Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy How to teach a child to focus?

Ohhhh... THIS is what I'm looking for!! (for me too! not just my kids, lol) If you ever figure out how to orchestrate such a moment, please share Or you could bottle it and sell it... make a fortune... LOL

Focus and attention are skills that you can learn or improve upon. For my hearing-impaired child, he initially had trouble focusing in group situations, when it was noisy. Over time, that has gotten much better.
We have done private weekly piano lessons for 3 years now- I think music is a great way to learn focus and persistence. Sports can be a great way too, if they are engaged in it. My kids play alone or together with Legos for hours, making up imaginary battle scenes, etc.

A lot of good things to think about here. I suppose he has worked hard at some things, now that I think about it. He has been working feverishly at his science fair project over the past couple of weeks. He's worked hard at taekwondo. So I suppose it's just study skills that he is lacking. I've been trying to help him learn that, but so far it's not working. Still, with all of the stories about people who have had the same experience, I wonder if perhaps he just needs some more time.

I agree with Michaela that finding a challenging game that piques you child's interest, then allowing them to be frustrated by it, could be a good idea.

Here are a couple iPad apps we've been using lately:
BigSeed
KickBox

They're even frustrating for me! I'm hoping these will help teach the kids perseverance.

We're here this year too, though only with math, and only in the sense that DD doesn't get it *instantly.* (The work is still below her level, IMO--but she's never encountered anything before that wasn't a complete cakewalk.) I'm telling myself 1) that it takes time and 2) better now than later. But she does need a lot of emotional support to do the math. She panics easily. Reminding her of past freakouts and her triumph over the skill helps.