That’s especially true if the one thing is her homework or a chore you’ve asked her to do.

Try these ideas to help your child get focused:

• Be supportive at homework time. This is different from sitting down with your child and walking her through her assignments. Instead, encourage and monitor your child from a slight distance. Let her know you believe she can do the work. Offer a snack or drink after she’s worked for a chunk of time. Offer suggestions for finding help—a book, the Internet, a homework hotline.

• Keep it short and sweet. You may find yourself thinking that your child’s attention span hasn’t been this short since she was a toddler, and you’re probably right. Before you’re halfway through a lecture about feeding the dog, your child has tuned out. Instead, try, “Anne. Dog. Please.”

• Encourage note-taking. Writing down instructions has helped many a middler—and plenty of adults too! Do this for your child at home, and suggest she do it at school when her teacher is giving directions to her or to the whole class.

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