Teaching the Distracted Child

Do you have children who seem to notice and respond to every sight and sound around them, including those that you had not noticed? Do your children have a hard time getting homework or chores done because they seem to lose track of what they are doing?

Some children are easily distracted, noticing every sight and sound around them. When working on a task, they are often side-tracked and have a difficult time focusing. On the positive side, this trait also refers to children’s perceptiveness. Highly distracted children are keen observers of the world around them.

I'm not applying labels here....ADD, ADHD...who needs them?  We all have our own issues, and distraction is sometimes a blessing in disguise...once you get pass the classroom setting.

As an easily-distracted child myself, I have also been blessed with the same.  My mother is amused....  

Distracted children have no filter, so we need to help them limit their distractions.

• Headphones with classical music (or instrumental Beatles music, in my son's case) help to keep the mind focused.
• Use science fair boards to create a separate space.

Use movement to activate learning.  Mindless and repetitive movement will help to keep the body occupied and allow the mind to center and focus on learning.

Movement ideas while learning alone :

• Skip rope while doing times tables.
• Hop while doing chants, like Song School Latin.
• Walk on a treadmill while reading.  I learned to study while using an elliptical trainer, and found that I retained considerably more information.  Research shows that exercising while learning activates different areas of the brain.

Movement ideas while listening to a story or other teaching in a group :

• Play with silly putty
• Make a pattern with Legos
• Organize toy cars by size / color
• Braid a doll's hair

Understand that they may have to move.

• "Normal" people stop and pay attention to listen.  Distracted children are no longer listening if they're stopping and 'paying attention.'  I had a professor who finally understood this, and allowed me to doodle all the way through class.  She knew that if I was looking at her, I was zoned out and gone.
• Give them something to do with their hands, if they need to be still and listen for a while.

Have them take responsibility for their learning.

• If they don't understand, they have to say so, rather than pretending that they do.
• They have to try to learn, and try a different method if the first way doesn't work.
• Ask every so often if they are understanding.

Try different learning styles.

• Some kids need movement-centered learning (see above) and hands-on (kinesthetic) activities.
• Others are very musical, and can learn anything put to music.  Try chants and ditties that they can sing and dance along with, such as the ones on Ditty Bugs.
• Some kids can learn anything from a movie (audio/visual) - most distracted children are going to need to move around while watching a movie.
• Find what works best for your child.  (You probably already know, just from observation!)

Teach them to develop focus.

• You may have to remind them to refocus several times a day, but try to do so without anger or condescension.  This isn't a character flaw, and they don't need to be disciplined.  They just need a gentle reminder.
• Break large tasks into smaller bits, and recognize the completion of these smaller tasks.  Even if your child is a pre-teen, they need to learn to break things down into manageable bits.
• Use charts to help keep them focused on the tasks at hand.  You'll find daily charts to help keep them focused at our Subscriber's Resources page.

Further Exploration

• The Difficult Child
• 10 Days to a Less Distracted Child
• Captain Oblivious and Super Distractible

Snag a slew of resources in the Homeschool Helpers Bundle!

Covers ten topics to get your homeschool running smoothly!

 

Getting Started

· A Parent’s Alphabet

· Choosing the Right Curriculum for Your Family

· Motivating Your Teens

· Seven Steps to Teaching Work Ethic

 

Special Needs

· Occupational Therapy in Homeschool

· Speech Therapy in Homeschool

· Teaching the Distracted Child

 

Making it Fun

· Game-Schooling – Learning through Play

· How to Snag Free E-Books

· Holiday Foreign Language Fun

Looking for more?  Check out the original Mom’s Bundle and Homemaking & Homesteading Bundle!