As students adjust to the new year, it’s important both parents and students understand how to mitigate academic issues. Time blindness—which is the phenomenon that causes someone to lose track of time when engaged in an activity—is common in children and teens. Even more, it is common in children with ADHD. It’s crucial parents can identify when time blindness is holding their child back. Since students of all ages can be affected by time blindness, here are a few ways parents can intervene if their child has issues with time blindness:
Help Your Child Understand Which Activities Soak Up Their Time
Whether it be video games, reading, playing with electronics, or another activity, sometimes, students get distracted with things which leads them to lose track of time. For example, if your high school student tends to waste one or two hours scrolling on their phone while completing their homework, you need to help your child avoid this issue.
Once you’ve determined what activities are ‘time suckers’ you can make arrangements for your child to steer clear of these activities during homework time. You might decide that your child can’t use their phone during homework hours, can only read recreationally after dinner, or must avoid video games on weeknights—whatever is necessary to keep your child away from their attention-demanding activity.
Put Alarms on to Stay on Track
If your child is a perfectionist, slow completing their assignments, or distracted easily, then they might benefit from setting alarms to remind them to stay on track. That is, for a child completing their math homework, it could be helpful to set a timer for thirty minutes. This signals the child should be halfway done with their assignment. If they are not, they know to speed up the pace or ask for help. At the halfway point, set another timer. When that goes off, it will signal your child should be done with their assignment.
Ensure Your Child Can Read a Clock and Plan Well
These days, we rely on digital clocks more than analog clocks. But still, it’s necessary to read analog clocks occasionally. Make sure your student is familiar with how to tell time on a traditional clock. Moreover, helps them understand their schedule. Is soccer practice after school every day? Do they have to volunteer on Wednesdays? Does your family get together on Saturdays? When students know what they have to do, they’ll be better able to plan accordingly. Planning helps people with time blindness. Knowing what you have to do (and when you have to do it) reduces the chances of losing track of time.
Always Help Your Students Start Assignments Early
A student will not be able to avoid being hindered by time blindness, at all times. So, it’s best to always assume it will take a long time to do something, rather than a short time. Accordingly, encourage your child to start all their assignments early. If something goes wrong, they will still be able to finish on time. Of course, it’s crucial to encourage them to use the above strategies to conquer their time blindness, but sometimes, things happen—and that’s okay. It’s not a big deal if there’s still time to finish an assignment.
Conquer Time Blindness This Year
Every child deserves to thrive in school. Time blindness may upset your child, so it’s important to involve yourself to help them find solutions. With these tips, you’ll be on your way to doing so. For more information about time blindness and The Tenney School, contact us. I also recommend looking into a tutor to help assist with your student staying on top of their assignments. You can schedule with one of our many tutors over on TenneyTutors.com!