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Suggestions to Help Your Child Focus During Lockdown
COVID-19 has been a pain since it has been introduced in our lives. Not only is it altering everything we’ve known, but it’s also affecting the productivity of our kids which ultimately jeopardizes their whole future. If all that wasn’t enough, this whole anomaly of a situation has forced you to become your child’s teacher and come up with so many plans so as to make sure that your child works. Well, by now you must have run out of ideas to help your child focus and enjoy their work at home, given that it has been an eternity since the pandemic has started, but have no fear, I’ve got you covered - here are a few suggestions which may help your child focus during lockdown:
1. Set-up Short Term Goals:
Setting short-term goals for your child can be helpful in increasing their focus. Take yourself for an example, would you rather have “complete Maths assignment by 3:00” on your to-do list or “complete Maths assignment, English project, science homework…” on your agenda for the day? The former of the two, obviously! That is because setting up short term goals help concentrate on tasks that are supposed to be completed at the moment and it helps in eliminating the pressure of a larger, more full schedule. You have to agree that this helps divide the stress of two or more tasks and allows your little prodigy to focus on one job at a time.
2. Reward Their Behaviour:
Whenever your child completes a task under the given deadline, reward them. By rewarding your child’s behaviour, you are acknowledging what they’re doing .Again, put yourself in their shoes; imagine this - you’ve worked so hard on an assignment, you gave it your all and when you presented it to your parents and they just responded with a “that’s nice” and went back to watching their tv show. You would feel so unappreciated and frankly, stupid. Won’t it be better if your parents would’ve reacted with praise? Or perhaps a prize? Of course it would’ve been! It's the same with your own kids, appreciate what they do and do not forget to show that appreciation.
3. Designate a Specific Place for Their Classes:
Designate a quiet, comfortable place in the house for your child’s classes and restrict anyone from disturbing them during their lessons. By doing this, you are reducing any cause of distraction and creating a familiar, classroom-like environment and even you have to admit, if you have to work, might as well do the job in a place void of distractions because, let’s be real, neither you nor your kid can feel the encouraging spirit of an official workspace at your home. That designated space, after a while, will be associated with working and it’ll make focusing on the job a lot easier.
4. Manage Their Screen-Time:
Due to online lessons, children are spending hours on end in front of their electronic devices. You must’ve noticed the way your off springs are glued to their gadgets as though it’s a part of their body! Needless to say that this is not good for their mental and physical well-being. Spending so much time on their devices can leave them vulnerable to mental health issues such as addiction, anxiety and depression. Hence, it is essential that you manage your child’s media consumption. Take some time out from your day and tell them to join you, during this time you can de-stress, play Ludo or Monopoly or something and just enjoy each other’s company along with staying off those devices.
5. Talk to Them:
Currently, the world is a haven of unpredictability and children may not be able to figure out if something is wrong but you can’t deny that the little humans are far from naive. They know that something is not right and this is where you strap on your superhero cape and step in. All you have to do is talk to them, tell them what the whole world is facing. Answer all their questions as honestly as possible. Be understanding of their problems and help them understand the importance of their education. Do this and punch their anxiety in its face. You and I and the world itself, we all know that what we’re going through has and will continue to test us and our loved ones for a while, but the one light which shines bright in this darkness is the knowledge that you are not alone. Remember that we are in this together, we are here for each other and let us know how you keep your tiny humans focused to help all the others on this battleground!