About two weeks ago, a couple of teachers approached me and asked if I was familiar with Executive Functioning. They had recently read some articles on the topic and were interested in developing strategies to use in the classroom to improve children’s executive functioning skills…
So What Is Executive Functioning?????
The idea of Executive Functioning has been around for decades, but as of late, this theory has been catching steam within the education setting. Basically, executive functioning is like an orchestra conductor in your brain that helps you recognize goals and coordinate your actions to make the goals a reality.
There are many individual skills that make up your Executive Functioning and assist you in reaching goals. These skills include the ability to pay attention to important information, the ability to regulate your emotions, the ability to handle changes with flexibility, to inhibit or control your behavior, initiate or start tasks, organize thoughts and materials, plan tasks and materials, self-monitor, and use brief memory skills.
Some Executive Functioning skills can be related to various disorders, such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) or an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Students (and adults) with AD/HD, for example typically struggle with maintaining attention, inhibiting impulsive behaviors, initiating tasks, organization, and planning. Individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder may have difficulties with attention (as other environmental stimuli may be extremely distracting), emotion regulation, flexibility, inhibiting behaviors, initiating behaviors, and self-monitoring. Students and adults who have experienced a Traumatic Brain Injury also frequently struggle in these areas. While people with these diagnoses usually have Executive Functioning difficulties, certainly all children or adults can have Executive Functioning areas of need. This has prompted an increased interest in the school setting in supporting and developing these mental processes. As the teachers who recently approached me had realized, children who struggle with skills related to organization, planning, self-monitoring, and regulation are also going to struggle academically.
It is important to keep in mind a child’s age when looking at executive strengths and needs. The development of Executive Functioning skills typically begins to increase dramatically during preschool years and continue through adulthood, but as parents and educators we can provide supports to help a child strengthen their executive functioning skills. Within the school and home settings, there are various strategies that can be used to help children (or grown-ups) develop executive functioning skills.
Whole books have been written about Executive Functioning, but here are some quick thoughts about supporting Executive Functioning at home and school:
Emotion Regulation- The first step to emotion regulation is to recognize emotions. For young children, this starts in simply recognizing facial expressions of others and learning what “sad” or “angry” or “afraid” feels like. You can play games with children where they have to guess what emotion you are showing them or they can show you an emotion you tell them.
Once students understand what emotions are, helping them to understand what their emotions feel like before they become unmanageable is an important next step. Often I will talk to children about what happens to their body. Students may say they clench their fists or jaws, their face gets red, their stomach hurts, their ears get hot, etc. Once they can recognize these feelings we can work on regulating them by coming up with a plan to calm down before their emotions get out of control. For some this is getting a drink, taking a walk, having an adult to process their feelings with, stretching or doing some wall pushups, or just sitting in a quiet space for a few minutes. Different strategies work for different people and a big part of learning to regulate is figuring out which strategy is the best for you and your child.
Flexibility- One important strategy in teaching flexibility is to model what flexibility looks like for children. Adults can verbalize to children when they are experiencing a situation requiring them to be flexible and how they are handling that situation. For example, if a dinner plan was spaghetti, but when it is time to cook, there is no pasta in the pantry, a parent can talk to the child about how they will come up with a different plan, even though they really wanted to cook spaghetti.
Teaching how to compromise is another important part of helping a child be flexible. Particularly as children learn how to navigate social relationships with friends and siblings, the need to compromise will occur more frequently. It is important for children to understand that in a compromise, the same person does not always get what they wanted and the goal is for both people to be happy with the solution.
Organization- Within the school setting, children are taught organization by being encouraged to use strategies such as different colored folders for different subjects and using a planner. At home children may have different containers for different toys, different drawers for pajamas and socks, and specific places to keep shoes. Some children require specific instructions in being organized and some children benefit from having a scheduled time to organize their binder, clean their desk, or clean their bedroom. As children are learning these skills, it is helpful for an adult to help children sort where each kind of material belongs. You can also help children learn organization skills in early childhood by spending time sorting toys by size or color, having them help clean up with adult support, and spending time helping them organize and clean their own bedrooms.
