How do you get a child to focus on a lesson?

[Pster]

I have 1 dd who it will take over 2 hrs to get her math lesson done. And it's not that the work is too hard - it's the daydreaming - the up and down out of her chair - the starting to sing - the having to sharpen her pencils - you name it.... she's done it.

 

I've tried to curtail all these distractions and I still find I can't get her to focus. I've started having her sit next to me to do her work - while I continue to work with the other kids on the

 

*If* she would focus on actually getting the work done - she could be done with things SOOOOOOOOOOOo much faster. She doesn't see it or get that.... or care I guess.

 

She is in 4th gr too. This prob mostly happens during her math time but it also occurs during her writing.

 

Any ideas? How do I keep her on task till the completion of an assignment?

[Haiku]

Were it me, I would set a timer for 10-15 minutes. I would tell her she has to work continuously, and when the timer goes off, she can stretch, get a drink, sharpen her pencil, etc. Then the timer will be set again. I would do this for as many times as it takes to reach your desired time frame for the lesson (45 minutes, one hour, whatever). Then I would end the lesson and move on. Anything that was not completed during that time becomes homework to be completed at the end of the school day, before she can do anything else.

 

I would keep it matter of fact. "Oh, you didn't finish? Ok, well, that's your homework. Let's move on." It might take a while to train her to work efficiently.

 

Tara

[Staceyshoe]

I recently read about a similar technique where a hs mom sets the timer. Anything not completed in that time is homework. If the child is finished before the timer (and she tries to set it generously), a minute is deducted for every wrong problem (to discourage sloppy mistakes from rushing). The extra time is saved up and cashed in on a fun activity. Something like that might be worth a try.

[prairie rose]

I use all the above techniques mentioned. It takes time but it does work. My 11yo was much like your dd when he was her age. He's much more focused now that he realizes his dawdling is taking away from his time to do what he wants.

[HeatherInWI]

I'd schedule math just before lunch, and when it's lunch time, the math stops -- and anything leftover is homework which must be done in the afternoon before any free-time is allowed.

[Lori D.]

Just a thought: Some children need to be able to MOVE in order to focus: http://www.pesdirect.com/lsitactile.html

 

Perhaps try having her stand up with the workbook on the table or kitchen counter in front of her, so she can sway, dance her feet and move her body to help her focus. Even sitting on a big exercise ball and letting it roll a bit and her sliding around on it while working at the coffee table might allow for enough movement to help her focus. What seems like wiggliness to some of us is actually MUCH needed kinesthetic processing for focus/learning to others. BEST of luck, in finding what works! Warmly, Lori D.

[violinmom]

One of my dd likes to do 1/2 her math lesson and gone on to something else, but come back to math to finish. She finishes it all so much quicker. I also let my dc decide in which order they do their subjects. They each have a card of what needs to be done. I don't care in what order they do it as long as it gets done. Once I started that, they got done a lot faster! We also mix in chores with school. Once you are done for the day, you are REALLY finished. Sometimes they need to move around and vacuum a rug or something :)

[Jennefer@SSA]

I love Charlotte Mason's writings about this very thing - teaching children to work diligently with no dawdling and to give their all to what they do. Unfortunately I have a child with very severe ADHD and this has been much harder than I imagined. ;)

 

I have tried most of what pp's mentioned. He has the freedom to stand while he works and likes that for some subjects, especially handwriting. He stands at our kitchen island which is a perfect height for him. We tried allowing him to sit on an exercise ball, which is supposed to be a great help to many wiggly kids, but that didn't work at all here. Chewing bubble gum helps satisfy the need for movement for some kids as well.

 

I set a timer for math (one of the subjects) for 30 minutes. We do 2 30 minute chunks a day. Anything after that is on his own time after school for homework. At times when there are lots of new skills at once we will do temporary incentives to keep him motivated. I keep mini lego sets in the closet: one lego for each problem answered correctly. When he has enough problems correct he earns the set.

 

I am not a big Dr. Phil fan but one day fil was here watching and I heard Dr. Phil say that everyone has a currency (that thing that motivates us). It's our job to figure out our kids' currency and use that to help shape them and motivate them. Yes I know in a perfect world every child should be motivated intrinsically and not need extrinsic motivations but since we don't live in a perfect world well...:tongue_smilie: I need those motivations too! A few squares of my favorite dark chocolate after a hard day's work sure makes me happy! :)

 

All that to say, find a currency for your dd and use that to your advantage -and ultimately to hers as well as she will some day thank you for training her to be diligent. At least that is what I keep telling myself as we have these same struggles in almost all subject areas each and every day.

 

Best of luck and hope something here helps! :)

[aude sapere]

I'd schedule math just before lunch, and when it's lunch time, the math stops -- and anything leftover is homework which must be done in the afternoon before any free-time is allowed.

 

Great tip! We'll be trying this one tomorrow :)

[JennW in SoCal]

My oldest, now graduated, is STILL like this! He stands to do work, has a spinning desk chair, paces to think. I found the punative measure of making something homework never worked for him. It was better to set him up for success.

 

One of the things I did to get him through math, even in high school, was to either use a program like MUS or Singapore where he didn't have to copy a problem out before solving it but could use a work book with lots of empty white space, or I'd write problems out on a big white board and he could use bright markers to solve them. More work for me, but it kept him focused better resulting in fewer mistakes and a happier mom and kid.

[rafiki]

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[forevergrace]

My dd is ten, and you have her twin. Daydream, under the table w/the cat, having conversations w/herself if I'm out of the room, all part of our reality. She is really exceptional at math, it is her strong point. On days when she doesn't want to do work, she'll sit at the kitchen table for up to 2 hours doing maybe 25-30 problems. You would think that every problem would be absolutely correct, wrong!!!! Maybe three out of 30 will be right. However, on the days she has friends coming over, trapeze class, or softball practice, she'll finish the same exact 30 problems in twenty-five minutes. She might miss one, because she couldn't read her own writing.

 

Dd has the most fantastic imagination, she'll invent elaborate stories left on her own. I handed a comprehension w.s., before I went to take a shower. Nothing difficult, short paragraph with 5 questions. By the time I was out of the shower, had my hair dry, and dressed, I figured dd would be done. She was on question 2 and had decided that the author didn't know what the heck she was talking about. Dd was in the process of revising the story in her notebook. I explained to her that all she had to do was answer the questions, that eventually she would have to take placement tests. This ended up being one of those days that we were still working at dinner time. Mind you, we start our day at seven in the morning. I have no solution, some days work, and others are very long.

Forevergrace

[Ellie]

Short lessons. Limited amount of time allowed for seatwork. What isn't finished today will be finished tomorrow.

 

Also, consider whether the materials you're using are the best for her. Sometimes children lollygag around because they're being required to do something that is above (or below) their abilities, or it's totally not appropriate for their learning styles, or they rilly, rilly hate it, but they can't verbalize any of those things, so they just lollygag.

Edited March 9, 2010 by Ellie