Paying attention at school - kids who struggle

The class is working independently after being set a task by the teacher. Initially the task seems interesting but quickly the repetition of the exercises lose their allure and other, peripheral, activities seem more appealing. The bird making a nest in the tree outside catches their eye. They begin to wonder what birds use to make their nests then they wonder if other animals make nests too. Before they know it they’re thinking about the nest they can make in a tree at home. Suddenly their name is called in a loud, rather sharp voice. They startle and come back to the present with a jolt. Their teacher seems angry and not at all interested in their great idea for a human nest.  

By four years of age most children are able to pay attention in a more controlled way. This involves both ability to direct attention and self-control. An everyday example might be a five year old who is caught up in a conversation with friends in class needing to redirect their attention to their teacher. To accomplish this they need to be able to suppress their wish to continue their conversation and refocus their attention on what the teacher is saying.

The capacity to shift attention and the capacity to manage frustration are interdependent. Just as a child who struggles to refocus is more likely to become frustrated, the child who becomes easily frustrated is likely to struggle to shift their attention from their current focus.

Sometimes children who are anxious become very focused on whatever they are worrying about with the net result that they can’t focus on anything else. A very common example is worrying about fitting in with their peers. For some children this becomes all consuming, impacting on their ability to focus on school work, as they anxiously try to become accepted. Sometimes the children who act like the class clown fit into this category, or it can be the child who is willing to do anything her classmates tell her to do. Other children may be generally preoccupied, unable to focus on the task at hand, seemingly caught up in whatever is going on in their head. This can range from simple daydreaming to fearful worrying.

Yet another group of children are just more interested in what is happening around them than on focusing on the assigned schoolwork. These children are easily distracted by the activities of other children in the class and tend to focus better when there are less inherent distractions.

By the time children begin school they are expected to be able to pay attention to instructions and follow through on these, both of these expectations requiring a child to maintain their focus for considerable periods of time. Children who have trouble paying attention will especially struggle when they are required to complete repetitious, lengthy or boring tasks. They are more likely to struggle to listen closely enough to understand what they are expected to do, they are more likely to be distracted by any classroom noise, and they are more likely to make careless mistakes when completing tasks. They are also less likely to complete everything that is required of them.

It follows, then, that the frustrations associated with difficulty focusing include not keeping up academically with their peers, being told off more often, and coming to see themselves as not as intelligent and naughtier than their classmates. If difficulty focusing is not addressed this can become self-fulfilling as these children give up trying to focus and become ‘the distracted’ and ‘the distracting’ in class.

How to help

Children with difficulty focusing need both the underlying cause of the inattention and the lack of focus itself to be addressed. Some of the basics include addressing any difficulties with self-organisation and emotional regulation, and any external distractors such as classroom noise and overwhelming concerns at home or school.

Self-organisation includes organisation of their things, such as having the right books and equipment, in the classroom and being able to follow instructions and complete work on time. Visual prompts such as timetables and lists may be helpful. At home, giving one instruction at a time can be more effective than deluging a child with organisation difficulties with multiple simultaneous instructions.

Emotional-regulation is the ability to manage strong feelings without either denying these or becoming overwhelmed by them. Particular skills which are useful for children to practice include noticing and naming their feelings, expressing these in socially acceptable ways, and learning to emotionally pace themselves.  Responding to a red faced six year old who looks like he wants to punch someone with “I can see you’re really angry”, especially when you clearly get why they’re feeling this way, can help them recognise their anger which is needed in order for them to be able to work out what to do about it. When children get out of control it tends to be when they’re just reacting without recognising how they are feeling. Helping a child recognise what they’re feeling can slow down the reactivity long enough to give you a chance to diffuse the situation.

Helping children learn how to ‘soften’ their emotional intensity involves staying calm yourself and encouraging them to take a couple of breaths before telling you what they want to say. This allows a child to learn through your example, to feel what calmness feels like, and to learn how to communicate clearly. Raising your voice at children who are already emotionally upset just adds to the emotion they need to manage. It is very difficult to really listen to what someone has to say if the emotional intensity is too ‘loud’.

Helping children manage their inattention on a day to day basis will often include specific attentional strategies such as sitting them at the front of the class, reducing background noise and other distractions, providing positive reinforcement for continued attention, and varying the presentation and content of the learning, as well as providing a visual list of what the tasks that need to be done.

By addressing both the underlying cause of the inattention and the lack of focus itself, children who find it hard to focus are far more likely to make progress in this area, rather than simply focusing on classroom strategies.