Planning- Within the classroom setting, one of the most common planning supports I see is the use of a graphic organizer for writing assignments. Depending on the assignment (and the student), graphic organizers can look very different, but the general idea is that it helps a child outline the information that they need to include in a written assignment. Graphic organizers help a child to identify what questions their assignments must answer and helps them to plan where in their writing assignment information belongs.
A student’s planning skills can also be developed by taking time to work with them in regards to goal setting for deadlines. Parents and teachers can talk to children about when assignments are due and what is required for that assignment. Once this is determined, they can help a child set reasonable timelines of what they should complete along the way, rather than waiting until the night before a large project is due. Teachers often do this by setting different deadlines for portions of large assignments. For example, a middle or high school student may have a project that will take a month to complete. Their teacher may give a deadline for when the topic of their project is due, their resources are due, a rough draft is due, and the final version of the project is due.
For younger students, an important part of learning how to plan is simply having an understanding of how long something will take. Make a game out of guessing how long it will take to clean a room, drive to the store, for all students to clear their desks, or make dessert. As children understand timing they will better be able to plan their own activities.
Self-Monitoring- Sometimes a child (or adult for that matter!) may start a task and then move on before it is finished. Strategies such as using a checklist can be helpful to monitor progress on tasks. As children advance to following directions that have more than one step, using a checklist can help them self-monitor. Many children struggle with cleaning their bedroom (I was no exception there!). A checklist can help to break a daunting task down to smaller steps so a child can self-monitor their progress. For example, a checklist may say 1) Make Bed, 2) Pick up and put away toys 3) Put clothing away 4) Check under bed 4) Vacuum floor. Having a system for a child to self-monitor should encourage them to complete a task rather than believing they are finished when they are not.
In a school setting, the use of Rubrics with specific expectations help a child understand expectations and monitor their progress towards meeting them. Editing checksheets can also help with monitoring written assignments. One of my favorite editing mnemonics to teach children is COPS, which stands for Capitals, Organization, Punctuation, Spelling, and serves as a reminder for children to monitor those elements in their writing.
Students who have difficulty self-monitoring their behavior can be taught to do so with a behavior chart. Children can be given specific goals, such as I will stay in my seat, or I will raise my hand before speaking. At the end of a class they can rate their behaviors and compare ratings with their teachers.
Working Memory- One of my favorite childhood games was “Memory” with the dozens of picture cards that you had to match. This is a great game to help build up memory skills in children. For children who have difficulties with memory, teaching them to make to-do lists, or take notes can be very helpful. Until a student has developed those skills, the use of note outlines in the class can help to support difficulties with working memory.
While we all have Executive Functioning needs, we also have strengths. It is important to help children build on and celebrate their Executive Functioning strengths in addition to developing skills of need. Some people are naturally great planners, incredibly organized, or super flexible. These talents can help to compensate for other Executive Functioning needs.
Check out these Resources for additional strategies to support Executive Functioning:
Harvard University Center on the Developing Child- Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills With Children This website has a pdf download that has great suggestions for age appropriate fun activities to help your children develop executive functioning skills. Activities are categorized by age, starting with activities for preschool aged children. (accessed 3/2/2015) http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/tools_and_guides/enhancing_and_practicing_executive_function_skills_with_children/
Unstuck & On Target! Written by Lynn Cannon, Lauren Kenworthy, Katie C. Alexander, Monica Adler Werner, and Laura Anthony. Published 2011 by Brookside Publishing. Unstuck & On Target is an Executive Functioning program developed by a team of specialists. This program offers strategies and structured lesson plans related to Flexibility, Emotion Regulation, and Goal Planning.
Smart But Scattered-The Revolutionary Executive Skills Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare Published 2009 by Guilford Publishing. Smart But Scattered features information about Executive Functioning, how to determine the executive function difficulties that you and your child may have and provides strategies to improve skills in those areas. These authors have also written several other books on the topic which may be of benefit to teachers and parents.
