5 Ways to Help Students Improve Their Focus
Whether it’s the start of the year and students are getting back into the swing of things, the end of the year where they are counting down until summer vacation, or somewhere in between, it can be challenging for students to stay focused. This can be made even more difficult by classes they find to be too easy, too hard, or uninteresting. What it boils down to is that there can be a lot of reasons why students are not paying as much attention as they should be.
While you can’t sit beside them during class to make sure they stay focused, there are things you can do at home to support them.
1. Make sure they are getting enough sleep.
Being tired can quickly zap a student’s attention span. Their brain may be in a fog and their eyes are heavy. They’re focused more on staying awake than the content being presented. Work with your child to create a schedule that allows them to get to bed at a decent time each night. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends children between ages 13 and 18 get 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night. Between homework, extracurriculars, studying, and other obligations, it is easy for students to sacrifice sleep to get it all done. Help them to achieve a better balance so they are well-rested.
2. Provide well-balanced meals.
Grabbing a toaster waffle on the way out the door (or skipping breakfast all together) isn’t enough to give kids the fuel they need to make it through the morning until lunch. Encourage them to eat more protein and fiber for energy and to keep them feeling full. The same goes for lunch. If they pack, make sure they have enough to satisfy them until they get home, and if they buy their lunch, talk about making healthy choices. A grumbling stomach can be a distraction and make it hard to focus — so can spikes and dips in their blood sugar.
3. Teach effective notetaking and study skills.
Your child may be struggling to pay attention in class because they don’t know how to properly take notes and are falling behind while trying to write everything down. They may be more focused on the details and missing main points. Learning different strategies for taking notes can help them to pick out the most important information while keeping pace with the lesson.
The same goes for studying. They may be wasting time reviewing content they already know or studying in a way that does not actually help them retain the information. They may also be getting easily distracted by their environment, making it hard to concentrate. Set up a workspace that limits distractions and allows them to focus.
4. Build in breaks to their study schedule
Spending hours on end working on assignments or studying for a test can be tiring for any student. The brain can only process so much information at once, and their mind may wander going over the same topics again and again. Taking breaks is beneficial because it gives students time to stretch, refocus, and fuel their body and mind with a healthy snack. They can come back refreshed and ready to get back to work.
5. Work with a tutor
If your child is not understanding what they are learning, they are more likely to space out. It is hard to pay attention when you don’t know what is going on, even though you are trying. Working with a tutor can help identify gaps in knowledge and reinforce key concepts and skills. Information is presented in a way that fits your child’s learning style and is aligned with their needs. When they feel more confident in their abilities, they are able to be more actively involved in class.
Contact Crafting Scholars today to learn more about how learning specialists can help. We develop customized curricula based on each student’s needs, abilities, and goals, so they can optimize their performance.
