The first thing that comes to mind when I hear this is, how old is the child? Most times this happens when parents are expecting developmentally inappropriate methods of teaching and/or time periods of structured teaching.
Most children are not ready for structured learning til at least 7 and sometimes older. There are a few children who can and do well earlier. But, the great majority do not.
A few well known resources on this can be found in books from the following people and places-
John Holt-a wonderful author of books and as a former teacher his insight into how children learn is invaluable.
Ruth Beechick-awesome insight on what is developmentally appropriate for children to be able to understand at which ages.
Andrew Pudewa-Another author that debunks that most children do not have ADD/ADHD but are just normal children who are not developmentally ready at younger ages for structured classroom learning. And offers great insight on how to teach children, especially boys.
Better Late then Early-these books explain the advantages of holding off structured learning til a child is developmentally ready, and the disadvantages of trying to force structured learning before a child is developmentally ready. As well as success stories of such.
All this said, and you have thought about your child and their age, and if they are developmentally ready for structured schooling or not, you have decided they should be by their age developmentally ready for school, but still lack the focus. When I started homeschooling my oldest whom is most likely ADD but has never been diagnosed. These are strategies I have used for her that have been and were successful.
1) Cross over exercises. These are exercises that engage the right and left side of the brain getting them to cross over. Many children who have true ADD, have a strong creative side of their brain, but the reasoning side is weaker. Cross over exercises strengthens each side to help them come more into balance. And can help the child have clearer more focused thinking. One example of a cross over exercise is, rubbing your belly while patting your head at the same time. These exercises not only help a child focus, but the children see them as fun too!
2) Prioritize. Sit down and really think about what is important to your family. What are the end goals you want for your children. When you have your goals in mind, look over the subjects you want to teach your children while homeschooling them, and order them by importance. Some days you may only get to 2 or 3 of the subjects, but if you always start with the most important of those subjects to your family, then you can still feel accomplished that the most important things were done. The gaps will be filled with time. Most curricula cycles all the information and subjects at least 4 times from first grade to 12th grade. So if it doesn't get covered this year... it will get covered a few more times before graduation time!
3) You do NOT have to do ALL subjects every day. You can cycle through subjects. Schools do not cover every subject every day either. Most families choose to read, do math, and cover at least a little Bible every day. Then they cycle through Science, Social Studies, Geography, History, Health, Music, Art, etc. They may do History on Monday, Health on Wednesday, and Science on Friday, while they do Music Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and Art on Tuesday and Thursday. And so on. So in other words do not overwhelm your child with too much school work each day. Make it realistic and not debilitating. Again you do not want to burn out your children and have them lose their love of wonder and learning.
4) The former also ties into, if you are a new homeschooler, remember you do not have to do it all at once. Even as a seasoned homeschooler, I start each new year slowly. The first week we only do about 1/2 of the subjects I want accomplished each day for the majority of the year. If you are brand new, maybe just start with one subject. I would suggest if you are a witness that subject be faith based, depending on age. Younger children you may just start with reading one My Book of Bible Stories story, and sing a child's kingdom song. Older children maybe start with just doing the Daily Text, and a teen or regular Kingdom Song. Get into your routine for a week of doing that. Then add in Math. Then another week add in your Language Arts, and so on, til you get to what you want for your children and your homeschool. Again with each subject you add, think about if this is a need for your end goals of what you want your child to learn during their education.
5) Keep each subject very short. Start with only 5 to 10 minutes per a subject. Use exercise and movement before going on to the next subject. Some people use a rebounder in the class room, others have their children run some laps around the outside of the house. This is not punishment though, this is FUN for the children. And exercise that engages as many muscles as possible has been proven to help children focus, and actually learn better.
6) When we used worksheets (we no longer do). I would have her stand beside me to complete them. Standing up helped her a lot. And since she was beside me, I could keep her on task. And yes, younger years will mean you will have to take a VERY active role in your children's education and learning. As they get older and can read and comprehend what they read well they can be more independent. But, to be a successful teacher in the younger years, it will mean you will have to actually carve out time to be very active with the child. Many parents often have found that a sitting on a exercise ball to be very useful. As it engages the core muscles keeping the child focused.
After each worksheet I let her do a complete song and dance routine. Many parents find a small rebounder (trampoline) to be useful and let the child bounce for 5 to 10 minutes between worksheets.
7) I think one of the most important aspects of homeschooling to me, is leaving enough time for your children to explore their own talents and interests. Every one has talents and interests. And when we are not balanced and spend too much time on our own agenda those talents and interests can get lost, and so does the child. Think about things that you have a real interest in... how do you thirst and strive to learn about it, versus a subject you have no interest in? When a child is allowed to delve into a interest, they can often learn much more then anything you have planned in your agenda. And that can expand into many many school related subjects.
8) Last but certainly not least, do not force a book, curricula or method of learning/teaching that is not working for you or your child. Do not invest so much money in a book or curricula that makes you feel you have to force your family to use it weather it is working or not. That's a sure fire way to squash a love of learning. Instead a better thing to do is maybe check the book or curricula out at a library or online sometimes there will be examples of at least a few days to a week or two of the curricula or book. Try those out first and see if they mesh with your family. If not, pass on them. And even if you have sank the money already. Don't make you and your family miserable with it. It's not worth the money! Let it go and move on. You can find truly adequate quality educational materials with out spending more money then you can afford and with out torturing yourself or your family. Again, remember we have some of the best educational publications in the world for free at our finger tips from the Faithful and Discreet Slave. Do not dismiss their value!
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