Dual Tasking

Hello! I have talked recently about the importance of movement in the classroom. I want to build off of that idea and talk about Dual Tasking. Some of you may have heard of this term, and for others it may be something new! The idea is in the name, there are studies that show that children (and adults) may learn tasks more efficiently if they complete more than one at a time. For example, having children hop while they sing the ABCs. This activity requires them to focus on their gross motor skills and the cognitive skill of the alphabet. There are many ways to instruct this activity, you may choose to allow the child to decide what is more ‘important’ to them. Is it trying not to fall over, or concentrating on the ABCs? As they become more comfortable with one activity, encourage them to build on it and put them together.

Some students may have difficulty dividing their attention to two different tasks. For these students, I would suggest combining a preferred/familiar activity and a novel activity to build their confidence. This concept can be used with all children, to help expand their knowledge of a variety of topics.