My daughter has some processing and attention difficulties. She has dyslexia, so the reading struggles are frustrating enough. She is very easily distracted, so I have to keep reminding her to pay attention to what she is doing. I am open for any suggestions to habit train in the area of focusing. Are there any special activities anyone has used to train your child to focus? My daughter is very smart in a lot of ways, but needs help in this area.
I want to know too. I have a 10 r old son on seizure medicine and he has THE HARDEST time focusing. He can listen to me read forever though. So I know he has it in him. He just can’t seem to focus on what he’s doing unless it’s legos or drawing. Well, he actually focuses on what he’s doing as long as it’s not something I asked him to do. If it’s his idea, he’s ok. He isn’t being disobedient; he just gets so distracted.
I know they say that children with dyslexia usually have attention problems, but I’m sure there would be some special techniques used with these kids to help them keep their attention on what they should be doing. I know they should have a lot of physical activity before the more difficult work, and the lessons should be kept short. But, I wondered if there is some activity or exercise, apart from actual school work, to help them form the habit of paying attention.
I forgot to mention that I did recently start my son on the drums in hopes of helping him. We’re a music family. My husband and oldest son play the piano (and the oldest is majoring in music at college) and the girls sing, so I thought my youngest needed something. Drums seemed perfect for him. I have noticed one time after he practiced, he could pay attention better for a while. I hope he gets better as his practice sessions get longer. Plus it’s somewhere between my telling him to practice and it being his idea. Music seems to have power we can’t explain. It got my husband through his growing up years without feeling that he was just terrible at everything. He had trouble learning for years. It gave him something that was his and he had confidence in.
Don’t forget the great secret of the outdoors. My dd with the same issues actually tells me when she needs to go outside because it helps her to focus better indoors. And it does work. The fun thing is that it has been scientifically proven to help with attention and focus issues. 😉
Have you looked at The Brain Integration Therapy by Dianne Craft? She has all kinds of exercises aimed at this type of situation.
I am doing some math and Barton reading over the summer because of my daughter’s difficulties. We will not do more than 30 minutes in each subject each day, four days a week. So, we shouldn’t have too much trouble with that. She loves to go outside, so I have been letting her go out first thing in the morning. My educational consultant said to have her do 30 minutes of intense activity before she does her work. I know that is for focusing.
Thanks for the links, Doug. I will be sure to read that information.
sheraz – I have looked at that Brain Integration Therapy online, but I am not in a position to buy anything more right now. I will keep that in mind later if I need it.
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