So What Is Executive Functioning?????
The idea of Executive Functioning has been around for decades, but as of late, this theory has been catching steam within the education setting. Basically, executive functioning is like an orchestra conductor in your brain that helps you recognize goals and coordinate your actions to make the goals a reality.
There are many individual skills that make up your Executive Functioning and assist you in reaching goals. These skills include the ability to pay attention to important information, the ability to regulate your emotions, the ability to handle changes with flexibility, to inhibit or control your behavior, initiate or start tasks, organize thoughts and materials, plan tasks and materials, self-monitor, and use brief memory skills.
Some Executive Functioning skills can be related to various disorders, such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) or an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Students (and adults) with AD/HD, for example typically struggle with maintaining attention, inhibiting impulsive behaviors, initiating tasks, organization, and planning. Individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder may have difficulties with attention (as other environmental stimuli may be extremely distracting), emotion regulation, flexibility, inhibiting behaviors, initiating behaviors, and self-monitoring. Students and adults who have experienced a Traumatic Brain Injury also frequently struggle in these areas. While people with these diagnoses usually have Executive Functioning difficulties, certainly all children or adults can have Executive Functioning areas of need. This has prompted an increased interest in the school setting in supporting and developing these mental processes. As the teachers who recently approached me had realized, children who struggle with skills related to organization, planning, self-monitoring, and regulation are also going to struggle academically.
It is important to keep in mind a child’s age when looking at executive strengths and needs. The development of Executive Functioning skills typically begins to increase dramatically during preschool years and continue through adulthood, but as parents and educators we can provide supports to help a child strengthen their executive functioning skills. Within the school and home settings, there are various strategies that can be used to help children (or grown-ups) develop executive functioning skills.
Whole books have been written about Executive Functioning, but here are some quick thoughts about supporting Executive Functioning at home and school:
Emotion Regulation- The first step to emotion regulation is to recognize emotions. For young children, this starts in simply recognizing facial expressions of others and learning what “sad” or “angry” or “afraid” feels like. You can play games with children where they have to guess what emotion you are showing them or they can show you an emotion you tell them.
Once students understand what emotions are, helping them to understand what their emotions feel like before they become unmanageable is an important next step. Often I will talk to children about what happens to their body. Students may say they clench their fists or jaws, their face gets red, their stomach hurts, their ears get hot, etc. Once they can recognize these feelings we can work on regulating them by coming up with a plan to calm down before their emotions get out of control. For some this is getting a drink, taking a walk, having an adult to process their feelings with, stretching or doing some wall pushups, or just sitting in a quiet space for a few minutes. Different strategies work for different people and a big part of learning to regulate is figuring out which strategy is the best for you and your child.
Flexibility- One important strategy in teaching flexibility is to model what flexibility looks like for children. Adults can verbalize to children when they are experiencing a situation requiring them to be flexible and how they are handling that situation. For example, if a dinner plan was spaghetti, but when it is time to cook, there is no pasta in the pantry, a parent can talk to the child about how they will come up with a different plan, even though they really wanted to cook spaghetti.
Teaching how to compromise is another important part of helping a child be flexible. Particularly as children learn how to navigate social relationships with friends and siblings, the need to compromise will occur more frequently. It is important for children to understand that in a compromise, the same person does not always get what they wanted and the goal is for both people to be happy with the solution.
Organization- Within the school setting, children are taught organization by being encouraged to use strategies such as different colored folders for different subjects and using a planner. At home children may have different containers for different toys, different drawers for pajamas and socks, and specific places to keep shoes. Some children require specific instructions in being organized and some children benefit from having a scheduled time to organize their binder, clean their desk, or clean their bedroom. As children are learning these skills, it is helpful for an adult to help children sort where each kind of material belongs. You can also help children learn organization skills in early childhood by spending time sorting toys by size or color, having them help clean up with adult support, and spending time helping them organize and clean their own bedrooms.
