From phones and iPads to laptops and TVs, screens are just about everywhere in modern life. While it...
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Check out our variety of resources and tips on Executive Function support, ADHD, mental health, and more
ADHD Information
In the world of Executive Function, working memory is a standout skill. Consider it your brain’s Pos...
In a world that rewards peak productivity and efficiency, living with ADHD can feel like you’re swim...
Do you ever find yourself putting off tasks until the last minute, misplacing your belongings, or al...
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How Much Screen Time is Too Much? 4 Expert Screen Use Tips for Parents
From phones and iPads to laptops and TVs, screens are just about everywhere in modern life. While it's impossible to completely avoid them, it's important to find a healthy balance of screen use to avoid addiction and negative effects on our mental health, work, and relationships. I wanted to explore this topic in more depth, so I reached out to Dr. Cliff Sussman, a p...
How to Improve Working Memory for Kids: 5 Expert Tips
In the world of Executive Function, working memory is a standout skill. Consider it your brain’s Post-it note! This cognitive skill allows us to hold and manipulate information temporarily – crucial for tasks like following instructions, solving problems, or even keeping track of a conversation. In everyday life, working memory is the backstage hero ensuring we comple...
22 ADHD Coping Skills That You Need to Learn
In a world that rewards peak productivity and efficiency, living with ADHD can feel like you’re swimming upstream against a powerful current. No matter how hard you try to fight the current with willpower alone, you end up downstream from where you wanted to go, exhausted and discouraged from your failed efforts. Despite decades of research showing that ADHD is a very...
How to Improve Executive Function: 10 Expert Tips
Do you ever find yourself putting off tasks until the last minute, misplacing your belongings, or always running late? These are all signs of Executive Function challenges that many people deal with. Fortunately, we have a handful of tips and strategies that teach you how to improve executive function skills. But, first, what even is Executive Function anyway? Executi...
How To Parent A Child With ADHD: Helpful Tips For Parents
It’s often said that there’s nothing that can fully prepare you for becoming a parent. Although we may never know precisely who said that quote originally, I strongly suspect that they had at least one kid with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder). Having once been one of the 6.1 million kids and teens with ADHD, I know firsthand how difficult it is to grow u...
Time Management 101: 4 Steps to Find Time for What Matters Most
You'll find a million time management tips and strategies with a simple Google search. In today's blog post, we’ll save you some time and share a four-step system that will help you find and develop time management strategies that will last a lifetime. Here are the four steps: Figure out your relationship with time Learn how to prioritize Implement tools and strategie...
How to Increase Motivation With ADHD: 10 Tips From Treatment Experts
"My kid has ADHD and I can't seem to get them to do anything without constant reminders. Even outright threats of losing privileges aren't effective. From showering, to homework, to keeping their room clean, to unloading the dishwasher when they're supposed to, it's one constant struggle. Why is it so hard to motivate my kid?" As Executive Function coaches, we get que...
Thriving with ADHD: An In-Depth Look at ADHD Coaching
Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? If so, you're not alone. Millions of people worldwide face the challenges that come with ADHD, including difficulties in focus, organization, and executive functioning. While medication can help manage some symptoms, ADHD coaching is an alternative or complementary approa...
ADHD and Emotional Dysregulation: Support for Navigating Life’s Challenges
Flying off the handle. Flipping your lid. Melting down. Any way you say it, when emotions get out of control, it’s hard for everyone involved - especially when ADHD is part of the picture. Everyone knows about the attention and focus challenges inherent in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - but one symptom that is often overlooked or forgotten is emotio...
Executive Dysfunction 101: How to Treat ADHD's Most Difficult Symptom
Regardless of age, learning that you or a loved one has ADHD or experiences symptoms of Executive Dysfunction can be difficult to process. One of the reasons that this news can be so overwhelming is that there's simply so much information out there on the subject that it can feel like an impossible task just to decipher what's true or important (let alone decide what ...
Learn to Love Life Again: 5 Coping Tips from a Grief and Loss Expert
Grief, loss, and emotional trauma are really hard to think about or talk about. Because our podcast, Focus Forward, aims to tackle these things that are hard to talk about, I reached out to Dr. Lisa Shulman to explore the topic of how the experience of loss impacts our brains and our executive functioning. You can listen to that episode here.
Is Executive Function the Missing Link to Your Kid's Success?
You’ve puzzled over plenty of life’s mysteries. Why does food taste better outdoors? Why did that weird ad show up in my feed? Where’s my other sock? When it comes to our kids’ academic performance, one mystery we hear from parents is: “Why is my smart kid struggling?” I mean, your kid can talk your ear off about black holes, or the Ming Dynasty, or Shakespearean subp...
ADHD Child Refuses to Do Schoolwork: Top Tips to Help | Beyond Booksmart
Let’s be honest… No student loves homework - and for good reason. When we consider the full school day, extracurriculars, and various social components that are all part of a typical school week, it’s no wonder why students want to relax and recharge when they finally get home. However, part of growing up is learning to roll up our sleeves and do those essential thing...
Is Online Executive Function Coaching Effective?
If you had asked me in 2006, when Beyond BookSmart was in its infancy as a company, if it’s possible to coach students online to be more effective and productive, I’d have likely answered with a resounding “Inconceivable!” After all, our work is built on a foundation that emphasizes rapport and respect for our students. Without that, it’s an uphill trudge to influence...
4 Coping Skills Teens Need to Build Lifelong Resilience
By the time the semester hits mid-October, college and high-school students are really starting to get into the thick of the school year's demands. And although getting through all the deadlines successfully may seem most important, it's also critical to remember that burnout is real and emotional well-being is often more important than checking off another item on th...
Failure to Launch: How to Nudge Your Young Adult Toward Independence
Although parents have many responsibilities, the greatest one of all is to equip our kids with the skills they need to grow into successful, independent, and happy adults. However, when we find that our kids’ transition into adulthood isn’t happening the way we hoped, that responsibility can suddenly become a terrible burden. Whether it’s around the end of high school...
3 Life-Changing Tips for Parents of College Students
Exactly a decade ago, I found myself trundling toward Louis Armstrong Airport on a crowded shuttle of folks like me who were eager to evacuate New Orleans before Hurricane Isaac made landfall. My mental checklist ticked off all the items I needed to have with me: wallet, ID, tickets, carry-on bag. Hmmm - I seemed to be missing one important thing. Oh yeah, my kid! I h...
School Essentials: What You Should Know About Executive Function
New sneakers, fresh binders, and the latest model backpack. Typical must-haves for the first day of school, right? As exciting as it is for the return of “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and all the external trappings that entails, the real key to a great school year lies in the attitudes and habits your student cultivates. In other words, while new Nikes are nic...
How Does ADHD in Children Impact Academic Performance?
As a classroom teacher and school principal, I have worked with thousands of students over the course of my career. Many students with whom I’ve worked struggle with the daily challenges of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts one’s ability to control impulses, organize thoughts and belongings, manage time, and ca...
8 Things You Need to Know About ADHD After a Diagnosis
Editor's note: This article has been reviewed and verified for accuracy by Theresa Cerulli, MD., a nationally certified neuropsychiatrist with over 20 years of expertise in diagnosing and treating ADHD in children and adults. It can be overwhelming when you learn that you or a loved one has ADHD, whether they're an adult or a child. There’s so much information availab...
4 Life Skills For Teens That Help Them Do Anything
We’ll start this essential topic with a little pop quiz. How would you complete this statement? When my kid starts living on their own, I worry that they won’t be able to ____________. Chances are, your answers were pretty similar to what we hear from the thousands of parents we talk to every year. Perhaps you listed numerous concerns like making their own medical app...
What Should You Treat First: ADHD or Mental Health Challenges?
Over the last few years, you may have noticed that there are more conversations happening around mental health, and for good reason. Whether it's primarily due to pandemic shifts, the prevalence of technology, or a combination of factors, more people than ever are feeling anxious and depressed. Although the suffering caused by these challenges is difficult to adequate...
3 Strategies to Cope with Failure on the Path to Self-Improvement
As Executive Function coaches, we find that many of the people we work with feel disheartened or stressed when they fail to reach their self-improvement goals. After all, when you work to change your habits, you're putting yourself in a vulnerable position where you're trusting that you are capable of making a change. This is why it's often so upsetting, particularly ...
A Day in the Life of a College Student with Executive Dysfunction
Picture this: You go from a 6:30am wake-ups 5 days a week to 10:00am ones. You go from six intense hours of learning to a 50-minute class followed by a three hour break. You go from abiding by a curfew to being able to stay up as late as you want. These are the kinds of transitions that college freshman eagerly look forward to (and make all of us wish we were still in...
Overwhelmed by College? Here's How to Regain Control
The college environment presents greater demands for self-management than most young adults have ever experienced. Add in the fallout from pandemic disruptions and we really do have a perfect storm of circumstances that have left many college students anxious, depressed, and overwhelmed. Why are college students struggling? Consider a few of these scenarios to give yo...
