A lot of children have had to switch from learning in a classroom to homeschooling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only has this been disruptive to their learning, but it’s highlighted to a lot of parents just how hard it is to engage children in their education. This has left many parents struggling to get their children focused and on track, with many frantically trying to find ways to get their children to concentrate.
If this sounds vaguely familiar to you and you’re looking for ways to engage your child in their education, try some of the tips we’ve come up with and see if they work.
Give Several Ways to Learn
Every child learns differently. As the saying goes, ask a fish to climb a tree and they’ll spend their whole life thinking they’re dumb. No child is dumb; everyone has their own strengths and strong points, and everyone has their own way of learning. Some people learn through trial and error, others learn by reciting back information, and some children learn visually. If teaching your child one way isn’t working, try another way and see if it works. Perhaps creating posters will work best for your child, or maybe small activity worksheets will work better. It might take some time, but when you figure it out, it could prove to be the solution to get your child to be more engaged and present with learning.
Take Breaks
Whilst you as an adult might be able to do two or more hours of consecutive work, children’s attention spans aren’t that long and they may need to take breaks more frequently so that they can refresh their brains. How often you take a break will depend on your child and how they are. Generally speaking, children aged five will begin to lose focus after 15 minutes, aged seven after 20 minutes, and aged eight after 25 minutes. Taking a short 10-minute break in these intervals could help you keep your child more focused and interested in their education. During the break, they can have a snack, do some exercise or kick back and relax for a while.
Put Things in Perspective
A lot of children are privileged and see school as a chore, completely unaware that there are some children who don’t have access to basic life essentials like school. This might sound exciting to your child – after all, who likes going to school? – but this is where you can make an example of why your child should be grateful for the opportunities they’ve been afforded.
It’s a good idea to tell your children about what other children their age around the world go through. This is not to strike fear into them or to emotionally blackmail them into going to school, but it might put things into perspective for them and make them more aware of how lucky they are to have the opportunity to go to school.
You can tell them about the 72 million children worldwide who do not have access to education and who have to rely on charitable appeals like Hifz Quran Orphans and orphan villages. Through this, you are educating your child on the plight of children around the world which can be advantageous to them for multiple reasons, but it might encourage them to concentrate on their learning.
Summary
Hopefully, these three tips should help you to keep your child slightly more focused whilst you’re homeschooling them. If not, it’s worth getting in touch with their teachers to discuss how best to move forwards.
