One of the greatest advantages of being a kid is that their job is full of so many wonderful benefits—being carefree, playful, feisty, curious, spirited, silly, messy, even naughty are all part of the deal. With all of that going on, coupled with the tremendous amount of multi-tasking our kids seem to take for granted, it’s easy to see how even the brightest learners in our midst can have trouble staying focused.
Distractions begin the moment our children rise and shine. With their smartphones practically under their pillows, they begin their day checking in with Snapchat, texts, online video games, and all the other avenues of social media they continuously plug into throughout the day. Once they tend to these important areas of life, they scramble to get dressed, snatch their backpacks and catch the bus or their ride to school (and forget about eating breakfast). It’s a pretty normal cycle for thousands of families across the country, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up.
The average human has an eight-second attention span–less than that of a goldfish, according to a 2015 study from Microsoft. For kids who have so much going on in their world, focusing can be a real challenge, especially while studying.
One of my favorite mantras when my kids were in Kindergarten was a little chant the teacher used to sing when the class got off track—“Hocus pocus, time to focus!” The kids loved it and immediately settled back down to tackle the task at hand. Twenty-some years later, I still kiddingly chant that mantra when I find myself or someone in my family drifting astray, but it doesn't have the same effect it did all those years ago. Here are five tips for helping keep your family members centered when life whirls around them in a million different directions.
5 Ways to Keep Your Kid Focused
- Get Creative
- Choose Focus Foods
- Foster an Organized Environment
- Stay On Task with the Right App
- Encourage Mindfulness
Let’s explore each a little further.
1. Get Creative
Believe it or not, many times the reason a child just can’t settle in and stay focused is because he is bored. One of my sons is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) so learning to read and write were small nightmares for him (and me!). He just didn’t have the patience or ability to sit and practice his letters and words like his peers, which led to major frustrations.
Luckily, he had a wonderful support system in school that recognized kids like him with ADD had to learn differently. He hated practicing writing his letters on a regular-lined tablet of paper, so his teacher had him write the letters in other ways like in shaving cream, or with chalk. This creative approach got him engaged and eventually he was willing to sit down and write the alphabet on paper.
Same with learning to read. He was not interested in being drilled with flash cards or staring at words in an easy-reader book, but when we read together and acted out some of the words he began to learn them. For example, instead of hammering the word “apple” and “boy” over and over we changed it up and grabbed a real apple and held it up at the same time we were learning the new word. I would refer to the word apple in the story by holding up the actual apple. I then pointed to him and labeled the word boy and referred back to the story as more of a “show and tell” to help him register what the word looked like in print. We then made it silly by joking about how the boy in the story was very hungry and wanted to take a big bite out of the apple. It kept his interest as he learned to read new words.
So a little creativity can go a long way in turning something dull into something fun, and kids like my son are able to sit and concentrate much longer than just being taught from a book or a blackboard.
See Also: 5 Ways to be a More Playful Parent
2. Choose Focus Foods
While we’ve always known that what we eat affects our bodies and the way we look, scientists are also learning more and more that what we eat takes a toll on our brains. My colleague, Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N, CNS, the Nutrition Diva discusses this topic in her episode, How Nutrition Affects Your Brain. In general, she explains that there aren’t any foods that actually make us smarter, but the choices we make in our diet can play an important role in optimizing brain function. Some of her important tips in this segment include:
- Eating a healthy diet including whole grains, fruits and veggies, and lots of protein.
- Eating breakfast. Studies show that kids who eat breakfast are better learners. (Mighty Mommy seconds this!)
- Avoiding large meals or foods high in sugar.
- Get enough sleep and exercise. For more detail take a listen to her entire episode on how nutrition affects your brain.
In addition to maintaining a healthy, balanced diet, there have been studies done that show certain foods do indeed pack a wallop of ingredients like antioxidants to help keep your brain sharp. In 21 Superfoods Your Brain Wants You To Eat, you’ll learn why foods such as pomegranates, sage, blueberries and celery can benefit your body and your brain.