A Day in the Life of a High Schooler with Executive Dysfunction
Living with executive dysfunction makes life infinitely more difficult - especially for high schoolers. For the first time in their lives, struggling to manage time, stay organized, resist procrastination, and study effectively all begin to have meaningful consequences. Even so, it's also the perfect time to build these skills before their demands ramp up in college a...
A Day in the Life of a Middle Schooler with Executive Function Challenges
Editor's Note: We are bringing back and updating our popular “Day in the Life” series that has been shared and read by thousands since they were published in 2017. Here, we portray a typical day filled with challenges for a middle school student - along with some tips to help them navigate those obstacles. When thinking back to your middle school years, I’ll bet you r...
A Day in the Life of an Elementary Schooler with Executive Function Challenges
Editor's Note: We are bringing back and updating our popular “Day in the Life” series that has been shared and read by thousands since they were published in 2017. We start with a glimpse into the challenges of a late elementary student and see how empathy is a useful starting point to help support them. As an adult, you may think that being a fourth-grader is the eas...
When Getting Started is Impossible: 5 Procrastination Hacks that Work
Of all the Executive Function-related challenges we experience, procrastination is most pervasive. Even the most successful students and adults can struggle to initiate a difficult or less-than-exciting task. So what can they do about it? Plenty, it turns out. This week, we’ll be sharing the 5 best strategies to conquer procrastination, all of which have been tested b...
What College Students Struggle with Most (and what you can do to help)
When you’re struggling with self-management, every day can feel like an uphill battle. Not knowing how to manage time, effort, or emotions - or to organize and plan in order to meet demands, is an exhausting way to live. And although it can feel isolating for those who are struggling, these problems are far more common than most of us might think.
A Survival Kit for the New Year: Our 21 Best Tips from 2021
Somehow, we’ve reached the final chapter of 2021. It's safe to say that this year was one giant learning experience as we all have tried to adapt to a world that was unrecognizable just two years ago. We've been lucky to have so many brilliant individuals share their wisdom with our community and contribute to this year of learning. Between the dozens of teachers, the...
What You Don't Know About 504 Plans
If you’ve worked hard to get your child approved for a 504 plan for their ADHD, there can be a “phew!” moment after all those documents are signed. And while it’s a good move forward in leveling the playing field for your child, it’s really just the first step in a more comprehensive process of supporting your child’s academic performance. Wait - what? (In case you’re...
Student Stress: Untangling the Anxiety & Executive Function Connection
Have you noticed that almost everyone seems to be talking about anxiety lately? It may be because mental health, in general, is becoming less stigmatized, but it’s also clear that anxiety is simply becoming more prevalent in our world. This is especially true for students. According to the National Institute of Health, nearly 1 in 3 adolescents aged 13-18 will experie...
How to Deal with Executive Dysfunction: Tips from Executive Function Coaches
Why Your Executive Function Challenges May Be Rooted in Perfectionism
Editor's Note: In this week's blog, we invited clinical psychologist, Dr. Eva Benmeleh, to share her unique perspective & expertise on perfectionism - an area that her practice focuses on treating. --- As a psychologist who specializes in perfectionism, parents often ask me whether or not their children could have ADHD. It may be because their room is a total disa...
Exhausted by the School Year (already)? How to Get Back on Track
The school year that seemed brand new just one month ago is now entering the “routine” phase that tends to make the weeks and months fly by. But before we’re transported to the June finish line, our kids have a lot of school to get through - and now that we’re past the cautious optimism of the first few weeks, you may have noticed that your student’s bright-eyed optim...
Fall Blues? Why 80% of Parents Are Worried (and what to do about it)
Each school year, students begin a new chapter in their educational journey. And historically, this time has been a mixed bag of emotions - some excitement, some sadness (students in particular), and maybe even some mild nerves. But these last two back-to-school seasons have been different. Starting as early as June, our team began noticing that many parents were expr...
Making College Affordable: 5 Tips for Securing Scholarships
College planning can be both exciting and stressful. While students and parents celebrate this new stage and its milestones, for many, one question looms large: “Can we get help paying for this?” The answer to this question is, most often, yes. There are many sources of funding available other than student loans. The five tips below can help simplify your search by of...
The Best Strategy for Building Strong Student-Teacher Relationships
When I had to move when I was in college, I did what most people do: I asked my friends for help. And, despite the busy lives they lead, they did. (Or, at least, many of them did. That’s right, I’m calling you out, Genevieve...) Now, I didn’t offer to pay my friends, but they helped me anyway. (I mean, I did bribe them with plenty of pizza, but no one volunteers to he...
Freshman Social Jitters? 5 Tips to Making Friends in College
As August nears its end and a new school year waits around the corner, a certain segment of students who recently graduated high school are coming to the same realization that I did three years ago: starting college is scary! Moving to a new place without parents for the first time where you know few people (if any) is understandably intimidating. Add on a host of new...
Back to Campus: Insights for Parents' Top 5 College Transition Worries
Transitioning to college is always difficult, but for the semester ahead, students and parents alike are more anxious than ever about the upcoming fall. During a year filled with upheaval and uncertainty, college life shifted dramatically, eliminating the traditional college experience many students had anticipated. But this fall, students are likely looking at a more...
Helping Your Child Find Fun in Summer Reading
Though summer hopefully has been a time for rest, relaxation, and reset, it’s also perhaps had some required summer reading for your student (whether they’ve started it yet or not...) This type of homework can feel like the antithesis of fun, especially during summer vacation, and your student may feel like putting it off until the last minute. This is often the momen...
Build Your Student’s Self-Worth: 3 Tips to Conquer Imposter Syndrome
If we were to eavesdrop on the inner thoughts of some students, we might hear something like this: "There is no way I belong in this honors-level class with all these geniuses!" "I got into jazz band on a lucky break. Once they hear me play, they'll know I don’t deserve to be here." "Why did I take AP Art? This class is for real artists, not me." Whether it’s in a spe...
Awkward Adolescence: 4 Tips to Help Your Student Master Self-Care
For most of us, simply thinking about our early teen years can quickly produce cringe-worthy memories of awkward social interactions, questionable fashion choices, and hormonal chaos - all of which feel best left in the corners of our middle school locker. But what can often be equally uncomfortable is the tough landscape of actually parenting adolescent kids. Accordi...
Blank Page Panic? 4 Simple Steps to Write an Essay that Impresses
Does your child start to panic when they get an essay assignment? As coaches, we see this frequently. Writing can be hard for students, especially when they have challenges in Executive Function areas like organization, planning, and task initiation. Here's a useful guide to help your student overcome that hesitation and write a paper they (and their teachers) can fee...
4 Tips for The High School to College Transition
Editor's note: This week, we invited Sara Sullivan, a rising senior at Brown University, to share her experience transitioning to college, and the advice that she wished she had known in high school.
When Perfectionism Paralyzes: 4 Steps to (Actually) Get Writing Done
Put yourself in your student's shoes: You’ve got an essay due in a week, and perhaps you’re not particularly looking forward to it. You set up your study space, turn on your computer, open a blank document, curl your fingers over your keyboard, and…nothing. You’ve got nothing.
Support for Adults: New Ebook from an Executive Function Expert
I was cruising down the Massachusetts Turnpike, breeze in my hair, with just enough time to arrive a little early for my meeting, when I realized that I was supposed to be heading east, not west. My arrival would not be five minutes early; it would be ten minutes late due to this nasty thing called physics. How did this happen to me, an Executive Function coach? (And,...
Beyond Rhymes: How Poetry Can Teach Executive Function Skills
If the spoken-word poetry of youth poet Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden’s inauguration made you think, “Hmm, poetry seems a bit more interesting that I thought,” you’re in luck. April is National Poetry Month, and the fact is that not only can poetry be a fun thing to read, write, or hear, it’s also great at promoting Executive Function (EF) skills. In this week's piece, w...
Why You Should Stop Rescuing Your Partner (and what to do instead)
“If I don’t wash the towels, then make up the lunches, then go get ice for the cooler, and pack the car up tonight, we’ll never get out the door and to the beach tomorrow.” This is just the sort of thing my friend Dylan would say as he prepares for Cape Cod traffic in the summer. Usually, I reply with something like: “Could Geoff help you with some of that?” Dylan lau...
Your Child’s School is Reopening: a RoadMAP for Student Readiness
We can feel the buzz in the air and vibrance in everyone’s step. I’m not talking about spring fever, I’m referring to our hope and excitement as we begin to imagine living in a post-pandemic world. As vaccinations become more widespread, so does everyone’s anticipation for a life resembling what we once had prior to COVID-19. But will your child be ready? We will neve...
How to Help Students with Anxiety: Top 8 Tips for Parents and Teachers
This month, we gathered an expert panel of behavioral science and education professionals to discuss the complex process of supporting students with anxiety. Although many of the insights they shared were directed toward practitioners who work with students, we couldn’t help but notice how relevant some of their advice was for parents, too. In this week’s article, we’...
