What do Training attention, boys and ballet have in common?
In 4th grade, I started playing basketball in large part because I was tall for my age. By 6th grade, I was 6’3” and towered over my classmates. Growing so quickly created a lot of awkwardness. I “lost” the ability to do a layup and often tripped over my own feet. It was a painful stage that just took time to overcome.
One of the great joys I have is talking with parents whose children are using the Attention Arcade. Recently, I spoke with JoAnn, whose son has been using the Attention Arcade very diligently (20+ minutes nearly everyday) for three weeks.
While most children find distance learning to be disruptive, children who struggle with attention challenges can have additional challenges with home-based learning and remote teaching. Recognize that some things are beyond your control, but other things are not. Here are a few suggestions to improve your child’s focus.
Reduce At-Home Distractions
Your child will likely engage the online learning class better with headphones that block out ambient sounds and a microphone that amplifies your student’s voice.
Attention is thought of mostly as a cognitive choice. When teachers and parents say, “Pay Attention!” they imply that the child being inattentive is doing so by choice. What if, like being able to do a cartwheel or a handstand, attention is something that some children do with ease while others require much more training and assistance?
What’s the difference between students who do well in the classroom and those who don’t? In many cases, attention is the underlying difference between classroom success and failure. Students with strong attention skills do markedly better than those with weak attention skills.
Most educators know that attention is important to learning.
BrainLeap Awarded $225k NSF Grant
BrainLeap Technologies, Inc. has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $225,000 to continue research and development on BrainLeap’s suite of attention training games. The grant is specifically focused on developing gamified assessments that act as independent measures of attention.
The gamified assessments will be built into the attention training suite to measure improvements in attention similar to what is currently done in a research lab.