In a light aircraft I was taught to look out and down of the side windows, in daytime, and not to stare fixedly over the nose. In a high-wing like the C172 you can even look at the wheels, as I recall, there's no law against that...
At night the tip I was given was to flare when the runway edge lights appear to be at your shoulder level. It works.
PS Obie's got a good point; this is pre-PPL test stuff, at least for daytime!