Young children or older children can struggle with short attention spans for a variety of reasons, including young age, disinterest, ADHD, autism, and/or intellectual or developmental disabilities. Being a parent with a child who struggles for any reason can be discouraging, especially when you know they have the potential to accomplish so much! The following is a list of suggestions to help your child focus and successfully learn and be engaged in science education.
Breaks for Children with Short Attention Spans
All of us need to take a break from time to time, even if we don’t struggle with a short attention span. Short breaks help us to refresh ourselves and come back to the material from a focused perspective. Monitor your child’s level of interest and gauge how long their attention lasts. Then, when you notice they are beginning to not pay attention, offer a break for your child to take a step back from the material and refresh their brain.
Breaks can take many forms. Some children want to dance or run around; some children want to sit quietly away from the material. You can either offer options for what is possible on a break or leave it open-ended for your child to decide.
When starting a break, it can help kids to know what to expect.
- How long will the break be?
- Do I have to return to science, or can I study a different subject and return to science later in the day?
- Can I take my break alone or do I need to be with my teacher while I take a break?
All of these questions can seem easy for you to answer, but ensure your child understands what the break entails. If the break is lasting for a specific amount of time, a visual timer can be helpful for children who do not yet know how to tell time. This can reduce frustration when the break comes to an end.
Hands-on, Age-appropriate Activities for Children Who Struggle with Short Attention Spans
Science is one subject where hands-on learning can be accomplished.
If you are working through a reading section with your child and notice your child gets anxious or starts fidgeting, you can look ahead to find where the next hands-on section is. Assuming you are not far from a hands-on section, you can inform your child that a hands-on part is coming soon, or you can jump ahead to it and then return to the reading section later.
Are you answering a set of questions that require writing? While writing may seem hands-on, it often doesn’t feel hands-on to a child. If your child doesn’t enjoy writing out their answers, you can have them use physical activity or use another medium (like clay or paint) to answer questions. This makes science learning more hands-on and fun!
How to Help Children Who Struggle with Short Attention Spans Make Choices
We all like choices. No teacher wants to be told what to do 100% of the time, and the same is true for your child. Within all of our Science Unlocked kits, there are opportunities for choice.
The suggested schedule is just that: a suggestion. There is no set amount of material you have to cover in a given day. Want to stop early? Okay. Want to go a little further? Great! If you notice your child’s attention span is wavering or they are daydreaming, you can offer the choice of being done with science for the day. If you can tell that your children have more energy left for science, you can offer for them to continue on into the next section.
Hands-on Activities to Increase Attention Span
Another choice you can offer your child in their science learning is which parts of the hands-on activities they would like to perform. Not all children want to get messy; some like to just watch. Not all children want to write down what is happening, but instead, want to get their hands messy. If your child is specific about the parts of their schoolwork they want to participate in, you can offer them the choice of writing down steps and answers or getting their hands into the science.
When you do offer a choice, respect their answer. No one wants to be offered milk or juice and then be told they can only have the one they didn’t choose. This doesn’t mean, however, that you cannot offer them a choice again later. You will likely find that your child chooses different options over a period of time. This shows you that they are growing and can help you find what parts of their science learning they are more interested in.
