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This video has great examples on how to improve kids concentration in school.

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Concentration is the raw ingredient that gets stuff done, but being able to concentrate is far from straightforward - it is an elusive quality that is hard to conjure at will - even for adults who are more self-aware and have access to fresh coffee!

Concentration as a skill is even harder for our children, but it's important and there are some things we, as parents, can do to help.

What's the Big Deal about Concentration?

The education system has its cycles of what is in or out of fashion and there's endless debate about what skills are important and how to teach them. Surprisingly, concentration rarely surfaces as a skill or quality that warrants developing alongside the likes of communication, imagination, confidence, creativity, group work . . (all important too!) . .

This is surprising because although classroom teaching styles have evolved over the past thirty years - less of the chalk and talk we suffered - the exam system hasn't changed - and here concentration is everything.

But it's not just about exams - concentration is required for listening to the teacher, focusing on classroom tasks and most aspects of learning.

How Parents Can Help

We sometimes forget that our children spend all day in a class of thirty or so other kids where individual attention is in short supply. This means your child will probably get more one-to-one attention from you at home during homework time than all day at school.

We can have a big impact at home on education and we can do much to ensure better concentration. Here are some aspects of your child's life that influence their ability to concentrate:

Sleep

An obvious easy-win in the concentration battle is getting enough sleep. As this News article suggests, we are talking about 10 to 12 hours per night for a child of 5 to 11. Establishing a bedtime routine always helps and makes an early bedtime easier to implement.

Emotions

I mentioned earlier that as adults we are more 'self-aware'. Of course, this is wishful thinking - adult or child, we are all emotional beings and more often than not we are completely unaware of being driven by our emotions.

When it comes to concentration, nothing gets in the way more than worry - so if your son or daughter is worried about something, find time to talk it through with them. It may be pretty trivial and easy to resolve, but if it's persistent and happening in school, consider talking to the teacher.

Diet and Water

I think we all agree that a balanced diet helps maintain concentration - after all if your child is hungry or fizzing with sugar they're unlikely to be thinking straight.

There are a few foods that are worthy of a special mention:

Oat cereals such as porridge release their energy slowly, so breakfast keeps children going through to lunch. The opposite is true for cereals with a high sugar content - so ditch the sugar at breakfast time!

Omega fish oils - If your child has issues concentrating or is coming up to an important exam I'd consider this supplement simply because it's cheap, harmless and there's growing evidence supporting the benefit to concentration and learning.

Water is very important to the brain and dehydration has a clear impact on concentration. This is something we often consider only in warmer weather, but it's really worth ensuring your child is hydrated all year round.

Most schools are on top of this, but if not, a water bottle is an easy answer - annoyingly my son's new school believes drinking water is best delivered via the paid vending machines!

Exercise

Several research studies point to exercise being beneficial to school children's concentration.

This study from Denmark even suggests walking to school improves concentration and the effects last all morning. Aside from the obvious health benefits of exercise, it's useful to know that it's good for concentration too.

Sending the kids outside to play for 15 minutes during a long homework could be a win-win situation.

Relaxation

Rest and relaxation are of course important for concentration - so balance home learning with downtime.

Personally, I'm a little concerned that some forms of downtime such as console games are actually exhausting in terms of concentration. I'm thinking particularly of my son's post-gaming lull in attention which usually takes thirty minutes or more to shake off.

Distraction and Focus

For younger learners, the kitchen table is the ideal place to do homework - because you are likely to be around to help - but it's worth remembering that TV, radio, and even telephone conversations can be distracting.

As learners reach ten or older and become more independent consider a desk in their bedroom or another room and best not to allow devices during homework time. Also, try asking them to set a target time to complete the work - this can help them focus.

Concentration as a Good Habit

By setting up the environment and conditions for learning at home and instilling the idea that learning is important we can improve concentration. If we do this consistently then it becomes a good habit - and perhaps even a lifelong one.
I'm Ged McBreen ex-math teacher, parent and co-founder of Komodo.
About Komodo - Komodo is a fun and effective way to boost K-5 math skills. Designed for 5 to 11-year-olds to use in the home, Komodo uses a little and often approach to learning math (15 minutes, three to five times per week) that fits into the busy routine. Komodo helps users develop fluency and confidence in math - without keeping them at the screen for long.
Find out more about Komodo and how it helps thousands of children each year do better at math - you can even try Komodo for free.

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Tips to improve your child's concentration skills

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Concentration is the raw ingredient that gets stuff done, but being able to concentrate is far from straightforward - it is an elusive quality that is hard to conjure at will - even for adults who are more self-aware and have access to fresh coffee!

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As districts work to ramp-up online learning initiatives in Montana, MTDA wanted to provide some resources for districts to help frame discussions and review best practices. School Closure Learning...

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The Innovator Solutions section includes contributions from corporate sponsors and advertisers representing education organizations, businesses, policy-making bodies and other influencers dedicated to transforming education. This blog post was provided by Microsoft in Education.
Sudden distance learning gave educators a gift: A second first day of school. It offered us the opportunity to rethink how we were teaching and craft a fresh start for ourselves and our students. The biggest challenge became how to continue the learning from a distance while trying to maintain as much normalcy as possible?

When I considered what strategies would allow my students to successfully learn from home, I knew the most important thing was allowing them the freedom to access their lessons at a time that suited their family's needs.

For my Room Nine Kids, I'd always used PowerPoint to create my lesson plans and project them up on the screen as they worked throughout the day. Realizing PowerPoint also gives me the ability to save lessons as a video file (MP4), I knew immediately what to do.