Answers to Parents' 5 Biggest Questions (From Student Success Experts)
One benefit of having over 400 coaches at Beyond BookSmart is the ability to gather insights from such a wide field of Executive Function experts. And given how chaotic this past academic year has been, our coaches have become accustomed to answering some of the most pressing concerns that parents have about their kids’ learning. In this week’s article, two of our coa...
How to Keep Your Kids On Track (Without Being a Helicopter Parent)
Picture this - you just finished your second Zoom meeting of the day. Your daughter is in the kitchen attending school remotely. She is a bright kid, but tends to be get distracted and off track during her remote classes. You walk into the kitchen to refill your coffee, but really your objective is to check in on her. As you walk in, she frantically closes a couple ta...
Inside a Master's Mind: How Chess Builds Executive Function Skills
The ongoing pandemic has provided infinite opportunities for discovering (or rediscovering) new activities to keep us occupied in a COVID world: the joy of baking banana bread, learning a new instrument, decluttering long-neglected areas of our homes - and, more recently, the mental workout of playing chess. Thanks to the popular Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit,” c...
1000 Calls in 2020: Insights from Frontline Executive Function Support
Moments of quiet and calm - and eruptions of tears and frustration. At night, a tangle of worried thoughts instead of restful sleep. While this could describe daily life for many of us in 2020, our team has been particularly attuned to the new challenges that parents and professionals have been facing this year. How have we kept our fingers on the pulse? During the pa...
Why You Should Stop Rescuing Your Teen (and what to do instead)
It’s 7:45 on a Thursday night and your son finally gives his eyes a break from the TV just long enough to remember that he has a major essay due for English tomorrow. He might not admit it, but the frantic pacing and backpack digging already reveal everything you need to know - it’s not the first time he’s had a last-minute cramming crisis. Without asking details, you...
What High School Juniors Can Do Now to Make Senior Year Less Stressful
Editor’s note: This week, we feature guest blogger Emily Toffelmire, Senior Manager of Educational Counseling for Bright Horizons College Coach. Please read more about Emily below. Senior year of high school can be one of the most memorable and fun times in a young person’s life. But for students who put off all things college-app related until then, that first semest...
When Your Technology Fails: 6 Tips for Calm Solutions
Imagine this - it’s the day of your World History exam. You’ve studied all week and are feeling confident. Your workspace is cleared and ready to go. Five minutes before the start time you attempt to log on to the main classroom page. A screen that says “no internet connection” is staring back at you. No, this can’t be happening! There are only four minutes left until...
Toxic Positivity: Self Esteem Costs of Poor Executive Function Skills
When I was in grad school, I worked at a gym. One of the things I recall vividly about my time there were the encouraging vibes from personal trainers, group fitness instructors, and the members themselves. People clung to mantras such as “The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow” and “The only bad workout is the one you didn’t do”, and “Be stron...
6 Simple Motivation Hacks for a More Productive Life
“Not another meal to prepare!” “I wish I was motivated to work-out.” “I just didn’t have the time to do that today." Sound familiar? You're certainly not alone - getting motivated isn't always easy. We all have those days where the routines get stale and even getting out of bed becomes an arduous task. In this article, I'm going to share my six simple motivating hacks...
The Best 15-Minute Strategy for Overwhelmed Parents
Ah, the pandemic... Overnight, many of us parents became a nurse, a short-order cook, a guidance counselor, a teacher, and - most of all - a multitasking pro. From worried, sleepless nights to tired workdays, life as a parent in 2020 has been a challenge with seemingly no end in sight. How can we as parents possibly help our children when we are feeling totally overwh...
Executive Functioning Isn’t Just Kid Stuff: A New Resource for Adults
Mia, a curious 6th grader who was into dinosaurs and art class more than anything else, had been working with me for about two months when she finally settled on her organizational system: Triceratops stickers on her math folder, Ankylosaurus stickers on the English folder, and Velociraptor stickers for the social studies folder. Science and art -- her favorite subjec...
Same, But Different: 4 Tips to Build Flexible Thinking Skills
The previous several months have required all of us to wrap our minds around necessary changes that have been essential to public health and our general well-being. Between mandated social distancing, stay at home executive orders, working remotely and virtual schooling, our understanding of the world we live in had to ultimately shift. Many of these changes have requ...
2 Executive Function Skills to Help Parents Beat Back to School Stress
There are many things people never tell you about parenting. For instance, how many fingernails you’ll clip, or that you may have to tell your son to stop chasing his sister with moldy bread (okay that second one may be a “me” thing)... However, the one quirk that we all were definitely not told about is that we’d have to parent through a pandemic. As many of us have ...
Distance Learning for Fall: Helping Students with Learning Differences
It seems like just yesterday parents across the country breathed a huge sigh of relief that the challenges of remote learning were over and summer was finally here. Now, summer is winding down, the new school year peeks around the corner, and uncertainty seems like the only sure thing. Schools are preparing for a variety of scenarios as the fall semester is rapidly ap...
How Establishing Routines Helps Students Cope with the Pandemic
Predictability. Just the word itself provokes a sense of calm. Unfortunately, the world we live in at the moment is probably going to be the most unpredictable we have and will ever experience and none of it is in our control. We have a choice to allow this fact to overwhelm us or we can focus on what we can control. What can we do to make our personal worlds more cal...
What Will College Look Like This Fall?
Every new college semester is a transition: New classes, new teachers, sometimes even new friends. This coming fall, however, will compound all of those changes with another one: A new way of learning. Yes, students do have a few months practice with the skill of learning-during-a-pandemic, but the spring semester was cushioned by lenient (and sometimes required) pass...
Activating Teens with a Summer Project to Build Executive Functioning
This turbulent school year has finally reached its end! But now that summer is here, many of you may be shifting into this new season with some concerns: What will my teen do if they’re not returning to camp? Will my teen be screen-bound for hours on end? Will my teen sleep all day and stay up all night, messing with their circadian rhythm? All of this upcoming downti...
Gaining Calm by Organizing: How to Clear Your Space & Mind
We are living in an unprecedented time. As easy as it is to become overwhelmed amidst the chaos, there are things we can do to take control of the world around us in order to bring about a sense of security and calm. One of the most effective steps we can take to do this is by first getting a grip on our organizational skills. With so many of us being stuck at home, t...
Adulting in 2020: 5 Key Tips for Resilience from a Recent College Grad
We’ve finally reached the halfway point of 2020, and I think I speak for just about everyone in saying that these past 6 months have felt more like 6 years. A global pandemic, widespread economic uncertainty, mass unemployment, and now, historic protests against police brutality and racial injustice in every major US city - all of which have already cemented 2020 as a...
Managing Loneliness While Working From Home
By now, some folks might be going back to work on site -- whether in full force or in a hybrid model. Many of us, though, are cruising past the two-month mark of working from home. If that’s you, you’ve probably gotten into somewhat of a groove. You’ve got the right mindset for working remotely and you’ve got your distractions managed so you can stay productive. But j...
How Non-Cognitive Variables Can Help in the College Admissions Process
Editor’s note: This week, we feature guest blogger Karen Spencer, Director of Educational Counseling for Bright Horizons College Coach. Please read more about Karen below. Ask any high school junior going through the college search process about the one thing that scares them most and you’ll usually hear them say “standardized tests.” The SAT and ACT tests have been a...
Distracted & Unproductive: New Survey Shows Work From Home Challenges
Working from home (WFH) inherently has its challenges. Although I imagine many of us are now finding that out (thanks, COVID-19), each of our experiences during this transition likely differs considerably depending on the unique situations we’re finding ourselves in. For some of you, that could mean suddenly having kids at home while you work, while for others it may ...
5 Survival Tips for Working From Home With Kids
Being a working parent is a difficult job - especially when you have a 4th grade son with ADHD and a 4-year old daughter with more stamina than the Energizer Bunny. Now with COVID-19 forcing many parents to work from home, the fragile balance between our career responsibilities and duties as parents has been destabilized, transforming one difficult job into two seemin...
How Reframing Your COVID-19 Experience Can Support Emotional Wellbeing
Editor’s note: This week, we feature guest blogger Dr. Katherine Pang, a licensed psychologist in TX. Please read more about Dr. Pang below. Right now, students, adults, and parents all over the world are struggling to continue this new “way of being” we find ourselves living. Our most mundane routines have been uprooted and altered in ways that would have defied our ...
How to Regain Your Focus While Working From Home (WFH)
In my last blog post I talked about how to get into a working mindset when you’ve got to work from home (WFH). For some of you, getting into the mindset was just the first hurdle. You might now be thinking: How do I keep that mindset? In this post we’ll explore ways to stay focused in the current WFH climate.
