Q: What do you suggest I do to encourage my third-grade daughter to have a longer attention span and pay more attention to what she is reading, writing and answering? Thank you!

A: There are plenty of children who can learn to pay attention and others who really struggle with biologically based inattention problems. To start with, let's assume your daughter can be taught to focus better on her work. Motivation is most important for focus.

Begin by helping your daughter set up an appropriate time and place for study and homework. A desk or table in a quiet room away from screens, unless she's using them for work, is a start. Don't allow TV, music, siblings or pets, for sure. Definitely do not sit by her side, but tell her that you are available if she is struggling and can't work something out on her own and also that you will look over her work afterward.

Time is important, too. The sooner she starts her homework after school the better, although having a short break and snack when she comes home works well. There should be absolutely no screen time before homework. Before bedtime is the worst time for working on homework. That's because she probably prefers not going to bed, so she is likely to work more slowly. It's best if there is family fun or television together to look forward to after homework is done.

Talk about tools that focus attention — such as taking notes on what she reads, reading instructions carefully and breaking down her work into small parts — and other ideas that you or she thinks could be helpful to her. Have her write her new tools down on a list so she feels as if she owns them and has her list near her side.

Make a rating and scoring game out of homework specifically to teach your daughter the goals of attention. Tell her you will rate each goal on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being worst and 5 being best. Then set up categories for rating — for example, read instructions well, wrote neatly, checked spelling and reviewed work carefully. Use rewards — e.g., stickers — when she achieves 4s or 5s. Stickers can be saved and redeemed for small gifts or even spending money, which young children always enjoy earning. As she learns how to focus better and her attention improves, she'll tire of the game, but let's hope she will have developed some good permanent habits.

Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm is the director of the Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the author of many books on parenting. More information on raising kids is available at www.sylviarimm.com. Please send questions to: Sylvia B. Rimm on Raising Kids, P.O. Box 32, Watertown, WI 53094 or srimm@sylviarimm.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.