- Can your child follow multistep instructions?
- Does your child work hard on their homework and then forget to turn it in?
- Does your child say or do things without thinking about them first?
- Does your child get frustrated easily?
Executive Function is a popular buzz phrase in education. The underlying skills of executive function include the capacity to plan, organize and strategize actions and reactions which can impact learning, behavior and emotions, and social relationships. As children get older, the demands on their executive skills increase — they have more homework, more responsibilities, and are expected to exhibit increasing abilities in engaging in groups , reflect on learning, and make decisions.
At school, we are studying Executive Function skills and teaching these skills to students with deliberation. You can support your child in developing the skills at home as well. Below are some easy strategies and some resources for you and your child.
Some easy strategies:
- Use checklists. Think about the tasks you need your children to do. Break the task down into subtasks and create a checklist. Strive for one task done independently and then build up.
- Verbalize when you are engaging skills of flexibility, using working memory, or planning in order to complete a task.
- Give your child specific praise for when you see her using these skills. Name the skill specifically. “Wow, you were really flexible today. You wanted to have sushi for lunch with your playdate but we had pizza instead.”
- Monitor your child’s screen time. There is some initial data that shows that a lot of screen time can negatively impact a child’s attention, working memory and language skills.
Some resources for parents.
Executive Function video A 5 minute video from the Harvard Center on the Developing Mind that explains executive function and the impact of these skills at school.
Center on Developing Child, Harvard University.
Executive Function 101 from Understood.org
Misunderstood Minds from WGBH, a primer on learning disabilities.
Books for Parents
Late, Lost, and Unprepared: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning by Joyce Cooper-Kahn and Laurie Dietzel.
Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson.
The Organized Child: An Effective Program to Maximize Your Kid’s Potential–in School and in Life by Richard Gallagher, Elana Spira and Jennifer Rosenblatt
Books for children:
How to Do Homework Without Throwing Up by Trevor Romain
Get Organized Without Losing It by Janet S Fox
See You Later, Procrastinator! by Pamela Espeland and Elizabeth Verdick
Leading With Curiosity 