How to Support Your Child With Attention Challenges, Especially Now
Editor’s note: This week, we feature guest blogger Dr. Jane Greenstein, a licensed psychologist in MA. Please read more about Dr. Greenstein below. These are difficult times for everyone. Between coronavirus fears, quarantine, school closings, and financial uncertainty, we are in uncharted territory. It’s hard to manage worries about the future when so much is unknown...
3 Tips for Thriving in Online College Classes
Remember your college experience? Routine was key. Going to class each day, meeting on campus for group projects, and studying in the library were all staples in the life of an undergraduate. With the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, those college rituals have been disrupted. Now, millions of college students are finding themselves struggling to meet the demands of a cour...
How to Get Your Head Into WFH (Work From Home) Mode: 4 Essential Tips
As a college teacher, I’ve kept a weird work schedule for the past 10 years. Until the current school closures with the COVID-19 situation, I would physically go to work to teach my classes, hold office hour appointments, and attend meetings. But a significant portion of the work - such as grading papers - is work I did at home alone.
The Anxious Middle Schooler: An Executive Function Connection
Middle school. For some of us, those three syllables can elicit chills of recalling social slights, embarrassing faux pas, and other growing pains of adolescence. Decades later, things haven’t changed much. In fact, it’s still about lunchtime and who you manage to sit near. As if that whole scene isn’t stressful enough, add in Executive Function challenges for a 6th, ...
How to Get Your Child to Listen to You (with less talking back)
Editor’s note: This week, we feature guest blogger Lisa Gurdin of LSGurdin Consulting. Please read more about Lisa below. One of the hardest parts of being a parent is realizing that your child will not always listen to what you say just because you say it. This is a tough nugget to swallow. Shouldn’t children just listen to their parents? Isn’t it just enough to say,...
The Anxious, Stressed High School Student: An Executive Function Link
Adults don’t always think of high school as the “real world,” but for students navigating that stage of life, the stress is entirely real. The academic obligations start to get more challenging and the social expectations feel more intense — just when students are beginning to add college and career decisions into the mix that will affect the rest of their lives. Whil...
How Martial Arts Training Helps Develop Executive Function Skills
Editor’s note: This week, we feature guest bloggers Michael Keesler and Jason Navon of Fox and Ferns Mental Health in Philadelphia, PA. Please read more about Michael and Jason below. In fall of 2000, a 16-year-old Michael Keesler took his first class at the Asheville Taekwondo Academy. It would be the first of many classes to follow, each beginning with bowing in and...
Scattered & Late? The (very real) Cost of Ineffective Habits in Adults
Almost everyone has a picture in their head of how their lives should run. It typically goes something like this: Your living space is orderly and tidy, with carefully chosen containers and efficient ways to house your belongings. Last minute guests? No biggie. Your place always looks ready to entertain friends and family. Your finances are in good order and you live ...
The Anxious College Student: An Executive Function Connection
College students have plenty of fuel for anxiety. They’re in a social and academic environment that’s significantly different than any that they’re used to. They’re often trying to balance course work with a job - in addition to social and family obligations. And they’re doing all this while also trying to chart out a plan for their entire future (and trying not to th...
Why Smart Kids Can Struggle in School
The first part of the school year is almost in the record books, and already you see the writing on the wall. Your bright, funny, curious child brought home a backpack crammed with crumpled worksheets, last week’s hummus snack, and teacher comments that were less than stellar. You know she can do better. Her teachers know she can do better. Your child wants to do well...
How to Tell the Difference Between Shyness and Social Anxiety
Editor’s note: This week, we feature guest blogger Ari Fox, LCSW-R, of CopeWithSchoolNYC.com, where a version of this article was published. Please read more about Ari below. "He's just a shy boy!" "She'll outgrow her clinginess." When is a child showing typical degrees of shyness and when does it become more concerning? It can be easy for parents to overlook social a...
The Anxious Elementary Student: An Executive Function Connection
Students in elementary school often have good reason to feel anxious. Whether it’s taking tests in class, handling unexpected changes in a schedule, or remembering to take their materials home or to school, young students have a number of daily demands that require using their Executive Function skills. And because those very skills are still developing in their brain...
5 Ways to Bring Peace and Positivity to Homework Battles
Editor’s note: This week, we feature guest blogger Joanna Robin, Ph.D., of Bright Parenting. Please read more about Joanna below. When kids struggle to do their homework, it can stir up so many emotions in parents. Maybe you were the type of student who got your homework done right away and you didn’t have anxiety about homework—until now, when you see your own child ...
Time for Bed! Why Sleep is Essential for Executive Functioning
“But I don’t want to go to bed!” Pretty much every parent has heard these words, or some variation, as early as...well, my three-year old says it, so let’s go with that. Usually one more story suffices at this age, but as children get older, the pleas often become more difficult to navigate.
How Do We Connect Student Evaluation With Meaningful Intervention?
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest bloggers Mandi Croft-Petoskey and Amanda Moons of Neuro Educational Specialists. Please read more about Mandi and Amanda below.
6 Steps to Successful Goal Setting for Students (and Adults!)
Did you ever notice that September, the beginning of the school year for most students, shares something in common with January, the beginning of the calendar year? Both present a great opportunity to start anew, wipe the slate clean, and make positive changes. For some of us, these starting points might inspire setting goals for fitness, knowledge, or skills we’d lik...
How to Navigate Student Supports in College
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Janet Price, Director of Admissions and Outreach at College Living Experience in Rockville, MD. Please read more about Janet below. Support in college for students with learning disabilities includes accommodations ranging from extra time on exams to a note-taker or copies of the professor’s notes. However, obtaining ...
Pets, Chores, & Other Nuisances: Negotiating Responsibilities at Home
Even though much of our work as Executive Function coaches focuses on helping students and adults work more effectively, you may be surprised to learn that we get a fair amount of questions during our presentations and talks that relate to managing a household, as well. And why not? After all, we use skills such as time management, emotion regulation, planning, and pe...
How Can High School Students Have a Productive (and Fun!) Summer?
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Steven Cruz, , M.A., President and Founder of Omega Educational Consulting, Inc. Please read more about Steven below.
Summer Tips to Build Executive Function Skills
When I polled our coaches for their best ideas they've used to work with their clients in the summertime, I shouldn't have been surprised at the responses - but I sort of was! It turns out, the more relaxed mode of summer is fertile ground for all kinds of in-depth projects and explorations for our clients - and that intensive work allows for several Executive Functio...
Emotional Regulation: The Hidden Success in a Student’s Failure
(Author’s note: the names and circumstances have been altered to protect the client’s anonymity.) The mom calls me at 3:15 on a Tuesday afternoon. I am coaching another student at the time, but I listen to her voicemail message when I’m done with the session at 4:00. Marie is clearly anguished.
When Students with Health Conditions Transition to College
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Annie Tulkin, Founder of Accessible College, where she provides college transition support nationally for students with physical disabilities and health conditions. Please read more about Annie below. Students with health conditions, including diabetes, epilepsy, mental health conditions, and other chronic health cond...
Time Management Tip: The Unschedule
Whenever I am working with someone on creating a schedule, I always get asked the same question, “Should I add activities that are not related to school or work?” My answer is always a resounding, “Absolutely!”
Why Our Words Matter to Struggling Students
When I was little, I can remember being told the old adage, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” While I understand that it was meant to encourage me and to make me feel better when someone had said mean words to me, as an adult and as an educator, I now find that phrase a little dishonest. Words have meaning and they can - and do -hu...
Why Do Gifted Students Often Struggle in School?
Content updated on August 30, 2023 School should be easy for a child who is gifted, right? On the surface, that's a simple answer: "Of course!" But if we take a closer look at a typical school experience for a gifted child, we often see some version of the following scenario...
Coordinating Care When a Child Has OCD
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Martin Franklin, Ph.D., clinical director of Rogers Behavioral Health in Philadelphia. Please read more about Dr. Franklin below. Children with obsessive-compulsive (OCD) and anxiety disorders often struggle in school. Parents who want to help their children are often at a loss as to what to do: Should we speak to sch...
Are You Setting Up Your High School Student for College Success?
College freshmen don't always go on to become college seniors. In fact, according to CollegeAtlas.org, 30% of students don't return after their freshman year. That's a startling statistic to grasp for any parent of a high school student. What's behind those numbers? How can a parent ensure their soon-to-be young adult won't be in that 30% who don't make it to sophomor...
The Power of Small Experiments to Change Your Child's Study Habits
Think of a time when you tried to offer helpful advice to your child about the way they study. How did that go? If your kid is like most, you probably saw eye-rolling and heard heavy sighs of frustration in response to your useful tips. Why on earth does your kid refuse to take advantage of your years of experience and just listen to your sage advice about preparing f...
Academic First Aid Kit for Students (When you forgot about that test!)
Disclaimer: Cramming the night before a test is never the best strategy. These tips are only to help you at the last minute when necessary, not to give you a reason to delay preparing well for a test. The Scenario: It’s Sunday night. You’ve had a long, fun weekend and then you realize you have a history test Monday morning...uh oh…OMG!!!! You start to feel like it’s t...