Every recorded lesson would begin with a video of me greeting my students like I normally would at the beginning of the day. Since they had no curriculum at home, I brought in digital core curriculum to my presentations so students could read and write their lessons in notebooks, binders or journals that they had at home.

Digital inking allowed me to teach math lessons, explaining each answer. And narrating each slide would give them that feeling of being in the classroom and hearing a friendly, familiar voice.

We also had live class meet-ups three to four times a week, and lots of individual check-ins, but the recorded lessons were the most successful.

The result? Some accessed and turned their work in at 7 a.m. and some at 2 a.m., but an average of 94% of my students continued their learning every week.

That was their gift to me and to themselves.

In the video below, I'll take you step by step through using special features of PowerPoint that make remote learning lessons come alive!
Tammy Brecht Dunbar, M.Ed., STEM, has been an elementary teacher for 20 years at a Title I school in Manteca (California) Unified. She is a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert Fellow as well as a Microsoft Certified Educator and Master Trainer. She was a Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellow in 2018, the NCCE 2020 closing keynote speaker, an ISTE 2018 Literacy PLN award winner and the 2016 California Woman of the Year for District 12.

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Design authentic distance learning experiences with PowerPoint

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The Innovator Solutions section includes contributions from corporate sponsors and advertisers representing education organizations, businesses, policy-making bodies and other influencers dedicated to transforming education. This blog post was provided by Microsoft in Education. Sudden distance learning gave educators a gift: A second first day of school.

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Wixie lets students make digital stories, using their own drawings and writings that can be shared to anyone.

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The Innovator Solutions section includes contributions from corporate sponsors and advertisers representing education organizations, businesses, policy-making bodies and other influencers dedicated to transforming education. This blog post was provided by Rise.com.

Nothing could have prepared us for the confusion, fear, and frankly, chaos of this year's back-to-school season. Teachers are the new front line in the COVID-19 pandemic and need robust professional development that equips them to educate students in an ever-changing and stressful mix of educational environments.

While some schools in the U.S. are scrambling to bring children back to campus in a physically distanced way, others are offering a combination of in-person learning and virtual classrooms. And some schools have moved to 100% online learning.

The safety protocols and best practices for teaching face-to-face during the pandemic or in a blended classroom are constantly changing. We're learning every day what works and what doesn't. And many faculty and staff have entered the virtual classroom for the first time. They may not yet have the skills, training, or experience to become effective creators and facilitators of online learning.

Educational institutions must adapt their in-service professional development training to reflect these new realities of school closures and teaching remotely by taking these three tips into account.

Professional development should be actionable and interactive. Educators need practical tips for putting remote teaching strategies into action. Create interactive, online opportunities for faculty to apply their skills and practice them in real-world situations.

Training should be easily accessible from phones and tablets. Schools must account for the fact that faculty and staff won't always have access to a desktop computer and they might not be available to be online at a specific time. So consider whether synchronous training is necessary or if the same goals can be accomplished through asynchronous training that allows faculty and staff to work through the material on their own schedule.

Professional development must be relevant. At a time when teachers are beyond stressed and overloaded, educational institutions must make sure professional development is meaningful. What updates and training do faculty and staff need to know now? Focus on the most pertinent topics and design training to be easily adaptable to changing information or needs.

In this climate, there are four basic areas schools must focus on to support students, faculty and staff:

1. Develop easy-to-follow technology training.

Faculty and staff may be unfamiliar with the technologies required for online training or teaching, such as videoconferencing tools that allow breakout rooms. Schools must develop easy-to-follow tutorials that incorporate videos, images and screen recordings that demonstrate how to use the apps necessary for teaching online. And be sure to include training on cybersecurity protocols and measures they can take to keep students, and themselves, protected.

2. Provide virtual communication best practices.

Virtual and blended learning environments present different dynamics for 1:1 and group settings, so share strategies that faculty can use to engage online learners in various configurations. Be sure to address how students can communicate and collaborate online and offer best practices for promoting student engagement in a virtual learning environment.

3. Create and curate digital content specific to the remote classroom.

Provide sources for online content and instruction on how faculty can easily create their own content and even translate their existing lessons into highly interactive and engaging online learning experiences.

4. Don't forget about self-care and student social emotional health.

Faculty, staff and students are contending with unprecedented emotional stress and uncertainty during this pandemic. Faculty and staff may be dealing with the loss of a loved one, financial stress, working with their spouse or children at home, and disruptions to their routine - among other challenges. Provide training on how they can practice self-care, promote health and wellness, and protect from burnout themselves. And make sure to offer guidance on how they can monitor and support their students' emotional health as well.

Today, every aspect of education is uncharted territory - and providing effective professional development is no exception. But with a smart framework and the right tools for creating, distributing, and tracking professional development, schools can keep pace in this rapidly changing environment.
Mike Enders is the director of content for Articulate, maker of the world's most popular apps for online training, including . Prior to joining Articulate, he spent 10 years in the classroom, pioneering a multimodal course design that allowed students to choose their mode of learning (face-to-face, interactive television, web conference or fully online) on a week-to-week basis. Mike is an e-learning expert who's passionate about helping others create effective educational experiences.

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4 ways to support educator professional development during remote learning

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The Innovator Solutions section includes contributions from corporate sponsors and advertisers representing education organizations, businesses, policy-making bodies and other influencers dedicated to transforming education. This blog post was provided by Rise.com. Nothing could have prepared us for the confusion, fear, and frankly, chaos of this year's back-to-school season.