Help Your Child Focus in Five Minutes or Less
Happy October! It’s hard to believe that September has come and gone. The long days of summer have been replaced with afterschool activities and school work. We all know the feeling – you are trying to get dinner on the table while helping your kids focus on their homework and they are staring off into space. It’s been a long day for them and they are having trouble focusing. I’ve put together a list of my favorite five tools to helps kids focus fast. Before you begin, make sure your child is in a well-lit room that is free of distraction. That means no TV and no devices!
Try any combination or all of the following tools and let me know how they work for you.
1 – MUSIC {Instrumental}
I’m all about setting the stage and to me, music comes first. Here are some of my favorites from Spotify and Youtube. Really anything instrumental or even nature sounds will help kids focus.
Click here to listen to focus music on Spotify
or press play below for music on YouTube:
2 – AROMATHERAPY {LEMON ESSENTIAL OIL}
I love using essential oils. I mean, truly love. And one of my absolute favorite oils is lemon. Following are the two simplest ways to use lemon essential oil to help your child focus. Fill an essential oil diffuser with water and add about 5 drops of the lemon essential oil. As a result, the room will fill up with the clean, refreshing scent of lemon.
Another way to use it is to simply open up the container of the oil and have your child take a few deep breaths inhaling the scent.
3 – BREATHING {EVEN BREATH}
Have your child sit up nice and tall in their chair, with their legs uncrossed and their feet flat on the floor. The breathing technique for even breath is super simple. They are simply going to inhale for the same number of counts as they exhale, and hold their breath in between.
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Inhale for four counts (you can count for them, or they can count on their hand)
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Hold for two counts
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Exhale for four counts
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Hold for two counts
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Repeat this cycle of breath four more times.
4 – YOGA {TREE POSE}
Balancing poses are great to increase concentration. Having your child spend a minute or two practicing tree pose will help them block out all of the other stuff going on in their head. Here are step by step instructions to walking your kids through this pose.
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Stand up nice and tall with feet planting firmly into the ground like a tree.
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Begin to put all of your weight on one leg.
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Bring the heel of the other foot to rest on the ankle.
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Once you have your balance, try moving your foot to rest on your calf below the knee.
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Take a few breaths.
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The trick to keeping your balance is to focus on something in the room that is not moving. An object on the floor or wall usually works.
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If you have your balance, move your foot up to your leg above your knee.
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Arms can be extending like tree branches, palm to palm in front of your chest, or held down at your side.
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Now try the other side. Often one side is more difficult than the other.
Click here for a more detailed tree pose tutorial, complete with pictures and how to practice together with your child.
5- POSITIVE AFFIRMATION {I CAN…}
It’s so easy for your child to get frustrated when they can’t figure something out. When this happens try to remind your child of the importance of positive thought with the following affirmations. Depending on your child, you can either gently remind them of these things yourself, or you can have them repeat them when they are feeling very frustrated. It’s amazing what a positive affirmation can do. Leave post-its around their desk to remind them they can do it!
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I can do whatever I focus my mind on
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I believe in myself and my abilities
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I am a fast learner
Try any or all of these tools to help your kids focus fast and let me know how they work for you. Happy Studying!
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Elissa Chanin-Sharp is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
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