Got a little girl, healthy, smart, funny, normal and sweet. Just lack a bit concentration skills, an

make it fun and goal oriented...

how?

How old is your daughter?

Ten. She has got a great imagination and creativity but not enough concentration skills, according to the teacher. I am not too worry about her since all her other skills are quite normal so I just would like to help her develop concentration skill since this is important to her future.

Did her teacher suggest that she might have attention deficit disorder. If so, I suggest you have her tested. Where do you live?

She has got great imagination and creativity you said.
Could it be that the teacher lacks imagination and creativity and makes school booring?

A very good point saab. Many of our brighest are stiffled because classes are aimed at the average.

Her teacher do recognize those qualities of hers but just for her sake, she suggested that we should help her learning concentration skills so she can do reach her full potential.

Is she able to concentrate at home when she has a task to do? Can she sit and finish all her homework without problems? Does she give up easily if the work is difficult? Is she easily distracted at home?

How does the teacher know she is not concentrating in class? Does she appear to be daydreaming? Does she draw or doodle when she should be listening? Is she unable to answer, or even recall, questions if she is called on? Are her grades falling behind?

Is this the first time a teacher has suggested she might have a concentration problem, or has this been going on since she entered school?

She might very well be bored at school and more advanced than the other
kids. Nonetheless, there are games that help you concentrate: puzzle for one
thing, number games, memory card games, mikado and so on. Start playing
them with her and she'll learn to concentrate in a fun, non-boring way.

Apart from this is not first the teacher mentions about her day dreaming in the class and that this affects her performance in school, everything else you mention is all true.

The teacher mentioned that her general knowledge is quite good. She is creative in art, ideas and her math is good. I am not sure she is more advanced than the other kids though. I think her do have strong points and weak points and her weak point is concentration which is affecting her performance in learning. The teacher mentioned that she would not able to reach full potential if she doesn't improve her concentration skills.

Make sure your daughter is getting enough sleep. She should have a definite routine--go to bed the same time every night, get up in the morning at the same time every day. Lack of enough sleep is something that can really affect concentration in school.

Make sure she has a place to do her school homework which is free from distractions and noise. Check her homework to see if she finishes her assignments and if she works in an organized manner. Encourage her to recheck her homework for errors. Ask her questions about her homework assignments to help stimulate her interest in the subject matter. Talk to her about school every day. What did she enjoy most that day? What interested her, what bored her? Encourage her to take notes about what the teacher says--taking notes encourages more active listening and concentration. Ask her to set some goals for herself in school and write them down. Help her develop a plan to reach those goals. After she has done this, promise her some reward for each goal she is able to achieve. It doesn't have to be a big reward, but it does have to be something she likes, or wants, or enjoys. It is very important to reward progress, and you want to encourage her motivation to try to do better in school. Ask her teacher for more specific suggestions for what you might do to help your daughter with her schoolwork. Really pin the teacher down on what needs to be improved and what you can do to help. Is the problem only concentration, or is it also motivation?

No matter where you are with your daughter, even a simple shopping trip, talk to her and encourage her to notice things around her. Point interesting things out to her. Encourage her to point things out to you. You want her to pay attention to things all the time, not just in school. If you watch a movie or a TV show together, talk about it and ask her questions about it, and share your ideas and thoughts with her. Help her to become an active listener who thinks about what is being said and develops curiosity and asks questions. This will help her in the classroom where she has to pay attention to what is being said.

Help your daughter to develop some hobbies that require concentration and practice skills. Making something, like simple jewelry or working on a crafts project, or learning a sport, or playing a musical instrument, or even playing games that enhance concentration. Let her improve her concentration skills by working on something she enjoys, and something which will allow her to see progress. Encourage her to read books she enjoys in her free time, and make regular trips to the library with her. Reading depends on concentration, but can also help to improve it. Get her some puzzle books or age-appropriate crossword or word puzzle books. Those also help concentration skills. Limit TV viewing so she can get involved in things which require more active concentration and effort. Encourage her to write stories, or poems, or draw pictures, and get her a special scrapbook or binder to save her work.