3. Foster an Organized Environment
I’m probably going to start sounding like a broken record (wait, we’re in the 21st century—how about a scratched DVD?) but creating and maintaining an organized home environment will benefit you and your family 100 times over. An organized home is a strong, healthy home! I’ve discussed this topic in numerous episodes, most recently in 5 Gifts To Share in 2018 (that won’t cost you a dime), and I can tell you from experience in raising eight kids—when your home is streamlined with efficiency and everything has a place (and actually gets put back in its place!) you can conquer nearly anything.
Clutter and “stuff” piled up on nearly every counter and corner of one’s home is a recipe for disaster. Not only can you not locate necessary items (shoes, keys, clean underwear) when you need them, it’s nearly impossible for anyone, especially a young child, to stay focused and complete homework assignments in a timely fashion. It’s not fair to anyone in your family when your home is a disaster zone.
Start by organizing a homework area that will allow your children to be productive. Next, tackle their bedrooms so they can enjoy a peaceful space when they wake up and go to bed every day. Being organized is a real self-esteem booster, because everyone can locate their own possessions as well as take pride in their living environment. Check out the following episodes to help you get your home and life organized.
- Organizing Tips for Tackling Homework
- How to Help Your Sensory Child Get Organized
- 10 Ways to Become a More Organized Parent
4. Stay On Task with the Right App
Technology can be a double-edged sword when it comes to staying focused. In one respect, it can draw us away from what we should be doing, like working on our tax return or completing a term paper. On the other hand, there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of super helpful online sites, tech gadgets, and cutting-edge apps that can help simplify our lives and save us time, effort, and money. When we can balance the two we have the absolute best of both worlds.
RescueTime is a free software program that tracks how you spend your time on the computer.
One such avenue to help kids (and adults) stay on task is by taking advantage of one of the latest focus apps. There are several available, but the one that two of my kids use is Rescue Time. RescueTime (Mac, PC, Android) is a free software program that tracks how you spend your time on the computer and sends you weekly summaries along with a productivity score. It’s great for ADD student because they can see in black and white where they are wasting their time. My college son loves this app too.
5. Encourage Mindfulness
One of the hottest trends in holistic, healthy living today is practicing the art of mindfulness. Simply put, mindfulness is living in the moment and tuning in to your immediate surroundings and noticing the sounds you are hearing, the smells in the air, and how your body is feeling in that very moment. This, however, is much easier said than done due to all the distractions that envelop our mind and senses on a minute-by-minute basis.
I began practicing mindfulness nearly five years ago when I went through my divorce. Life was coming at me fast and furious, and I quickly realized that I may not have control over the situation in my life, but I did have control over how I reacted. It was then that I began doing a lot of research on meditation practices and learning to quiet my mind so I could just live in the moment and practice gratitude for what I did have in my life. That research was life-changing because I learned a whole new way of life—not worrying about the future but living my life for that very day.
This has been a gift I have passed along to my own kids because they saw the immediate benefits I experienced when I let go of worry and embraced the here and now. It helped them not only pay better attention in school, but helped them navigate our divorce more easily as well.
Tina Barseghian over at KQED writes, “Mindfulness has the potential to be a very useful component in prevention and treatment efforts because of its effectiveness in reducing emotional distress and promoting emotional balance, improving attention, and contributing to motivated learning.”
I discovered a wonderful resource, LeftBrainBuddha.com which shares many helpful articles and downloads about practicing mindfulness. In fact, there is a special download called Mindfulness For Kids. Getting into the habit of living in the present not only helps your kids improve their concentration skills, it can help enhance the quality of your family’s life when everyone begins to simply enjoy the moment they're living in and to not worry about what’s to come or has to be done.
How do you help keep your family focused? Share your thoughts in the comments section at http://ift.tt/1zMEe2L, post your ideas on the Mighty Mommy Facebook page. or email me at mommy@quickanddirtytips.com. Visit my family-friendly boards at http://ift.tt/1wyJKr5
Image of focused children © Shutterstock
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