Did You Ask the Teacher? Supporting Students When They Won't Seek Help
Opportunities for learning are everywhere — both inside and outside of the classroom. As parents, coaches, and teachers, we want our students to be able to take advantage of these opportunities. Part of that objective is to support them to be effective advocates for their own learning. My three-year old son is pretty good at this. If he needs help, he will take my han...
Neuropsychological Testing: What is it and when is it needed?
As parents, we often get in the habit of worrying about our kids. When we suspect that our child’s problems aren’t just run-of-the-mill issues but something that might have a significant impact on their children’s lives, we wonder if we need help from a qualified professional.
Understanding Your Child's IEP: What Parents Should Know
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger The Law Office of Steven Alizio, PLLC. Please read more about Steven Alizio below. As professionals who specialize in helping parents find the best possible support for their children with learning differences and other disabilities, our team typically hears some variation of this question every day: How do I ensure t...
The Life-Changing Magic of Going Analog in a Digital World
Everything these days seems to be going digital. Apps for this, websites for that, Google Home or Alexa taking up residence in our living rooms. It can be helpful for planning and keeping track of our busy lives, but can also a bit overwhelming and distracting. For those of us who prefer paper and pen as opposed to a digital calendar, using a day planner can be one of...
How to Feel Less Overwhelmed During Final Exams
Recently, a college freshman (who happens to be our founder’s daughter, Jenna) shared with us her detailed plan to get through the first finals period of her college career. What do you notice as you look at this plan? To start, if you’re a parent, maybe you’re whispering a fervent “Thank goodness I’m done with school!” as you look at the work ahead of this student. M...
Not Ready for College? Essential Tactics for Gap Year Success
We all know the typical trajectory. It’s what most of your friends are doing: graduating high school, enjoying summer, and moving directly on to college. But that’s not the path for you. Some of your peers know exactly what they want to be and others are just going to college because it’s the next step... and that’s fine for them. But it’s not who you are. You need so...
If You Think School Isn't the Real World for Students...
The “real” world. When exactly did we somehow all agree to identify the non-academic world as some separate place and time in which things will finally become real? It’s time to quash this concept because, for students, school is the real world. The skills they need to get through school happen to be highly relevant to the skills they’ll need to tackle in the world be...
Why You Should Stop Motivating Your Child (and what to do instead)
As parents, we often have high expectations for our kids. We are well aware of the hard work and self-starting attitudes they need that are the cornerstones of success in today’s world. So, what if you’re not seeing these behaviors and attitudes reflected in your kids? It’s only natural to feel concerned. If your child has trouble staying motivated, organized, and on ...
5 Key Components to Successful Online Learning
Online courses can be a wonderful way to learn almost anything—from accounting to zoology. It can help to fill skill gaps, earn credits toward a degree, and contribute to personal enrichment. Many options are low-cost or even free and there is no commute! So, everyone should sign up for online classes, right? Hold on - first consider some of the possible pitfalls befo...
4 SAT Tips for Test-Preparation Success
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger David Recine, a test prep expert at Magoosh. Please see David's bio below. What tips do you need to follow to ace the SAT? That depends at least partly on your own skills and learning needs. But here are four tips that can help any student get a strong start as they embark on their SAT preparation and chart their own ...
Talking to Teachers: Building Self-Advocacy in College Students
Visiting a professor during office hours in college can be a daunting task, especially for freshmen. Students wonder if they should just stop by to introduce themselves or if they must prepare specific questions. Anxiety might take over, with students fearing they won’t sound smart enough or seem like “college material.” Students often think: “What if I make things wo...
Back to School Tips for the Family with Executive Function Challenges
The lazy days of summer are nearing an end and the kids are finally heading back to school. This time of year can be a relief for many parents, but it can also feel overwhelming: How will we be ready for that hectic first day? Where is that school supply list? Did my child complete their summer reading log? If your child has Executive Function issues, much of the burd...
Executive Functioning in the Real World: More Than School Skills
Most people would agree that Mondays can be lousy. But the one thing Monday’s got going for it is that we think of Mondays as “work days,” and when we’ve already got work on the brain it can make getting started on our work a little easier. But Sundays are a whole other story.
Supporting the Twice Exceptional Child: A Mom's Advice for 2E Success
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Venetia Muench, a mom with two 2E sons who has learned how to navigate the school system in order to find the most effective support for her children. Please see her full bio below. Raising a gifted kid is easy. They always overachieve academically. Parents of gifted kids can just sit back and watch them sail through ...
How to Memorize More Effectively (When Technology is Not an Option!)
Do you ever run into the grocery store with a short list in your head and leave with only half of what you went in for? Does your son have to memorize the names of the planets in order, numerical operations, science classifications, or the beaches of the Normandy D-Day invasion - and does he always forget one or two? Does your daughter “cram” the night before a vocabu...
School Refusal: How to Help Your Child Return to the Classroom
We all want our children to genuinely love school. After all, we know there’s more to be gained from schooling than memorizing times tables or reciting the state capitals. When children engage with caring teachers and other students, they acquire valuable experiences that help them grow socially and behaviorally - as well as academically. Unfortunately, when children ...
Can Spending Time in Nature Improve Executive Functioning?
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Michael Keesler, J.D., Ph.D., a neuropsychologist who practices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Please see his full bio below. With spring’s arrival, parents and children are shaking off winter’s cabin fever and returning outdoors. On the one hand, it is no great insight to observe that we enjoy spending time outdoors ...
A Day in the Life: Parenting a Child with Executive Function Challenges
No matter what the age or disposition of your child, parenting is a tough job. Add Executive Function challenges to the mix and life can go from joy to confusion in a matter of minutes. If your child has Executive Function challenges, your entire day is a potential minefield of frustrating scenarios — but hold on, your friendly neighborhood Executive Function coach ha...
Why Does My Child Struggle with Writing? 6 Skills Your Child Needs
Do you have a child who can talk at length on a topic but struggles to get all those great ideas down on paper? Because writing draws upon Executive Function skills such as planning, organizing, time management, attention, working memory, and metacognition — it’s no wonder we Executive Function coaches see many of our students struggle in this area. In fact, writing c...
Yoga and Executive Function: A Combination for Student Success
Lately yoga has been paired with everything from goats to beer, but the most natural pairing may well be yoga and students. For a fun activity that has no specific goal, yoga can certainly pack a punch when it comes to helping with self-management skills. How could a non-competitive exercise help students to sharpen their Executive Function skills? Practicing yoga not...
When Anxiety Hurts Academic Performance at College: How Parents Can Help
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Marcia Morris, M.D., a psychiatrist with 20 years of experience working with college students. Please see her full bio below. If your child is not doing well at college, there could be many reasons why – poor organization, too much partying, challenges with time management – to mention just a few. But did you know tha...
A Day in the Life of a 4th Grader With Executive Function Challenges
As an adult, you may think that being a fourth-grader is the easiest life around — no bills to pay, no worries about your career, no responsibilities other than some homework and a couple simple household chores. But can you imagine being a fourth grader whose everyday world of school and home feels overwhelming because they lack the Executive Function skills needed t...
Infographic: When Do Executive Function Skills Typically Emerge in Children?
As Executive Function coaches, parents frequently ask us what skills are typical for students to have mastered by a certain age. The answer is often complex, as each child is unique — a child's learning profile, developmental history, environment, and life experiences all interact to influence how and when Executive Function skills emerge and solidify. We've created t...
Sleep Deprivation: A Roadblock to Improving Executive Function
Here's a glimpse into a typical morning when I was in high school... My sleep fogged brain hears my alarm as if from a distance. I had stayed up until 2:30am finishing a paper for history that I should have started weeks ago. I gather up enough strength to make the noise stop by snoozing my alarm until my mother encourages me out of bed. After dressing, I can’t rememb...
Help Your Child Organize Those Papers: Genius Scan to the Rescue!
Is your child’s backpack and locker a mysterious black hole, from which no permission slip or study guide ever resurfaces? Does your child risk keeling over from the weight of all of the papers they lug around daily? If you’re like many parents I know, you’d welcome a solution to managing the avalanche of paper that overwhelms many students by this time in the school ...
A Day in the Life of an Adult with Executive Function Challenges
If you’re like me, your life is totally together and scheduled and organized and you never feel stressed or overwhelmed by anything. Ok, so maybe that’s not exactly true -- but that’s where improving Executive Function skills can help. Executive Function skills are certainly not only about helping kids manage schoolwork. While adults tend to have better self-managemen...
How to Help Students with Learning Challenges Build Healthy Self-Esteem
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Samantha Kolkey, a licensed social worker and Director of Programs at Options for College Success. Please see her full bio below. I'd like to reveal to you a few examples of conversations I have had or overheard during my six years as a social worker serving individuals with learning disabilities. Tutor: Why didn’t yo...
