15 Homework Tips for Distracted Kids
Kids share a mutual opinion about homework; they absolutely hate it! Their colossal imaginations constantly veer them away from the task at hand. Their thoughts seem to always be preoccupied with cartoon characters, video games, and other fun activities. Getting them to concentrate on their homework is daunting. But there are some tips that can help parents bring them back from their imaginative fantasies to the dull pages of their course books. Here are 15 homework tips for distracted kids to help them regain their mental focus.
15 Tips to Get Kids to Do Their Homework
- Take things slowly! Never overexert your kid. Focus on uptick rather than upheaval. Organize small study sessions of not more than 15 minutes for your kiddo. Gradually increase the time. As his mind accustoms itself to the workload, he will develop prolonged mental focus.
- Devise fun ways to keep your kid interested. Arrange quizzes or make fun cards relevant to his homework.
- Challenge him to complete a certain task in a preset time. This will inspire him to succeed. It will also promote the quality of competitiveness in him. Kids love a challenge! This is one of the most important homework tips for distracted kids.
- Encourage him to play sports, and participate in outdoor activities. These activities will keep his mind fresh and focused.
- Appreciate your kid’s efforts on a constant basis. “This drawing is Picasso-esque, Allen! You’re making such a great effort!”. Comments like these incentivize kids. They’ll give him the drive to do more than what they’re asked of.
- Know when it’s time to give up. Sometimes, the kid just isn’t in the mood to study, no matter how hard you try. In times like these, surrender and give your kid and yourself a break. Resume work after a much-needed respite.
- Give your kid the freedom to fail. Parents corner their kids by giving them only one option ― Success. This puts them under a lot of pressure and devalues their efforts in the long run.
- Let your kids set their own goals and self-manage their activities. Ensure that they stick to their schedules. If they get off track, let them know.
- Teamwork holds paramount importance when it comes to keeping kids focused on their homework. If they lack in certain aspects of their homework, help them overcome their limitations. If they get stuck on a certain topic, they will be demotivated to study any further. Play the role of both a teacher and a friend.
- Don’t expect too much of your kid. Expectations that end in disappointment discourage you to keep working on your child’s mental focus.
- Break down his homework into small manageable portions, and let him handle these portions one at a time ― in between planned breaks.
- Ensure that his tummy is full before studying. Believe me! His mind will not absorb anything if his stomach is growling with hunger.
- TV, laptops, tablets – all distractions. Keep them away from him while he’s doing his homework.
- Some kids function better in a calm environment with minimal distractions while others thrive on noisy surroundings. Ensure that the place your kid is studying in meets his preferences.
- Reward him with healthy treats or small gifts if he studies well. We all like to be rewarded for our work!
These 15 homework tips for distracted kids have a proven track record of revitalizing the mind of kids. How do you get your child to get his or her homework done?
I definitely agree that an important way of keeping your child’s interest is definitely through rewarding and encouraging their efforts. Praise is a great way of ensuring that kids try their upmost best!
Great tips, as a teacher I always recommend short sessions like you have mentioned. I’m also a huge advocate of play and learning through play. Nikki
http://www.thoselittlemoments.net
These tips are great. I’ve worked with kids in a variety of settings and I think that these would be very very successful with kids!
Great Tips I must say! I have a 3year old and sometimes I feel that he goes too distracted. We really need to devise fun ways to keep kids interested in the stuff and challenging them is another idea I loved.
Some great tips here! It almost seems as if the parents have just as much homework to do as the kids.
I agree with those tips especially about giving the child the freedom to fail. it’s important for his confidence not to feel pressured and that he will always be loved no matter what.
Hadas | The Fashion Matters – Luxury Blog
Simple and easy tips … I find even I can use some of them in organizing my office work too :0
I can totally relate to that list, luckily for me, my kid teacher does not believe in homework so he doesn’t have too many yet, i have a friend who took a student help with her kids homework as it grow to too many fights in the house that it just didn’t worth it anymore
When you deal with kids you always have to think about easy and very clever smart things to solve some small-big issues. Those you gave us today are like this!
These are awesome tips! It’s important to try to keep kids interested in school and homework at a young age, because they’ll probably learn more and want to learn more if they feel engaged with the material!
This is such a great post for me to read. My son starts kinder next year so homework will become a part of our lives.
I sure remember the days when my kids were younger and sat at the kitchen table in the evenings doing homework. I especially loved your comment about appreciating a child’s efforts. It’s far more motivating to hear what you’re doing right as opposed to what you’re doing wrong. x
I know that homework is a necessity, but I just hate that they must come home after a long exhausting day at school already lol. That being said, these are great tips! I absolutely agree with appreciating their effort and giving rhem the freedom to fail. They truly will not learn if you breathe down their neck all the time. I am definitely bookmarking this. Thank you!
I would love to live in Finland where there is no homework and kids read and learn at school and then are free to be kids and just play.
I agree with appreciating the child’s effort. My kids would perform better after being appreciated on another activity/ task done.
Yup! I really think that play is how kids learn! 🙂
Haha! What are we, other than big kids? 😉
It happens in a flash!
These tips are not only for parents but for everyone who has kids at home.