Find focus. Help your child pay attention

It can be difficult for a child to stay focused. As a parent, the last thing you want is a phone call from your child’s teacher saying they are struggling to stay focused in class. It’s a difficult task to think that you can help your child focus in school when you’re not sitting with them. Attention deficit disorder can occur at any age. Adults even have trouble concentrating on certain things.

What causes our children’s lack of attention?

A lack of attention can be a lack of interest, or even a lack of understanding. This can lead to an inability to sit still or your child being easily distracted. Your child may be a daydreamer who tends to be in his head more than in the present. Difficulty following directions or an inability to keep things organized can also cause focus. Another lack of attention could be that your child is too social and being social is more important than paying attention. Finding the cause of your attention deficit can help you learn how to combat it.

Lack of attention at school

If attention deficit occurs at school, you can help your child learn how to put himself in a better position to help him focus. This might mean telling them to sit at the front of the class. This eliminates one less thing for them to look at between themselves and the teacher. Sit away from distractions. This may mean sitting away from the classroom door or window. Maintain an organized workspace at school. Help them organize their notebooks, assignments, and folders.

Another thing you can help with is homework. Help your child list what they need to do. Sometimes it’s not that they’re not focused, it could be that they don’t know exactly where to start to get something done. Break large tasks into smaller ones. If they have a school project that needs to be completed, help them break the project down into small achievable goals. Don’t let them get overwhelmed if they have more than one task to do. Tell them one task at a time. If your child has a lot of homework, schedule breaks. Set up a dedicated space for your child to do homework and set aside time when they know they need to work on it. Sticking to the course will help their body go into focus mode at the same time each day.

Communication and learning style

Finding out what helps your child focus and learn can be key to helping them focus. Talk to them, ask them what they feel helps them focus. Does sitting or standing near them work better? They like extreme quiet or a little background music. Do they learn best visually by making cards, drawing, or reading aloud? Worrying doesn’t mean your child isn’t listening. Their anxiety may mean their body needs to get up and move for a minute. Some children like to be excited to help them focus.

Games that improve concentration

You can help your child practice focus outside of school by playing focus games. This can be a jigsaw puzzle or a crossword puzzle. Frozen dancing can also be a focused game. It keeps your child’s mind on listening to music when they stop knowing they need to stop dancing. Simon says head, shoulders, knees and toes are all games that can get your baby moving but also practice focus skills.

Thinking

Another thing you can work on with your child is mindfulness. Mindfulness lives in the moment. Practicing this can help your child learn to be more present. So if they notice their mind starting to wander, they can bring their mind back to what is currently happening around them. This can work on breathing exercises where they sit still and focus on each breath in and out. Or you can have them stand and focus on how their feet touch the ground. There are many mindfulness practices that can be helpful for your child.

Repeat Repeat Repeat

You can check if your child is actively listening to you by asking him to repeat what you just said to him.

Unstructured game

It’s also important to give our children time for unstructured play. Preferably outdoors.

Vitamin D

The importance of vitamin D in our body is amazing. The best way to get natural vitamin D is from the sun. So if your child comes home a boat full of energy, letting him run outside on his own without instruction can do wonders when he has to go back inside busy with homework.

Sleep

Making sure your child gets enough sleep at night can also help make sure they stay focused in class.

Diet and food

Attention deficit disorder can also be caused by diet. Eating too much sugar, dairy, and gluten can actually affect your ability to focus. Make sure your child’s blood sugar is balanced throughout the day. Adding healthy fats to their diet can boost brain function, making them more focused as well. Foods rich in magnesium can also help your child focus.

Increasing dopamine can also be a big help. Dopamine is a brain chemical responsible for focus, motivation and joy in activities. Dopamine is released when we do activities that we find pleasurable. Not doing enough of this can lead to lack of interest and lack of focus. You can increase dopamine levels with certain foods such as seaweed, egg whites, beef, chicken, turkey, fish, cheese, pumpkin, nuts and seeds, beans, lentils, spinach, avocado, oats, bananas, watermelon, chocolate, spirulina , broccoli. , cauliflower, berries and apples.

Take

Helping our children learn to focus can benefit them throughout their lives. Learning the techniques that help our children learn and focus at their best can help everyone. Adults need help focusing sometimes too, so don’t forget that the average adult can only fully concentrate on something for about 42 minutes without interruption. So a child’s attention span can be much less than that. Finding fun ways to focus and learning some focus can help your child stay focused in school.

READ MORE. Vitamin D deficiency

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