How to Help Your Child Get Organized
At this point in the school year, students and parents have often (mostly) overcome the initial back to school transition glitches. The class schedule is starting to feel more automatic, you know the teachers’ names, and thoughts turn more readily to fall and winter holidays than the wistful memories of sunny beach outings. Yet, as soon as you think things have settle...
Failure to Launch in Young Adults & Executive Function Challenges
Brandon is a Young Adult with Failure to Launch Syndrome A Day in the Life of Brandon, Age 22 11:30 a.m. I blink and rub the sleep out of my eyes. Mom and Dad are at work and there’s no annoying alarm dictating the start of the day. I grab my phone, and (after checking Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat) I scroll through my emails to see if there are any repli...
Can Mindfulness Improve Executive Function Skills?
A couple of years ago I learned the secret to getting a group of sixth graders to participate in class: simply ask them if they are stressed out. This was my icebreaker question to introduce the topic of mindfulness. In response, it seemed as though the entire class raised their hands. And there was not enough time to allow everyone to share what stressed them out. Th...
How Do I Parent My Child Who has ADHD? One Mom’s Story
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Mamie Rand, a mom whose son benefits from Executive Function coaching. Please see her full bio below. Perhaps this recent scene in my household sounds a little familiar to you… “Son, check your watch. What time does it say?” “4:00, Mom!” He is exasperated that I’m about to issue a curfew. “I must see you home at 5:33 ...
A Day in the Life of a 10th Grader with Executive Function Challenges
Morning Mad Dash: 6:57 AM - Scrambling Out the Door Olivia has to catch the bus at 7:30, and she likes to sleep in until 6:45 … and maybe hit the snooze button one or two times after that. That leaves her about half an hour to madly dash about the house eating breakfast, choosing an outfit, brushing her teeth, packing her lunch, changing after reconsidering her outfit...
The ABCs of Reducing Anxiety for Students Going Back to School
We’ve all had that surge of nervous energy as a big event is coming up and learning to control the jitters, or emotionally regulate, can be a challenge for both students and adults. As the start of the school year approaches, you might notice anxiety building as your child anticipates new teachers, a new schedule, and the other big changes. Let’s explore some ABCs of ...
How to Have a More Successful Semester at College this Fall
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Elizabeth Hamblet, a learning consultant in Columbia University’s disability services office. Please see her full bio below. “I honestly don’t know.” The student is looking at a grid showing the days of the week broken into hour blocks that she’s filled in with her classes, sleeping and meal times, and rehearsals. Thi...
How to Help Your Child Get the Most From Summer Reading
Summertime and the readin’ is easy. Or not. No doubt, your children have a book or two (or more) on their lists to complete before they head back to school - but how will they retain that information and make the most of the juicy learning opportunities ahead?
A Day in the Life of a College Student with Executive Function Challenges
Picture this: You go from 6:30am wake-ups to 10:00am ones. You go from four intense hours of learning to a 50-minute class followed by a three hour break. You go from abiding by a curfew to having no curfew at all. These are the kinds of transitions that college freshman eagerly look forward to (and make me wish I were still in college…). But the awesomeness of these ...
4 Summer Strategies for Resistant Students
Summer can be an ideal time to plant seeds for growth in the future. But why use this down-time to discuss goals, or work on skills, when the last thing your child wants to think about is school? When September comes around, if struggling students have not been expanding their skillset, they start back to school with the same challenges they faced last year but withou...
Selecting the Right Support: Tutoring vs. Executive Function Coaching
You’ve reached one of those moments in parenting that you’ve dreaded: For the second quarter in a row, your son Ethan has come home with poor math grades on his report card. You want to get him the help he needs, so you hire a highly recommended tutor named Zak to help him out. Problem solved, right?
A Day in the Life of a 7th Grader with Executive Function Challenges
When thinking back to your middle school years, I’ll bet you recall a time in your life when your peers were always accepting, your teachers understood you, and your retainer never, ever got lost. No? I didn't think so. It turns out, not too much has changed since the Pleistocene era we grew up in, pre-interwebs. Middle school is still an awkward time, to say the leas...
Overcoming End of School Year Procrastination & Lack of Motivation
"Help! My child has senioritis — and she's only a freshman (or a 7th grader, or a 4th grader...)!" Has your child spent hours staring at a piece of paper, futilely attempting to start some dreaded piece of homework? Has your daughter declared that she is “so over school"?
Dealing With the Stress of Final Exams: How Positive Anchors Can Help
As parents, we sometimes fall into the trap of believing our children are too young to be stressed. We are the adults with bills and obligations, after all! Well, it turns out that kids feel the pressure, too.
When Your Child (Endlessly) Watches YouTube Videos: 5 Tips for Parents
Imagine a community where hundreds of familiar faces gather together to socialize, where the possibilities for exploration are endless, and all of it is accessible with the push of a finger. In your child’s world, this place exists: it’s called YouTube.
4 Ways to Help Your Child Build Executive Function Skills this Summer
Summer is a great time for sitting on the beach, splashing in the pool, backyard barbecues, and you guessed it: developing Executive Function skills. This time of year, we hear a lot of parents worry that summer won’t be a productive time to learn (or continue to build) these important foundational skills.
Why Your Child Won't Use a Graphic Organizer
It’s Monday night, and your child is agonizing over starting the essay that is due first thing on Tuesday morning. Suddenly you remember the graphic organizer that was recommended last week at parent-teacher conferences. But when you present your son or daughter with what promises to be the antidote to those writing woes, the kid glares at you like you’ve handed over ...
What do Marathon Training and Good Study Habits Have in Common?
This is the second entry in a 3-part blog series highlighting my preparation, process, and reflection for the upcoming Boston Marathon. My first entry was back in October of last year when I was nothing but sunny and optimistic in preparation for marathon training. One thing I'm discovering is that when I coach my students to develop good study habits, I'm preparing t...
When is the Best Time to Work on Improving Executive Function Skills?
When does a minor problem become a major problem? Sometimes the tipping point is just out of view, but it creeps up over time. In 2013, my primary care doctor came into the room and said to me, “You’ve gained six pounds since you were last here.” Yup. That sounded about right. Seeing as I’m not a scale-watching fanatic, the comment didn’t really affect me. But that wa...
Why Can't My Child See the Big Picture?
Has your son ever lost points on a test or assignment because he did not follow all the directions? Does your daughter highlight everything when she reads and as a result can’t figure out what to study? Does your son complain about how his teacher is “torturing him” because he does not see the point of the assignment? If any of these common scenarios sound familiar, y...
Build Better Work Habits: How Your Brain Changes with Practice
When you work out your body, it’s usually because you’re looking to drop some fat. But when you work out your brain, you’re actually gaining some extra fat. Don’t worry, it’s not likely to register when you step on your scale. This fat operates at the microscopic level to help lock in skills and routines. How does your brain help you build better work habits? Well, he...
How to Help Your Child Get Started on Homework
Imagine walking through the city on a bright, sunny day, when you’re approached by a person holding a clipboard. Would you be more likely to stop and listen if the person says: “Would you be willing to take a survey for me?” or “Could I have just two minutes of your time?” If you’re like me, the second request seems easier to agree to than the first. I don’t want to w...
The Adolescent Brain: Executive Functioning in Adolescence
Editor's note: Part of this blog is an excerpt from a longer article The Adolescent Brain: Primed For Thrills And High On Life. Reprinted by permission from The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, a division of Massachusetts General Hospital. Teenagers are convinced they are ready to take the reins, no longer wanting to be held back by overly-cautious adults who don’...
How to Organize an Essay: 3 Graphic Organizers for Young Writers
Have you ever listened to your child lament, “I just can’t think of what to write”? Perhaps you have heard your child utter, in the mode of a 19th century Romantic poet, “I’m waiting for inspiration.” As a parent, you may find yourself thinking, “My child is smart and articulate, so why are writing assignments so stressful?”
Executive Function Skills: A Foundation for Success at School & Beyond
Imagine a builder getting started on a new home. Maybe he’s behind schedule. There’s pressure from the owners. He knows that the foundation has to go in before he can build but maybe he can find a way to get back on schedule by modifying his approach.
Why Can’t I Motivate My Kids to Do What I Ask?
(Editor's note: This article was originally published at ImpactADHD. Reprinted with permission from the author.) The subject of motivation comes up in most of our workshops or classes. Without fail, we hear comments like, “Nothing motivates my kids. I’ve taken everything away… I bribe them with everything and still nothing works.” There are some common mistakes that w...
4 Tips for Coping With Slow Processing Speed in Children
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Dr. Ellen Braaten, associate director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital. This is part two of her series on slow processing speed. Read her full bio below.
Can You Have ADHD and Still Be a Good Student?
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Sean Potts, a student who graduated from Executive Function coaching support to full independence. A Personal Experience with ADHD and Good Grades “But look at your grades… There’s no way you have ADHD!” The amount of times I’ve heard this familiar phrase said in one way or another is astounding. What makes the co-exi...