Planning- Within the classroom setting, one of the most common planning supports I see is the use of a graphic organizer for writing assignments. Depending on the assignment (and the student), graphic organizers can look very different, but the general idea is that it helps a child outline the information that they need to include in a written assignment. Graphic organizers help a child to identify what questions their assignments must answer and helps them to plan where in their writing assignment information belongs.
A student’s planning skills can also be developed by taking time to work with them in regards to goal setting for deadlines. Parents and teachers can talk to children about when assignments are due and what is required for that assignment. Once this is determined, they can help a child set reasonable timelines of what they should complete along the way, rather than waiting until the night before a large project is due. Teachers often do this by setting different deadlines for portions of large assignments. For example, a middle or high school student may have a project that will take a month to complete. Their teacher may give a deadline for when the topic of their project is due, their resources are due, a rough draft is due, and the final version of the project is due.
For younger students, an important part of learning how to plan is simply having an understanding of how long something will take. Make a game out of guessing how long it will take to clean a room, drive to the store, for all students to clear their desks, or make dessert. As children understand timing they will better be able to plan their own activities.
Self-Monitoring- Sometimes a child (or adult for that matter!) may start a task and then move on before it is finished. Strategies such as using a checklist can be helpful to monitor progress on tasks. As children advance to following directions that have more than one step, using a checklist can help them self-monitor. Many children struggle with cleaning their bedroom (I was no exception there!). A checklist can help to break a daunting task down to smaller steps so a child can self-monitor their progress. For example, a checklist may say 1) Make Bed, 2) Pick up and put away toys 3) Put clothing away 4) Check under bed 4) Vacuum floor. Having a system for a child to self-monitor should encourage them to complete a task rather than believing they are finished when they are not.
In a school setting, the use of Rubrics with specific expectations help a child understand expectations and monitor their progress towards meeting them. Editing checksheets can also help with monitoring written assignments. One of my favorite editing mnemonics to teach children is COPS, which stands for Capitals, Organization, Punctuation, Spelling, and serves as a reminder for children to monitor those elements in their writing.
Students who have difficulty self-monitoring their behavior can be taught to do so with a behavior chart. Children can be given specific goals, such as I will stay in my seat, or I will raise my hand before speaking. At the end of a class they can rate their behaviors and compare ratings with their teachers.
Working Memory- One of my favorite childhood games was “Memory” with the dozens of picture cards that you had to match. This is a great game to help build up memory skills in children. For children who have difficulties with memory, teaching them to make to-do lists, or take notes can be very helpful. Until a student has developed those skills, the use of note outlines in the class can help to support difficulties with working memory.
While we all have Executive Functioning needs, we also have strengths. It is important to help children build on and celebrate their Executive Functioning strengths in addition to developing skills of need. Some people are naturally great planners, incredibly organized, or super flexible. These talents can help to compensate for other Executive Functioning needs.
Check out these Resources for additional strategies to support Executive Functioning:
Harvard University Center on the Developing Child- Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills With Children This website has a pdf download that has great suggestions for age appropriate fun activities to help your children develop executive functioning skills. Activities are categorized by age, starting with activities for preschool aged children. (accessed 3/2/2015) http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/tools_and_guides/enhancing_and_practicing_executive_function_skills_with_children/
Unstuck & On Target! Written by Lynn Cannon, Lauren Kenworthy, Katie C. Alexander, Monica Adler Werner, and Laura Anthony. Published 2011 by Brookside Publishing. Unstuck & On Target is an Executive Functioning program developed by a team of specialists. This program offers strategies and structured lesson plans related to Flexibility, Emotion Regulation, and Goal Planning.
Smart But Scattered-The Revolutionary Executive Skills Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare Published 2009 by Guilford Publishing. Smart But Scattered features information about Executive Functioning, how to determine the executive function difficulties that you and your child may have and provides strategies to improve skills in those areas. These authors have also written several other books on the topic which may be of benefit to teachers and parents.