Dyslexia and Focus: How to Help Your Son Stay Attentive in the Classroom

When Focus Feels Out of Reach

“He just drifts off.” That’s what Clara told me over coffee one morning, speaking about her 9-year-old son, Jonah, who was recently diagnosed with dyslexia. “It’s like the teacher starts talking, and Jonah’s body is still in his seat, but his mind is off in a different galaxy. When he gets home, he can’t tell me what they even did in class.”

If you’re a parent of a child with dyslexia, that story may sound painfully familiar. The struggle to concentrate in the classroom isn't just about distraction. Often, it's rooted in the mental effort required to decode written language—a task that, for a child with dyslexia, can feel like climbing a mountain every single hour of the school day.

Understanding Why Focus Is So Hard

Before diving into strategies, it helps to understand why children with dyslexia often struggle with focus. Processing written language demands a huge share of their cognitive resources. While other kids follow along effortlessly, a dyslexic child may use most of their brainpower just trying to decode the words, leaving little left for absorbing meaning, remembering instructions, or staying attentive through a 45-minute lesson.

This effort can lead to mental fatigue, frustration, daydreaming, or even acting out. But it’s not a question of intelligence or motivation. It’s more like running a race in shoes that don’t quite fit: you tire out faster, and sometimes you just stop running—even when you want to keep up.

Creating a Daily Attention Plan

Helping your child stay focused in class involves building habits, tools, and conversations that support them both at school and at home. Here are some thoughtful ways to begin.

1. Prime the Brain Before School

Mornings are critical. A calm but consistent start can help your child transition into the school mindset. Consider a short, predictable routine: 10 minutes of reading (or listening to a story), movement (a walk, jumping jacks), and then a few minutes reviewing what’s ahead for the day. If your child doesn’t like reading due to dyslexia, audiobooks or lesson summaries in audio format can work wonders. Some families find that tools like Skuli, which turns written lessons or school materials into personalized audio stories where your child is the hero, can boost both engagement and memory during car rides or breakfast.

2. Break the Shame Cycle Around Losing Focus

When a child struggles with attention, they're often told to "try harder," even when they already are. This leads to shame—creating even more stress in the classroom. Talk openly with your child about attention. Explain that drifting off doesn’t make them lazy or bad, it just means their brain works differently and needs certain supports. Encourage them to name when they’re zoning out (without fear of punishment), and teach them how to gently bring themselves back.

3. Negotiate a Classroom Attention Toolkit

Every teacher wants their students to succeed, but they may not fully understand what dyslexia feels like day-to-day. Help the teacher support your child by bringing them into the conversation. Together, you can come up with a plan: allowing your child to wear headphones during work sessions, breaking down instructions into smaller steps, or using visuals alongside verbal cues. If you haven’t had this conversation yet, you’ll find helpful guidance in this article on how to talk to your child’s teacher.

4. Use Movement as an Anchor

Many kids with dyslexia also benefit from what’s called “kinesthetic anchoring”—the idea that body movement can support focus. Something simple, like giving your child a fidget object to keep their hands busy, or encouraging them to write answers on a whiteboard instead of on paper, can help them stay engaged longer. Incorporating small physical breaks at school, if allowed, can also reset their attention span.

5. Reinforce Focus Skills at Home Without Pressure

You don’t have to replicate the classroom at home—but you can build focus muscles in gentle, creative ways. If your child resists homework, try turning review sessions into quizzes they can do with you, or brief audio lessons they can absorb passively. With apps like Skuli, even a photo of a written lesson can become a quiz that feels more like a game than a chore. This gives your child extra exposure to learning content without the heavy mental lift of traditional reading.

Trust the Slow Bloom

Dyslexia comes with challenges, yes—but also surprises. Children who struggle with early reading often become brilliant problem-solvers, storytellers, or artists. But all of that promise needs space to breathe. When attention is constantly undermined by shame, stress, or inaccessible teaching material, that spark dims.

So remind yourself often: your child is not broken. They may learn differently, and at a different speed—but with the right support, they can thrive. And not just in school, but far beyond it.

Where to Go Next

Still piecing together the support puzzle? Here are some deeper dives:

• Which specialists to see if you suspect dyslexia
• Best books for dyslexic children to reconnect with reading
• How to support spelling for dyslexic learners

You’re not alone in this. And your child, with your love and wise guidance, is already on the way to discovering how capable they truly are.