Sometimes when your child has to do school work at home, it’s tough to keep them on task. Now that we are in the middle of a pandemic and your child will be doing a lot, if not all, schoolwork from home. Now is the time to figure out some tips on how to keep your child focused! Here are some helpful suggestions to help with your child’s ability to stay on task and maybe some things to think about as a parent who is trying to teach them at home.

1.  Separation might be one think about especially if you have more than one child. Maybe they can do school work in their room or if you have a special “school work area” make sure their spaces are not close together. Sometimes just separating by a separate desk is a simple solution. Creating a separate space for school work and play is essential to help them realize there is a time and a place for everything. It can be confusing to some kids that you want them to focus on their schoolwork when they are sitting in the middle of their playroom and all they can think about is getting up to play with their toys or games. Just being extra aware of their surroundings is very important and establishing their school space.

2.  Include them in your planning. The more the child is able to help in the process the more likely they will be to take ownership. Just have them be involved in deciding which lesson they want to do first during their day is a simple way to include them in making decisions of their school. If they feel like they have ownership in the decisions the more they will want to complete what they need to do. It doesn’t take away from them doing the work that needs to be done, just allows them to decide when so they feel like they have some control.

3.  Create a routine. For any child who might be having a hard time switching from one thing to the next or any type of developmental delay this is the key! Keep in mind that a routine is not a schedule it is a plan of what will come next. If your children know what to expect then they will be able to transition easier and will make it less stressful for you as well. For example, after breakfast you will work on your math lesson then you can take a break. Then it will be time for your spelling lesson then it will be lunchtime. Just giving them a general time frame of what to expect allows them to not be distracted by asking when is it time for a snack or lunch? Maybe set up a easy to read schedule and for the young learners making a visual or picture schedule helps them to know what comes next. 

4.  Take lots of breaks during the day when possible! Often kids have trouble concentrating because we are expecting them to work longer than their attention span allows. Keep in mind that more breaks doesn’t mean less work, it just means more time to allow them to have their “brain breaks” that adults need sometimes too! A short 3-5 minute breaks are healthy and allow for your mind to unwind and able to refocus on what needs to be completed.

5.  Slow down! If your child is struggling with losing focus on their schoolwork, slowing down might be a great tip to try. If your child isn’t ready for it, pushing them is only going to cause more anxiety and them to hate school. This won’t catch them up any faster. Your child might focus better when you break the information up in smaller chunks. The ultimate goal is to have your child love school not dread school and end up hating it at a young age. Fast is not always the best! 

Helping your child with their schoolwork at home or teaching them all day at home, there will be some trial and error! It’s ok! Keep on doing a great job at looking for tips and tricks to help you with your new way of life right now during our new adventure of what school will look like this fall during the pandemic! Just remember… You’ve got this!