Homeschooling and Managing Attention Spans

It’s time to go back to school. For some of you, you are attempting homeschooling for the first time! This is new thing for you and new thing for them. They make lack focus and have to get adjusted to doing school in a usually lax environment. 

There are a lot of factors that contribute to your child’s attention. In order to ease tensions that may arise, let’s make sure we identify some factors and some tips that can help the experience.

Here is a list of some things to look for and some tips to mitigate the problem. 

Create a Space For Schooling
If you have a small house or apartment this may mean having a special school desk in a corner of the living room.  If you have more space, consider making a whole corner of your house to just use as your schooling area. 

Lack of Organization Can Create Flustered Kids
It’s a good idea to have a bookshelf just for school related items.  You can get a couple of milk crates and stack them, or whatever you have on hand or you can buy bookshelf off an online marketplace. Don’t get crazy buying new items, until you get established with your teaching style.  

My Kid Is Easily Tempted!
Don’t put other things that are not school related on the desk or shelf.   No DVDs, CDs, other books.  Kids attention spans are short and the last thing you want is for your kid to go look for her spelling notebook but be mesmerized by the cover of the Hunger Games book you put on the shelf.  

The Bedroom Is For Sleeping
Do not let the kids do school work in their bedroom. They will get distracted by things in their room and it could potentially hurt their sleep cycle. 

Save Yourself At Dinner Time
If at all possible, do not do your school work on the dinner table (unless you are working on a big project).  This creates added chaos and stress at the end of the day.  You will have to clean the table and pick up all the books to have a place to eat.  

That brings me to the last point, try to get your kids to clean up at the end of the day.  Put books back on the shelf, crayons in their box, dust off their desk to get the eraser crumbs off.  The next day your homeschooling will start a lot better because you will start with a clean slate.  Keep in mind ages when asking your kids to clean up.  A first grader may be able to put books on the shelf but will put them all upside down and backwards.  A high schooler should be able to do all that and sweep the floor too. 

Please remember that I said TRY!  

Ask any seasoned homeschooler and they will tell you, sometimes you have to work on the sofa because you have a nursing infant while teaching a second grader.  Sometimes your child falls in love with a schoolbook and they want to read it before bedtime.  Sometimes we can’t clean up at the end of the day, something arises, and we just have to drop everything where we are.  But just think, if you leave a mess, you can still have dinner uninterrupted because the books and supplies are at another location.  

I hope these tips help you in getting ready for the next year. Happy homeschooling!

Feel free to add any other tips or questions on our Facebook page!! 

More Homeschooling Help In The CSRA