Helping Your Kids Stay Focused in School
Summer break is only a few months away. The jitter bugs in your children’s biology are already vibrating. They’re pushing your children to drop everything and play, always. Homework, school, and chores are all taking a backseat to the excitement setting in. It also doesn’t help that the temperatures are warming up and the sun is staying up longer. Any chance of focusing on the important things is fading with the melted snow.
Here are a few ideas to help your kids stay focused during this particularly jittery time of year. Start with a focus on your child’s health and move onto focus skills from there.
Full Night’s Rest
The sun may be up later than normal, but that doesn’t mean your children should be. Keep them to a regular bedtime that gets them 8-10 hours of sleep every night. They need the sleep to prepare their minds for school the next day. The better rested they are, the more able they will be to focus on their school work. Jitter bugs become less jittery when they’re put to rest.
Healthy Eating
Junk food and highly processed foods put your children into sugar highs, followed by extreme energy lows. Neither is conducive to a learning environment. You set your son or daughter up for success when you feed them healthy foods with a balance in whole grains, lean meats, fruits, and vegetables.
Let Them Exercise
The truth is, your children have energy to burn. Set up activities throughout the day to release their energy (so they can concentrate). Encourage them to walk or bike to school every day. Let them play outside when they get home. Get them involved with a sports team. Make sure they have an outlet for their energy, that way they can get exercise those jitter bugs out of their system.
Teach Them to Finish a Project
One of the best life-skills your children can gain is that of learning to finish a project. Help them see an idea all the way through. If they start building a castle out of legos and get frustrated, calm them down and inspire in them the vision again.
This skill can be applied to school too. Let them know that their schooling is a project to keep on top of. Each piece of homework is a project. If they begin to get distracted or frustrated, help them refocus by sitting down with them. Experiment with methods of refocusing their attention to finish their school work. Each child needs a different approach, so don’t be surprised if an idea or two doesn’t work. Keep at it until you finish your project (getting your child to finish theirs).
When you think first on their health and teach them to finish their projects, they’ll have a better chance of focusing on their work in the classroom and out. Give them the best opportunities for educational success by helping them focus, even before they understand why you’re doing it.
