. Teach children how to focus
Whether you help your children use a timer, a to-do list, or classical music to block out noise, every child needs to learn how to cope with distractions.
It takes time to create a habit. While concentration can be challenging when distractions are abundant, we have to learn to deal with them if we are going to get our homework done and excel in school. And of course, these ideas don’t just work for kids—they work for adults too!
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