Reading Resources: Ways to Engage Children with Attention Problems

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Reading is a fundamental way of life that is the cornerstone of success in any field. Although you can’t explain it in this way to a child, you know how important it is. What if your child has a hard time paying attention to you or the teacher? It can be frustrating at times, but there are ways you can help his or her focus when engaging the child to read more.

1. Interested Reading

Many times, children lose their focus if the content is something that they are uninterested in. Think about, how hard is it for you to read content that is boring to you? Since every child has a favorite focus, for mine it is dinosaurs, you can try to engage the child to read by incorporating their favorite hobby. As the interest is already present for the subject matter, the child will want to know what the story is surrounding his or her hero or topic. For instance, my daughter’s love of dinosaurs prompts her to read anything dinosaur related. Although I wish she would mix up the subject matter, I am just glad she is reading at her current level now.

2. Pick and Choose

The age of your child will play a role in how to engage him or her to read more. Children that are pre-teenager can be difficult to get focused as there is already so much on their minds. In some households, such as mine, if the older children want to play the game consoles, there needs to be some kind of reading. This can be of any material they wish including the manual of the game they wish to play. However, it needs to be content he or she is interested in reading. If the child isn’t interested in reading Where the Red Fern Grows, the experience is going to be nothing but frustrating for yourself and your child. Although he or she is reading the game manual, at least it’s learning and further practice of the language.

3. Don’t Force It 

Forcing a child to read a specific book may only result in his or her dislike of the material and create a barrier against reading. At one point, my 12-year-old decided he didn’t want to read even if it meant playing the game consoles. This is before we implemented the option to “read what you wish.” When you force the child to read a specific book, the mind will tend to wander and he or she may not retain any of the material. He or she could sit blankly staring at the
pages.

4. Story Telling 

Reading to your children initially can help gain their attention in the material. When you read a book to your child with a positive energy, he or she may want to capture some of that moment themselves. While your younger children may not be able to read the level of the book you are reading, it can empower them to learn in order to experience it for themselves. Reading to our children regularly has improved the amount of actual reading that each child has performed on his or her own. It may not work for every child, but we have seen a great improvement both at home and at school.

5. Be a Part of It

Sitting your child down and reading with her can help her remain focused if she is having problems. What many parents slip into is the frustration that may accompany the situation if your child is having problems “assuming” a word is something that it clearly isn’t.  Instead of sounding out words, some children are taught to use logic to determine what a word is. For a child that already has reading problems, this strategy might not be as effective as you’d like. He or she may see and read the word adding additional letters or removing letters to make something else.  For instance, “flurry” could be seen as “hurry” even though there is clearly no “H” in the original word. Taking time and sitting with your child to help him or her read can go a long way to improving the vocabulary.

6. Dietary Alteration 

Keeping the attention of a child could be as simple as changing the foods he or she eats throughout the day. Eating better can have a variety of effects on a
person including improved focus. In fact, there have been studies that shown certain foods can cause the same symptoms as ADHD in the form of allergic
reactions to edibles such as gluten or tuna fish. However, this isn’t a quick cure. It can take a few weeks before results can be seen if your child is allergic to specific foods.

The main point of getting a child’s focus is by giving them a reason to read. The same principles that drive yourself to read are what drive your children to as well. If you have no interest in scientific discoveries of spatial anomalies, you wouldn’t read a book about them. Why would your child be any different by reading something he or she isn’t interested in?

Author Bio

Rachel is an ex-babysitting pro as well as a professional writer and blogger. She is a graduate from Iowa State University and currently writes for www.babysitting.net. She welcomes questions/comments, which can be sent to rachelthomas.author @ gmail.com.

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~Becky