4 Ways to Help Your Homeschooler Focus

Written By: The Good and the Beautiful Published On:

How can you help your homeschooler focus on lessons when distractions are everywhere? Jenny Phillips shares four quick tips for keeping your homeschooler on task.  

It’s a new homeschool year. I hope it’s going well. I have some quick tips for getting your homeschooler to focus. These can work great for any child but are especially helpful for children who tend to get distracted and take a long time to get through their work. Be sure to read to the end, because the last tip is the most important thing you can do to help your homeschooler focus.

Tip 1: Remove Distractions

Some children can focus well with a lot going on around them, but others cannot. However, all children can benefit from a learning space with fewer distractions. This doesn’t mean you have to have a quiet homeschool room or space for each child. Here are some ways you could help set your kids up for success, even if you’re doing school at the kitchen table.

  • students doing school work with a trifold dry-erase board for privacy

Have the child facing away from distractions. I used to set up a trifold dry-erase board around my kids’ work areas to help them focus, and they worked really well. Try not to be on the phone or have sounds in the room such as musical instruments or TV. You can try noise-canceling headphones or play soft, calming music, such as the music on our Calming Music Playlist on our Kids YouTube channel. Also, make sure the child is not distracted by being hungry or tired.

Quick Tips to Remove Distractions:

  • Set up individual work areas
  • Silence your phone
  • Turn off the TV
  • Practice musical instruments in another room
  • Play calming music
  • Wear noise-canceling headphones
Calming music playlist cover art

Tip 2: Give Small Incentives

When my kids were younger and they would lose their focus during their homeschool work, I would put a few chocolate chips or fruit snacks on different sections of the page they were working on. When they got to that section, they would be able to eat the items. This worked great at helping them focus on their assignment.

Tip 3: Take a Movement Break

Another quick idea is to tell them that when they finish half of a page or a certain section, they can go jump on the trampoline for two minutes, run around the yard, or do some other movement activity before finishing the rest of their work.

Tip 4: Limit Technology

Those were some tips to help improve the focus abilities your child already has. But lastly, I want to talk briefly about one of the most important things you can do to help your child increase their foundational attention span—limit technology, especially fast-paced, flashy games and shows, and social media. All of these things have been proven to diminish a child’s attention span. Instead, fill your children’s lives with things that increase attention span. Read to them often. Encourage them to read. If they struggle with reading, try reading every other page with them. Do puzzles together. Even things like board games, Legos, dot-to-dot activities, mazes, baking together, and chores around the house help to build attention span. Learning a musical instrument or playing organized sports are also greatly beneficial in increasing attention span. Technology is not bad, but we need to be intentional with how and how much our kids are using it.

Ways to Increase a Child’s Attention Span

(Alternatives to Technology)

  • Read a book
  • Do a puzzle
  • Play a game
  • Build with blocks
  • Bake together
  • Do assigned chores
  • Play a sport
  • Learn an instrument
2 children reading a book together

Helping Your Child Stay Focused

To help your child stay focused, remember the essentials: create a calm space free of distractions, use small rewards to encourage efforts, build in short breaks to reset energy, and guide them toward meaningful activities instead of excess technology.

Be sure to check out our other videos for more homeschool helps on The Good and the Beautiful YouTube channel. We hope these videos can be like teacher training videos that will improve your homeschool and your family relationships. May you be blessed and encouraged in the incredible work you are doing.

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