When our middle child is painting, doing handicrafts or learning, the workplace quickly looks as if the proverbial bomb has hit. It makes me a fan of order all jittery. And he also sometimes loses track of things and gets distracted more easily. Do you know this from your child? … (read on)
The more things there are lying around on the desk, the greater the danger of distraction. For example, our big boy tends to flip through his German notebook, even though he’s actually doing math. Our middle child starts sharpening his crayons, which he doesn’t need to memorize the poem.
It may be that these behaviors are a kind of warning light. Perhaps a child is overwhelmed, unmotivated, or simply lacks concentration. And if he or she hadn’t reached for the German notebook or pencil sharpener, he or she would have created a break in some other way.
Maybe you know this from yourself, too. Actually, you should clean the windows. But you’re so not up for it. They only get streaky again (how does your neighbor manage to keep them streak-free??) and pfff… just not your favorite activity. Suddenly you find 100 other things that could be done right now. No, should! You haven’t wiped down the kitchen cabinets for a long time either. And you already wanted to file the bills last week. And… 😉
But it may also be that if your child had been more organized, he or she could have just kept working well for a while longer. So teach your child to keep his or her workspace tidy and organized when doing fixed learning tasks.
It helps many children if they only have the things on the table that they need for the current task. This helps them keep track of things. For example, this could be: the homework book, a pencil and an eraser, the math book, the math notebook and a glass of water. And for German – besides the glass of water and the homework book – the spelling book and the fountain pen. Or for science, the early bloomers worksheet and pencil case. After completing a task, your child can put away all the things he or she no longer needs. Put it in the school bag, the roll container or a shelf.