Professional Development Recording

You can find other upcoming professional development opportunities here.

Professional Development Resources 

• Recording: November Professional Development Session
• Presentation by Ana Quiceno: The Calm Down Corner / El rincón de la calma
• Printable: The Arc of the Tantrum (Spanish version here)
• Video: Tick-Tock Like a Clock (Spanish version here)
• Feedback Form: November Feedback Form

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

Fuel you passion for education and learn new skills that will make your life in classroom easier? Join us for our upcoming professional development series.

See Upcoming Sessions

The post Guest Speaker Ana Quiceno on the Calm Down Corner appeared first on FocusedKids.

Lesson Demonstration Videos

FocusedKids Instructional Videos in English

FocusedKids Instructional Videos in Spanish

The post Essentials: FocusedKids Classroom Demonstration Videos appeared first on FocusedKids.

Classroom Posters

Calm Classroom Flyer

Download

Key Players in the Brain Posters

Download

Finding My Calm Poster

Download

Social Emotional Model

Download

Mindful Coloring Books in English

Focused Frog

Pouty Pig

Grateful Goat

Restless Racoon

Mindful Coloring Books in Spanish

Una Rana Enfocada / Focused Frog

La Cerdita Encuentra Paz / Pouty Pig Finds Peace

La Cabra Agradecida / Grateful Goat

El Mapache Inquieto Enseña a su Cerebro Calmarse / Restless Racoon

The post Essentials: FocusedKids Classroom Visuals, Posters, Printouts appeared first on FocusedKids.

Core Lessons in English

Core Lesson 1:
Amygdala
(Guard Dog)

Core Lesson 2:
Hippocampus
(Ms. Elephante)

Core Lesson 3:
Prefrontal Cortex
(Wise Owl)

Core Lesson 4:
Hug the Monkey

Core Lessons in Spanish

Lección Central 1: La Amígdala

Lección Central 2: Srta. Elefante

Lección Central 3: El Búho Sabio

Lección Central 4: Abrazando el Monito

Classroom Posters

Finding My Calm Poster

Download

Key Players in the Brain Posters

Download

Social Emotional Model

Download

Mindful Coloring Books in English

Focused Frog

Pouty Pig

Grateful Goat

Restless Racoon

Mindful Coloring Books in Spanish

Una Rana Enfocada / Focused Frog

La Cerdita Encuentra Paz / Pouty Pig Finds Peace

La Cabra Agradecida / Grateful Goat

El Mapache Inquieto Enseña a su Cerebro Calmarse / Restless Racoon

Lesson Demonstration Videos

The post Essentials: FocusedKids Classroom Lessons appeared first on FocusedKids.

Professional Development Recording

You can find other upcoming professional development opportunities here.

Professional Development Resources 

• Recording: October Professional Development Session
• Printable PDF Anchor Chart: 3 Key Players in the Brain (Spanish version here)
• Printable PDF Anchor Chart: Social Emotional Model
• Printable PDF Flyer: Simple Ways to Create Calm in Your Classroom
• Video: 3 Parts of the Brain (Spanish version here)
• Article: The U.S. is Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis
• Feedback Form: Fall 2023 Pre-Survey

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

Fuel you passion for education and learn new skills that will make your life in classroom easier? Join us for our upcoming professional development series.

See Upcoming Sessions

The post Foundations of the FocusedKids Method appeared first on FocusedKids.

Practicing different movement activities in the classroom teaches children to connect with their body and breath to keep them regulated throughout the day. Regulated students are more calm and focused, therefore they are better able to learn.

Why We Like It

Shake breaks are an effective transition exercise to release stress and reset energy levels, especially after lunch or recess. Moving the body helps release extra energy and get oxygen and blood flowing, which helps the brain when it’s time to learn.

What to Do

Turn on some happy music and invite students to start shaking their hands, arms, and legs (or whatever feels good to them). Try this for three minutes and then ask everyone stop and breathe together. Take several slow breaths to re-center. You’ll see smiles and an amazing shift of energy.