As long as your daughter is "healthy, smart, funny, normal and sweet", I don't think you have a lot to worry about. But you do want her to do well in school, as well as she can, and you want her to develop the skills that will help her. Concentration, motivation, good study habits, are all things that can be learned or improved. Anything you can do to help your daughter with these things will help her at school.

Awesome!!!
One more thing, she dose have motivation issues. Her teachers mentioned it several time, we tried to talk to her about it but I am not sure it working. What do you think of it?

I looked up concentration problems for school children in Scandinavia.
Most of it seems to occur when children don´t have a good breakfast before leaving for school. Also they might get hungry during the fornoon and should have something to eat in a pause.
Another thing which causes concentration problems is the level of noice in a class room. Depending on the child even a low noice can make a child having concentration problems.
Children were tested and when it was absolutely quiet in the room they made something like 15% mistakes. As soon as the noise level was higher the children made up to 50% mistakes.

What does your daughter complain about with school? Does she say the work is too hard, or she doesn't understand it, or she doesn't find it interesting? See if her motivation problem is related to something she feels frustrated about or feels she can't do well. Let her know you want to help her in any way you can and ask her what you can do to help her. And go over her homework with her and praise the things she has done well and the things she is learning.

This suggestion I mentioned before might help. Have her set some goals for herself in school--things she wants to do better in school. Let her write these down and put them up on the wall somewhere, like her room. Then help her develop a plan to reach these goals. So, if she wants to get better grades in history, for instance, one plan might be to spend 10 minutes more each day on history when she does her homework. Or to try to answer more history questions in class. And I do think you should promise her some kind of reward when she achieves each goal. Getting a reward for meeting goals lets her know you are proud of her efforts and it also increases her motivation to try to do better.

You can't really push her to try harder, that can just create problems. You want her to have goals and to push herself a little harder. Giving her incentives, like some rewards, gives her something to work for. And, sometimes, surprise her with a little reward. For instance, if her homework is all done without a single mistake, for an entire week, suggest going out for ice cream, or some other treat, on the weekend as a reward. If she does really well on a test, surprise her with something nice (as well as a hug). The reward doesn't have to be a material item, you could let her have a friend sleep over, or have her favorite meal for dinner, or do just about anything you know she will like. Make a big deal of it when she puts in extra effort and shows progress--we all like to get a pat on the back.

Good advice from firefly. The only thing not mentioned that you could try is to get her involved in, yes games that require concentration, but also a sport that requires concentration. Also would help her release some of her, undoubtedly, high energy, and to channel that energy into something physical. Fun, too.

Teachers are not always right-right, either.

Your daughter sounds just like my son.

The concentration problems really only effect him at school. Since the teacher only sees him at school she, of course, thinks the problem exists throughout his life. All of his teachers have suggested that he has ADD/ADHD. He has been extensively tested. He does not have ADD/ADHD. I mention all this to show that the teacher's perception can be skewed.

We tried all the concentration games, etc. but they didn't really help. The problem was at school. He can concentrate at home or anywhere else for that matter.

The BEST thing we've done is hire a tutor for him. He does great with the tutor, he doesn't even mind the homework she give him although he complains about the school homework constantly. We've only been working with the tutor for about 6 weeks and I've seen real improvement -- but they haven't at school, he still can't concetrate and finish the assignments there. With the tutor I at least know that he is learning the information that he needs.

One thing I've really noticed this year is that when my son is taking seasonal allergy medicine that his concentration in class improves while his behavior elsewhere is exactly the same as always. I'm wondering if he might be allergic to something in the classroom.

Personally, I think the way the classrooms are designed/decorated have a lot to do with distractability. There is stuff EVERYWHERE, not a calm place to look. They cluster the kids in little "pods" where you're face to face and shoulder to shoulder with other kids. I'd have a hard time concentrating in that environment.

Someone else here mentioned making sure she eats a good breakfast and I'll second that. Try to make sure she's getting some protein. We make smoothies with protein powder in them.

A little exercise in the morning helps too. Most mornings we go to school a little early and play basketball for 15 minutes or so.

Good luck to you and your daughter!

Thanks for you all. I really appreciate all the advice. They are really great help!