“Clarity is like casting light. Clarity allows us to see better and eases the path of understanding.” –Cyrus Panjvani
As the start of the school year returns, parents and kids—many already struggling mentally from the recent years of disrupted routines—may feel more stress and anxiety with this year’s back-to-school hustle.
Back to school means back to homework. As a parent, observing your kids struggle during assignments can be frustrating. Just the very sound of the word strikes fear into the hearts of many. It also brings up feelings of dread, worry, and frustration.
Some parents manage to guide their kids through these moments with relative ease. Others hire tutors. Many parents, however, are trying to stave off their annoyances in the face of their kids who resist homework.
Recognizing that, like many of us, our kids avoid and procrastinate homework tasks means stress for everyone.
Hunkering down for an hour or so may also mean arguments, tears, and frustration because homework demands more discipline and consistency than many children can muster.
And if your kids also struggle with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it’s harder for them to focus and concentrate. The distractibility, impulsivity, and working memory problems associated with ADHD can affect many students with these symptoms.
Thinking Skills for Success in Learning and Life
When the mind feels cluttered, it can be hard to make room for innovative ideas and creative problem-solving. This is true for both adults and kids.
Homework assignments can overwhelm and frustrate students with ADHD who struggle with executive functions, focus, and organization.
Clarity of thought is needed to avoid confusion, reshaping of thoughts, decision making, and avoiding crisis.
Focus is a thinking skill composed of three separate but closely related executive functions: task initiation, sustained attention, and task persistence.
Focus involves knowing what to pay attention to in different situations, learning how to get started on tasks, and understanding how to sustain attention and effort to the task at hand.
In essence, focus helps us to get started on something and sustain our attention and effort through its completion. Focus skills are necessary for success in any aspect of life.
Thinking skills that help your child attend, focus, and think clearly are a learned process.
Taking the Stress out of Homework
As a parent, you can make it easier by creating a homework routine utilizing the ritual of flower essence aromatherapy.
Aromatherapy can help your child learn smarter and calm a child who is anxious or under stress.
Wildly underrated, the sense of smell has a powerful effect on your brain’s many functions. Inhalation is one of the most common methods of using aromatherapy for children.
Many essential oils can help soothe a child who feels hyperactive and restless. Kids struggling with attention, concentration, focus, and thinking processes may benefit from specific essential oils to help them feel calmer, more focused, and less anxious during the hour or so as they attend and complete their homework.
Essential oils directly influence brain function, especially in the frontal lobe and limbic areas of the brain. The frontal lobe is responsible for higher cognitive functions such as memory, emotions, impulse control, problem-solving, social interaction, and motor function.
The prefrontal cortex is the decision-making part of the brain, responsible for your child’s ability to plan and think about the consequences of actions, solve problems, and control impulses. Developmental changes in this part of the brain continue into early adulthood.
Any odor breathed affects the limbic system, the part of the brain that governs emotional processing, motivation, fear, and pleasure, including the hippocampus and amygdala, which impact the clarity of thought, learning, and memory.
Clarity & Focus Spray
Our Clarity & Focus Flower Essence Aromatherapy Spray is formulated to help students quiet the mind, concentrate, and stay firmly grounded in the present moment; it is an excellent choice for kids who struggle with schoolwork.
Our alchemically blended organic essential oils of Lemon, Basil, Coriander, Rosemary Cypress, Peppermint, Melissa, and Vetiver are very calming and balancing, determined to be safe and effective for use with children.
While the refreshing aroma of Clarity & Focus Spray helps aid a wandering mind to attend to the task in front of them, the subtle smell of peppermint and lemon is soothing. It may also help your child with feelings of restlessness and anxiety.
To support your kids during homework time, spray 4-5 spritzes into the air of the designated homework area, nozzle angled above their heads. If they prefer a more potent infusion, they can spritz it directly onto their favorite plush toy and keep it nearby or a blanket and wrap that around them.
Brain Boosting Essential Oils
While aromas alone won’t help your child ace a test, they can make learning more engaging, and certain smells may even boost memory when paired with tasks.
Distilled from the rind, the aroma of lemon works well to boost mood by regulating both dopamine and serotonin levels within the brain. This regulation helps with feelings of peace of mind while also increasing mental focus.
The scent of peppermint awakens the senses to keep the mind alert and clear-headed, making it easier to fight fatigue and stay focused. It also aids in reducing nervous tension.
Rosemary is the best essential oil for increasing mental clarity and enhancing cognitive performance. One of the go-to oils for brain fog, its ability to stimulate your mind helps ease mental exhaustion, banish forgetfulness, and lift the cloudiness.
Basil essential oil has a unique set of properties that helps to reduce stress and improve concentration. Plus, it too can help boost memory retention.
Clinical research has shown that the essential oil vetiver is calming and improves concentration, alertness, and focus (see blog: Rest & Restore during Dog Days of Summer). Perfect for study, when inhaled, this essential oil can help wake up the mind so your child can get back on track to begin focusing again, so distractions lose their power.
The scent of Cypress oil induces a calm and relaxed feeling when used aromatically. It is also energizing, and it stimulates feelings of happiness and ease. This can be particularly helpful for students who are experiencing emotional stress.
Healthy Homework Habits
Consistency daily, including homework start and finish times, helps with healthy habits and regulation. Include a bottle of Clarity & Focus Spray for use beginning and during homework.
Depending on your child’s temperament, determine when the best study time could be or maybe after an hour of downtime. Avoid late evening, which for most children is letdown time.
Help your child select a homework place. Steer clear of proximity to the temptation of electronics (TV, Tablet, or phone). But if your child concentrates best with soft noise, try some gentle background music.
Offer praise. Compliment your child when he stays on task, works with focus, is creative, and so on. Be specific. Say, for example, “I like how you concentrated on that problem and stuck with it until you solved it.” Give him an acknowledging pat or a squeeze mid-homework, too.
Creating a consistent homework ritual at home using Clarity & Focus Spray will result in better thinking skills, a sense of accomplishment, and many after-school smiles. Besides, as a parent, you too will experience less stress supporting your kids during homework.
All my aromatic love,
Vidya
