In fact, all children tend to get distracted, and we will tell you even adults too! The only difference between children and adults is that adults have a clearer understanding of why they need to take a certain action, learn a certain skill or perform a specific task. Children do not yet have this mechanism, so parents have to come up with various tricks in order to motivate the child to do what is needed. And if your current task is to homeschool an easily distracted child, maybe the problem you imagine is bigger than the problem you really have. This article will provide you with tips that will facilitate the learning process for the child and the parents as well.
Establish a Schedule and Follow It
The schedule matters – and it has even greater importance for kids. Children of any age need clear rules, the same daily routine and/or schedule – for them, this is proof that their life is stable and everything goes according to plan.
For children who are easily distracted and quickly forget about what they were doing a second before, scheduling and planning are even more important. This helps them to form a long-term habit – to concentrate in a certain place and at a certain time.
When creating a schedule for your child, be sure to consider his biological rhythms. Keep track of when your child is most active — and let him get rid of pent up energy at that time. In contrast, you need to catch the time when the child is predisposed to a relatively greater concentration and activities of the same type – and use this gap for training.
Support Your Kid’s Concentration Abilities With Additional Vitamins
Effective solutions do not have to be complex. Perhaps poor concentration is due to the fact that your child is lacking in vitamins and minerals. In this case, all you need to do is consult a doctor and supplement your child’s diet with a vitamin complex. Pay special attention to vitamins B7, B12, B6, D, and C.
Find a Way to Motivate Your Child
It is difficult to work without motivation. Until a certain age, children do not understand that quality knowledge is the key to a successful future. At this stage, children need a clearer, more tangible, and more age-appropriate motivation. It is especially important to motivate a child who is easily distracted – this will allow him to keep his attention and remember for what purpose he performs a specific task.
Moreover, the key motivation will be individual for each child. Someone likes to receive stars and hang them on the fridge, while someone else will wait for the opportunity to ride a skateboard in the park. Find what motivates your child!
Do Not Demand More Than Your Kid Can Cope With
Very often, children have problems with schooling not because they can or cannot do anything, not because they want or do not want, but because parents have too high expectations for their children. It always seems to this type of parent that the child could do the task better, write an essay more beautifully, cope faster, and so on. For a child who is prone to be distracted, this complicates the process even more.
Remember the most important rule – it is always possible to acquire new knowledge at any time, but it is almost impossible to recover from childhood insults. Unfortunately.
Therefore, support your child – it is difficult for him, but he is trying. Even if you know that a child could do better, find a reason to praise him, find loyal words, motivate and support him at every stage.
Allow Your Child to Pay More Attention to Learning the Subject That Interests Them
Every child and every adult knows what exactly he likes best. And very often, the subject that interested, inspired and carried us away at school age becomes decisive in our future life.
For example, if you ask any of the authors with the Online Writers Rating review website, everyone will tell you that literature and foreign languages were their favorite subjects at school. More than writing, these guys love only to read – and they do what they really love as adults.
Most likely you know what captivates your child the most. Let him pay more attention to this subject, even if it seems to you that this is of secondary importance in the school curriculum. Remember what we said about expectations? Your child himself knows what he really wants – and your task is to support him.
After all, we can do for a long time only what we really love. And for your child, this is an additional opportunity to develop concentration skills.
Make Frequent Short Pauses
Children who are prone to be distracted need more pauses to gather their strength again. This is also true for all children – their brain gets tired much earlier than the brain of an adult.
Therefore, you need to allow your child to pause and take small breaks between tasks or even parts of tasks so that he can recover and then return to a state of concentration. And do not worry about the fact that your child needs pauses more often than other children – this is his personal pace of development and a personal way to learn new knowledge. And this is the key to efficiency.
Try to Remove as Much Distraction as Possible
Even adults tend to be distracted. Remember what it’s like in the office when your colleagues chat on the phone, knock on the keyboard, do not turn off notification sounds … Is it annoying? Yes.
For your child, the absence of additional distractions is especially important. Bright posters on the walls, the sound of a boiling kettle, siblings, or even a cat can be very distracting. Identify what annoys and distracts your child the most and remove it, at least for the duration of your study time.
Conclusion
It is not so difficult to deal with a child who is prone to be distracted. The most important thing is that you calmly acknowledge this fact, perceive your child as normal-typical, and know what you can do right now.
Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing, and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.