A Fun App to Support Executive Function: Habitica Builds Good Habits
If I earned a gold coin for every time a parent complained about their child’s love of video games, I would have stormed the castle, defeated the castle warlords, and earned magical powers to advance me to the next level by now (because what else are gold coins for in video games?)
How Executive Function Skills Help Us Achieve (Really Big) Goals
In just under six months, I will be running my first marathon. And it’s a big one: the Boston Marathon. Training for this is going to be a huge endeavor that will require some serious goal-directed persistence and integration of just about all the rest of my executive function skills. As an executive function coach, I am fortunate to have many tools and strategies to ...
7 Self-Regulation Tips to Reduce Homework Battles With Your Child
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Hanna Bogen, a Speech-Language Pathologist and Social-Cognitive Specialist based in Los Angeles, CA. Please read her full bio below. Few tasks test self-regulation skills like homework time. Self-regulation is critical to one’s ability to manage challenging or complex situations, and homework time is no exception. Str...
The Honeymoon is Over: Help Your Child Get Back On Track in School
It’s the first week in October. We’re ankle-deep into the school year. The new backpacks, so carefully selected in August, already have a fine patina of crud and some crumpled worksheets or permission slips in more than one compartment. The bright eyed optimism of the back-to-school transition begins to morph to a bleary resignation of another tough day of school ahea...
3 Tips for Parents of Struggling Students with Overachieving Siblings
“Please stop graduating.” I remember reading this line quite vividly in an otherwise comical card from my younger brother. It was both a sarcastic comment - he’d suffered through my high school, undergraduate, graduate and second graduate school graduations - and a serious one. He was sick and tired of being outdone academically.
Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up: The Cost of Slow Processing Speed
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Dr. Ellen Braaten, associate director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital. Read her full bio below. Understanding Slow Processing in Children Some kids are naturally fast. They run, talk, complete homework assignments and do all sorts of things at a rate that seems appropriate ...
How to Convince Your Child to Stop Multitasking When Doing Homework
You feel like a broken record. How many times have you mentioned/suggested/demanded that your child stop texting, checking the Twitter feed, or watching the latest viral sensation on YouTube while doing homework? Your tween or teen assures you that they are capable of extraordinary multitasking powers; in fact, he or she says that all this social media stuff actually ...
Emotional Regulation and Executive Function Skills: A Powerful Link
Executive function can be likened to the brain’s air traffic control center.* The air traffic director must safely, quickly, and effectively manage dozens of flights into and out of an airport with multiple runways and terminals. Now, imagine this director on the job, in the control tower, and he is feeling enraged. Or terrified. Or bereaved. In any of these scenarios...
3 Tips for Parents Worried about Executive Function Challenges
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Dr. Joseph Moldover, a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Wellesley, MA. Read his full bio below. Uncertainty is one thing that is guaranteed to create anxiety. Uncertainty can come from several different places for parents who find out that their child is struggling with executive function challenges. L...
Allowing Your Child to Fail: When Rescuing Impedes Learning
With a new school year beginning, it’s a perfect time to anticipate some bumps in the road and have a plan in place to navigate them with your child. If you’ve seen a pattern of needing to rescue your child from poor planning, the odds are that theme will creep up again this year. Before you rush to be a first responder to your child’s next Homework 911 call, consider...
Reducing Academic Anxiety in Students with Perfectionism
Earlier this summer, we published a pair of blog articles featuring the ways perfectionist tendencies in students can result in academic anxiety for those with executive function challenges. These articles featured helpful tips for students who become paralyzed when attempting to initiate a task out of fear that it may not be “good enough”. For some students, however,...
Why Freshman Year Was a Strikeout: Poor Executive Function Skills
In my first year of college I attended a small, private school in southern New Hampshire. My 18-year-old self was thrilled at the prospect of starting this new adventure. This would be my first experience living away from home, fending for myself, and being completely self-reliant. I could not have been more excited! And, as it turns out, I could not have been more il...
A Coaching Alumnus Story: How Did a Struggling Student Transform?
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Sean Potts, a student who graduated from Executive Function coaching support to full independence. I clearly remember bringing home my report cards in 7th grade: a familiar assortment of C’s and D’s that I dreaded showing my parents. Despite the deep disappointment that I felt, I was seemingly powerless to change my s...
The Relationship Between Executive Function and ADHD in Children
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Dr. Elizabeth Hayward. Please read her full bio below. Parents of a child who has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often learn that their child also struggles with executive functioning. Executive function skills are those self-management skills that help us to set and achieve goals,...
3 Strategies for Parents to Build Children's Executive Function Skills
Executive function is sometimes described as “the CEO of the brain.” It’s responsible for seeing an idea or project through from start to finish, which involves scheduling, organizing, prioritizing, anticipating obstacles, and much more - sometimes all at once! Does that remind you of anyone else? Perhaps you think of yourself, conducting the symphony of a hectic week...
How Students Can Build Good Habits and Executive Function Skills
Building good habits involves repetition. Lots of it. There’s no easy shortcut, much as we may want a quick fix to anything we are trying to improve: healthful eating, fewer Netflix binges, clutter-free countertops. The same applies to our students. They may want to procrastinate less, get to class on time, or keep their desks organized, but the uncomfortable truth is...
Why College Students Struggle (Even if High School Was a Breeze)
Millions of college students are on summer break: scooping ice cream to earn a few bucks, sweating out a coveted internship, or just catching up with hometown buddies. And many, many of these students are also having some tough conversations with their parents about their grades. “How can it be,” parents say, “that you were an honor roll student in high school yet you...
Perfectionism in Students: A Case Study in Coping With Academic Anxiety
Are you worried that your child tends toward perfectionism? As coaches, we often encounter students with perfectionistic mindsets in combination with other Executive Function challenges. When students focus on producing “perfect” work, it can not only be counterproductive but research suggests it can even prove harmful. The good news is that the right kind of support ...
The Secret to Success in College: An Educational Consultant's View
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Judith S. Bass, CEP. Please read her full bio below. As a parent, you want your child to succeed in high school and go on to college. Naturally, you want to do everything you can to help your child get the best grades possible. So, you hire tutors for every subject. You sit with your son every night to monitor his hom...
How to Manage a Busy Schedule: The Planning Power of Shared Calendars
My sister is going to visit my parents this weekend; maybe I should plan to do the same. My dog has a vet appointment next week at the same time that my fiancé has a meeting; I guess I’ll be on my own with doggy duty. There’s a Red Sox home game at the same time as my field hockey game near Fenway on Monday; I’ll need to leave pretty early to get there. Am I blessed w...
Academic Anxiety: How Perfectionism and Executive Dysfunction Collide
As an Executive Function coach and clinical social worker, I have had a fair amount of experience working with adolescents who struggle with anxiety. Over the years, I have observed a phenomenon that highlights the intersection between perfectionism and executive function challenges. I call it the “comfort zone of misery.”
How Can Students Learn Better Time Management Skills?
It takes me three minutes to fill my car with gas. I can empty the dishwasher in six. Mowing the lawn, on the other hand, takes an hour and ten minutes. Each of these facts may seem overly specific and insignificant, but knowing exactly how long these tasks, and others like them, will take helps me plan and manage my time. This leads to well-planned, low-stress days a...
Reducing Test Anxiety While Preparing for Finals
Final exams are fast approaching, and your child may be teeming with text anxiety. But there’s good news! For the most part, students are simply reactivating old learning that happened over the past school year. They’re not cramming in a ton of new facts into their heads. Rather, students are dusting off those memories they’ve filed away. This week, we’re offering up ...
Self Advocacy: Why Your Child Won’t Seek the Teacher’s Help
It’s often hard for parents to trust that their children will learn from their mistakes, especially when they adamantly refuse to see their teachers for help. Parents also tend to react skeptically when their children agree but then “forget” to go to a planned meeting. Now that final exams, papers, and projects are piling up for students (along with all the questions ...
Study Tips for Final Exams: Identify the Blind Spots
First, we had “Fail” memes. These came in the form of pictures showing people, animals, and even inanimate objects failing at various things (see here). Then, the “Epic Fail” memes emerged. This caption was reserved for failures that were, well, really incredible on the fail scale (see here). Despite the fact that these memes encourage us to laugh at other people’s mi...
Metacognition: The Power Behind Problem Solving
Meta is a Greek word indicating something that is beyond or after. Cognition is the act of thinking and comprehending. Together, the word connotes a complex experience whereby we can think about our thinking. It is a more conscious act than passively daydreaming, and more active than simply reflecting.
Countering Senioritis: Focus on Skills for College Success
Counterintuitive. Counterargument. Counterclockwise. That prefix “counter” means to go against: against instinct, against reason, against the typical way the clock hands shift. And this prefix is exactly how you can get your son or daughter to shake off the rising tide of senioritis and be prepared for living at college next fall. Let me explain...
What is Pediatric Neuropsychology?
