Helping Kids Focus on Assignments

How do you teach a kid to slow down and focus? This has been my third-grader's consistent problem, and we are stumped as to how to help, as is his teacher. He tends to make mistakes because he fails to follow instructions or is in too much of a hurry to get the work done right. He gets A's and B's, and he doesn't have attention-deficit disorder, according to tests. When it comes to his favorite activities, like baseball and soccer, he excels and his focus is tremendous. What can we do? - Stumped
Answer: Your son sounds like a typical child who is hurrying through his work to get to other activities. Because he is bright, the quality of his work will eventually become more important to him than speed.
It should not be too difficult to help your child get in the habit of paying attention to directions before starting his work. At home, have him get out his assignments. But only give him his pencil and paper to complete them after he has explained in his own words what the directions are. If this strategy works well, share it with his teacher.
To help your son do more accurate work, don't step in too quickly to correct his papers or homework. Instead, say: "You have two errors on this page." This way, he'll get in the habit of checking over his assignments.