My son's teacher said his concentration improved

Got a message from my son's teacher last night that genuinely stopped me in my tracks. She said his ability to sit and focus during class had improved noticeably over the last few weeks and wanted to know if anything had changed at home.

Tbh my first reaction was confusion because we hadn't changed his diet, hadn't adjusted his medication, hadn't started any new therapy. Everything was the same.

Then I thought about it and realised about 6 weeks ago I got really strict about screen time after school. Not because I had some grand plan, I was just exhausted watching him zombie-scroll YouTube Shorts for an hour the second he got home. Short video after short video, couldn't pull him away, and by dinner he was irritable and couldn't focus on anything for more than 30 seconds.

So I replaced that hour with quiet table time. Nothing intense, just 15-20 minutes of worksheet activities around things he actually cares about. He's obsessed with space and superheroes so I started generating themed worksheets with the help of Brainator that matched his interests and his level. Space-themed math, superhero reading comprehension, that kind of thing. Pencil, paper, no screens.

The first week was a battle. The second week he started coming to the table without being asked. By week four he was genuinely engaged and the after-school meltdowns basically stopped.

I'm not saying this is a cure or that it works for every kid with attention challenges. But the shift from 60 minutes of Shorts to 20 minutes of focused pencil-and-paper activity made a visible difference for my son and I wasn't expecting it at all.