More Mindful Movement Exercises

• Mindful Movement (English, Spanish)
• Elephant Shower (English, Spanish)
• Tick-Tock Like a Clock (English, Spanish)
• 16 Chimes (English, Spanish)

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The post Shake Breaks: Release Stress and Reset Energy in the Classroom appeared first on FocusedKids.

Why We Like It

The chime is like magic because it has a calming, grounding effect. Most children respond really well to its soothing sound. By listening to that one sound, students are focusing the prefrontal cortex which wires the brain to focus in other situations, like listening to teachers or parents. In this exercise, students are building self regulation, listening skills, and attention span.

What to Say

Tell students that we will practice breathing while listening to the chime. This will calm our brains and prepare them to learn.

• Sit in mountain pose, straight and tall.
• Close your eyes if you like.
• Take a deep breath.
• Listen for the sound of the tone.
• Raise your hand when you can’t hear it anymore.
• Continue to breathe deeply until you hear the chime again.

“Peeking” may be part of getting comfortable with the exercise. Children want to see what others are doing, especially when they can’t hear the tone anymore. Bring students back to their breathing and listening. Remind them that each person breathes and hears differently, and that is completely normal!

Video: Using the Chime in the Classroom

On the first day of school, this teacher demonstrates to students how they will use the chime in their classroom throughout the year to calm and focus their brains in preparation for learning. The chime exercise is a great way to settle the nervous energy in the classroom starting from day one.

More Chime Resources

• Chime Coloring Page
• 16 Chimes Lesson

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The post The Chime: An Essential Tool for the Classroom appeared first on FocusedKids.

Here you can access free brain lesson plans, but first, let’s talk about why it’s important to teach kids about their brains.

Why Teach Children About Their Brains?

At FocusedKids, we have a little tagline that says what we do in two words: “brain empowerment.” When we teach children about their brains, we empower them to care for their brains and begin to understand how their brains impact their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. When children are self-aware about the role their brain plays in their daily life, they are able to have better control over all those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Especially the tricky ones. And, they become more eager to learn self-regulation tools and techniques that help them maintain their sense of control.

When children are able to skillfully manage their thoughts feelings and behaviors, they are able to focus more readily, cooperate better, and best of all, calm themselves down i.e. self-regulate. They are also more likely to care for their brains and themselves as little humans.

How to Start Teaching Children About the Brain

Teaching children about the brain isn’t rocket science. It’s about making neuroscience digestible for young, yet intelligent, developing minds. That means making learning about the brain fun and practical! At FocusedKids, we rely on those three little characters we just mentioned (Guard Dog, Ms. Elephante, and Wise Owl) to make learning about the brain enjoyable and actionable! You can too with the free brain lesson plan below.

A Free Brain Lesson Plan for Young Children

If you’re looking for a brain education lesson plan for children in preschool, kindergarten, or above, click below to download a FREE brain lesson plan PDF that you can start using in your classroom right away.

Click to Download Free Brain Lesson Plan

Final Thoughts

Brain basics aren’t that hard to learn. Even better, they aren’t that hard to teach. You just need to take a bit of time to learn who the key players in the brain are (Guard Dog, Ms. Elephante, and Wise Owl) and what their roles are. Then you get to have fun with your students as you explore those characters and their roles together.

If you want training from one of our expert trainers, please click the button below to learn about upcoming training opportunities.

The post Free Brain Lesson Plans for Young Children appeared first on FocusedKids.

English Version

Spanish Version

How to Make a Glitter Jar

1. Fill jar (6oz) with water
2. Add one tablespoon of glitter glue. Add one tablespoon of glitter.
3. Shake it up! Ask children if they can see through the water to the other side. Compare busy, over-excited, or upset minds (amygdala) with water clouded by glitter. Hands on bellies, breathing slowly, while glitter settles.
4. Once glitter settles, compare clear water to a quiet mind. Talk about times the mind has been over-busy and times when it has been calm. 

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English Version

Spanish Version

Additional Resources

• Learn more about brain basics
• Download a key players in the brain PDF

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The post Three Important Parts of the Brain appeared first on FocusedKids.