Driven by Distraction
One of the challenges that both teachers and parents are bringing up a lot these days is that kids are even more distracted than usual while at school and at home.
Why is this a problem?
Students who are distracted and having trouble focusing in the classroom often engage in behaviors that disturb other students (getting up out of seat, talking to others, making noises, playing with objects, etc.)
Students who are distracted while learning remotely may be missing instruction or not getting practice problems/work or assessments completed
Students who are distracted while doing their homework may miss deadlines or submit work that is sloppy or not to the best of their ability
Why is a lack of focus and concentration more troublesome now?
There are many factors that come into play here, and when added together, the problem becomes significant. Some of these factors are:
Students learning remotely have many distractions such as phones, video games, and other members of the family who are home and having conversations and making noise
Parents are trying to juggle more than ever at home between remote learning, working at home and trying to balance responsibilities and meet all of the demands on their time
Children are spending much more time staring at screens these days, which we know has a negative impact on mood and focus
All of the stress and uncertainties regarding the pandemic weigh heavily on some students, leading to anxiety and/or depression. Trouble concentrating is a symptom of both of these mental health challenges.
What Can You Do?
Here are five very simple ways that you can help a student (or your child) improve their focus so that they can attend better during instruction, concentrate when working through a challenging task, and stay on track until all of their homework is completed to the best of their ability and on time.
Get Moving
Experiment with Music
Remove Distractions
Take More Breaks
Practice Mindfulness
Filling a Toolbox with Strategies
Every child is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to improving focus. Some kids will really take to one particular strategy, while others will be attracted to different skill-building strategies. Determining what will work best for your student or child is like conducting an experiment and gathering data. The easiest way to build an effective toolbox is to try one strategy, give it some time to have an impact, and get feedback from the child in terms of how helpful they think the strategy has been. If something isn’t particularly helpful, move down the list to something else. In the end, you will have a good idea about what will be most helpful in building focus and attention, and you can find way to incorporate these strategies daily.
In order to help you keep track of the strategies you have tried, and how well they have each worked, I created a chart that will help you stay organized (especially if you are working with multiple children).
Let’s work together to help our kiddos drive away distraction and be more focused!
Happy New Year,
