Simple Ways to Help Your Elementary Student Build Better Attention Skills

The one skill kids really need to master in elementary school is the ability to pay attention and stick with a project from start to finish. Happily, that’s a skill homeschoolers have lots of opportunities to practice.

Every time I read a news article about a child being expelled from kindergarten — and that happens more than you’d think (In 2005, more than ten percent of teachers surveyed in a Yale University study said they’d permanently kicked a preschool-age kid out of their classroom in the previous two months.) — I am relieved that we are homeschooling our five-year-old son. The truth is, many kids just plain aren’t ready for a structured setting at age five, says Megan McClelland, an associate professor of human development and family sciences at Oregon State University.

And that’s okay — kids don’t need early structure to thrive. In fact, says McClelland, they don’t even need academics. Kids who read early or mastered basic math skills before their peers had no real advantage by the time college rolled around. The kids who did have an advantage were the ones who learned to focus on and complete specific tasks. Kids whose parents said they were good at paying attention and sticking with a project until it was finished in kindergarten were fifty percent more likely to have earned a bachelor’s degree by age twenty-five, found McClelland.

So whether you decide to start phonics immediately or take a more leisurely approach to learning, you can give your kindergartner a brilliant head start by helping her learn to follow directions and follow through.

Play games

Games like Freeze Dance, Simon Says, Red Light-Green Light, and the Farmer in the Dell will entertain your child, but they’ll also help him learn to pay attention and follow directions.

Make your own board game

Let your child make up the rules — she may need your help getting started — and play her game together. If making up a game from scratch seems too challenging, use one of your child’s board game as a base to build on. Creating the rules yourself really helps you make sure to follow them as you play!

Reverse roles

When you’re cleaning up the family room or making lunch, let your child give you instructions to follow. Kids enjoy being in charge, and watching you follow instructions will subtly inspire them to do the same.

Draw out directions

Draw pictures to let your child tackle a simple activity, like making a nut butter sandwich or mixing up a patch of homemade play dough.

Make a scavenger hunt

Cut out basic shapes — like squares, circles, and triangles — and set your child loose in the house to find objects that are the same shape. Next time you’re at the nature center, have a listening scavenger hunt: Close your eyes and try to hear things like a bird singing, wind rustling the leaves, or a car driving past on the road.

Mix up the classics

Next time you’re reading a story your child knows well, switch it up — call the heroine Little Green Riding Hood or Little Pink Riding Hood, for instance — and wait for your child to notice the mistake.

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