One condition that is often blamed for poor grades and lack of concentration is ADHD or attention-deficit hyperactive disorder. Although this disorder does in face affect the lives of millions of Americans, it not always the cause of kids performing poorly in school.
Child education experts have pointed out that not all attention problems are caused by ADHD. If you are worried about your child’s grades and want them to be able to focus on their studies, there are several methods you can try.
Below are some effective methods you can use to improve your kid’s academic concentration and get their heads in the game.
No matter what level of schooling your kids are in, if they’re in elementary school or in ABM strand courses, they will need a conducive environment to study. This means a relatively secluded area of your home where they are removed from distractions and have enough surfaces for their books and other educational material.
Make sure they don’t get disturbed by pedestrians or people passing through. Ideally this can be their rooms but if you want to keep an eye of them, you can set up corners in your dining room or a nook somewhere else.
It’s hard to concentrate on algebra or the meaning behind “Moby Dick” when you’re trying to see what’s the longest video on YouTube. Social media apps also tend to be some of the noisiest and the most distracting on purpose. You should purposefully limit their exposure to electronics while they’re studying. You can put their smartphones away in a cabinet and let them use it when they go on a break, or you can install software that blocks social media apps.
Alternatively, you could shut off the internet connection in your home but that could be disruptive to their studies. No matter what tactic you use, make sure they aren’t focusing on their phones when they should be studying.
Noise can be just as distracting as other people and electronic access. A study nook near the front door can be distracting because its such a high traffic area. For example, delivery personnel could ring or knock at all hours and distract them from lessons.
Any room that contains a television or close enough to the roads that passing traffic can be a source of noise are also not conducive to study. Rooms in the back of the house with thick curtains and adequate sound proofing are the best places for studying. Sometimes soothing music can help concentrate so ask your child if they would prefer such listening material available to them.
Continuous studying will no doubt lead to burnout instead of helping children focus on their lessons. Instead, you should give them a schedule that has a lot of breaks in between manageable chunks of studying. Younger children should have shorter studying times and more breaks because they tend to have a harder time focusing.
For example, younger kids could have 45 minutes of studying and 10-minute breaks. Older children can have hour long study sessions and 5 minutes worth of breaks at the top of every hour. This will give your child plenty of time to grab a snack, check on their phones and ensure they can concentrate over their next task.
Although doing multiple tasks at a single go may seem productive, it can lead to distraction and your children may not be able to perform at their best. Instead of trying to accomplish multiple things at once, break up blocks of study time to focus on a single task at a time.
In 30 minutes of studying, you can split the time to focus on two tasks with 15 minutes allotted to each of them. Or you can split them into blocks 10 minutes apiece for minor studying points such a quick quiz and reading time. This can make seemingly huge tasks more manageable and help your child stay motivated throughout their study session.
Finally, you can be the source of distraction if you keep hovering over your child while they study. You need to trust that they can manage their own time because they will feel judged or uncomfortable if you keep staying around them when they study. An occasional check up on them is all right but prying isn’t going to help them focus on their studies at all.
Focusing on academic pursuits can be difficult for many reasons but you can help kids stay on top of their studies. Use the advice here to ensure your children don’t lose ground and can keep up with the demands of their education.