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Laura Jansons, Psy D. Please read her full bio below. According to the American Psychological Association, Pediatric Neuropsychology is a professional specialty concerned with learning and behavior in relationship to a child’s brain. A pediatric neuropsychologist is a licensed psychologist with expertise in how learni...
Can Overwhelmed Students Achieve Work-Life Balance?
Last week, I had a meal at one of my favorite Italian restaurants. The food there is simplicity at its best; the chefs use straightforward, focused ingredients to create one delicious dish in which you can taste every hint of flavor. Everything on the plate has a purpose, and there are no frills- just good, tasty food. The ability to create a menu in which all element...
Psychological Testing for Your Child: Who Benefits and Why?
It’s not easy having a child who struggles in school. Finding help for your child can be difficult, especially when you aren’t sure what is available in school or exactly what type of help is needed. In Part One of this series, the special education* process was introduced, including who can make a referral (parents, school staff, outside service providers, administra...
Online Executive Function Coaching: A View Behind the Scenes
Every week, we open emails from parents and students who are thrilled with their outcomes from coaching. Last month on our blog, we shared one mom's heartfelt thanks to her son's coach, Samantha (Sam) Raimondi. Sam coached Mark (not his actual name) via Skype for a few weeks during his fall semester of his sophomore year in college. By the time Mark began online coach...
How Executive Function Coaches Integrate Neuropsychological Reports
Parents often bring their children for neuropsychological testing to relieve some of the head-scratching that often comes along with having a child with weak Executive Function skills. They hope that their confusion will transform into some specific guidance as to how to best support their child. So, it can be quite a surprise when more questions arise after the testi...
The Top 3 Executive Function Apps in My Coaching Toolbox
“What are good apps I should get for my phone?”
4 Tips For Building Strong Relationships & Self Regulation In Kids
Unless we happen to be hosting all the relatives for the weekend, I imagine that all of us have time to look up from our computers and greet our family members when they walk through the door and take a moment to check in. Of course, parents often complain that kids won’t talk about their day anyway. Parents offer the following familiar scenario:
Partnering with Parents: Finding Personal Growth at Summer Camp
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Candy Cohn, Assistant Director of Maine Arts Camp, an overnight camp for 9-16 year old boys and girls in a non-competitive, nurturing environment. Located on Unity College’s campus, the program focuses on visual & performing arts, technology and individual/lifetime sports. Please read Candy's full bio below.
How to Succeed in School by Partnering With Video Games
Like many other parents during the holiday season, I recently found myself in a store purchasing a video game that I did not wholeheartedly want to buy, but that someone on my list so desperately wanted. The sales counter in this particular store provides a glimpse into the range of emotions this popular pastime generates. There were the eager eyes just high enough to...
Effective Treatments for Emotional Regulation in Children
Editor's note: This week, we welcome guest blogger Sarah Trosper Olivo, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and the co-founder of City and Country CBT, located in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Westchester, NY. Please read her complete bio below. “He’s acting out so much with school work that it’s almost not worth the struggle. I’m exhausted!” “She’s managing her study hab...
Working Memory: Take Note of Your Child’s Challenges
What do these activities have in common? Participating in a lively conversation with one or more people Mentally comparing prices for 2 different brands and sizes of breakfast cereal Taking notes during a lecture If you noticed the spoiler title of this post, you probably said “They all involve using working memory.” But what makes working memory an important factor i...
Overcoming the Challenges of ADHD: A Success Story
At the age of 30, Daniel Koh's achievements would pluck a chord of envy in professionals twice his age. The highlights of Daniel’s résumé include stints as Chief of Staff to Arianna Huffington, General Manager of HuffPost Live, and advisor to beloved former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. The press has noted his ascent; Daniel has been featured in the “30 under 30” list b...
Top 10 Ways for Overcoming Test Anxiety
Test-taking can rattle even the smoothest student. Kids can feel like they’re heading into a vast unknown, hostile territory when they walk into the classroom and face that exam. Before your child gets all Ernest Shackleton on you, assure him or her that there are ways to tame that test anxiety and “show what you know”. This week, we consulted with two top learning ex...
Can Homework Battles Become History?
We all feel the need to be there for our kids. We want to spare them emotional and psychological pain. We step in as tutors, counselors, teachers, police, chief cooks, and bottle washers. Anything, no, everything our kids need remedied, we do our best to fix. As parents, we have an unending desire, an un-qualifying need to make things better for our children. We promi...
Planning for Test Prep Success: SAT, ACT, AP, Oh My!
Editor's note: This week, we welcome guest blogger Ben Sexton, founder of Sexton Test Prep and Tutoring, located in Wellesley, MA. Please read his complete bio below.
6 Stages of Behavior Change: Which Stage is Your Child in Today?
As parents, we wish that our influence or our authority could always result in instant and lasting changes to our children’s behavior or outlook. Sometimes, real changes, the kind of changes that matter and create lasting habits, are changes that our children see a need for, initiate, and make their own. Other times, children need a coach to help guide them through th...
Does Your Child Need a Special Education Evaluation?
Special education and the process of school evaluations can be a tricky and confusing experience for parents. It seems like a whole different language- with a ton of new acronyms, frequently discussed legislation, and those stories on the news about the rising incidences of various childhood health problems, it can be hard to understand the process, even while going t...
Steps to Writing a Paper: Tracking Quotes
About a month ago I attended a relative’s 60th birthday party where many guests brought delicious homemade items. In true party-goer spirit I proceeded to try nearly every dish on the table, often discussing with the chefs how they were made. Four days later I was standing in aisle 9 at my nearest grocery store, thinking back to the delicious items I’d sampled and fee...
5 Tips to Help Your Child Cooperate With Chores
Editor's note: This week, we welcome guest blogger Dr. Nicole Robinson, a pediatric neuropsychologist serving children, adolescents and families in the New York and New Jersey areas through her Staten Island based private practice. Read her complete bio below.
5 Strategies to Conquer the Pitfalls of Procrastination
Procrastination is an age-old struggle, dating to well before the clichéd advice of Benjamin Franklin: “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” And while none of us can refute that Ben was a pretty smart guy, I, myself, have always found it easier to identify with Gone With the Wind heroine Scarlett O’Hara, as she laments “I can’t think about that right n...
What Factors Influence Executive Function Development?
Content updated on August 30, 2023. Parents often ask us about their children’s Executive Function development. Is my child on track with her peers? Is it unusual that a 4th grader has a poor sense of time? Will my son manage his emotions better by the time he gets to high school? The short answer is that each child develops Executive Function skills on his or her own...
A Vicious Cycle Feeds Lack of Motivation in Children
Have you ever seen kids give up and lose their interest in school? Is it laziness, lack of motivation, or is there more to the story? These children might be adept in many areas outside of school, but they have checked out of academics despite their potential to be successful students.
How Academic Coaching Helped a Student Overcome Resistance to Change
Families sometimes ask how we help students who are resistant to changing their work habits. The simple answer is by gentle guidance, not an iron fist. In truth, each resistant child is unique, so academic coaches tailor their approaches based on that individual child. The best way to illustrate our methods in action is through a case study of a real student. The name...
Executive Function Skills Help Students Transition to High School
Did you know that nationwide, more students are held back in 9th grade than in any other grade in school? (Source: betterhighschools.org) Even when your child is not at risk of being held back, this statistic highlights the differences between middle school and high school expectations. Too often, we see students who are unprepared for the pace and rigor of high schoo...
An Academic Coach is Always Learning
I was recently matched with a student, but my excitement about getting started with a new client was tempered with a bit of confusion and, frankly, frustration. There were multiple delays as I tried to schedule our first coaching session; either I received messages cancelling at the last minute or my emails and voicemails languished unanswered for days.
A Speech-Language Pathologist's Approach to Academic Coaching
Have you ever given your child a direction that is met with a blank stare or an excessive delay before he or she follows it? Does it happen even after you make sure that the Candy Crush game is put away and you have your child's undivided attention? It might not be that he or she is ignoring your request; it may actually be a reflection of your child's ability to proc...
Know the Score on SSAT Scoring: What is a Good Score on the SSAT?
Editor's note: This week, our guest blogger is Alexis Avila, founder of Prepped & Polished, a tutoring and test preparation company in Natick, MA. Please read his complete bio at the end of this article. The Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) is the required entrance exam that leads to enrollment in some of the world’s best independent schools. It is undoubted...
Academic Coaching Tip: Active Reading Strategies for Summer Reading
School's out for the summer. Students and parents are yearning for the chance to kick back and relax. And what do schools do? Assign summer reading! Children balk and parents dread the ongoing battle to get their son or daughter to pick up a book. Many will say, “My child learns just as much from experiencing life outside of school by traveling, going to camp, or spen...
Academic Coaching Tip: Reflect on Academic Performance
The school bus door closes on another academic year and your child’s report card and teachers’ comments are in hand. Before they get swept aside under bills and junk mail (or before they are neatly filed away), now is the perfect time to carve out some quiet 1:1 time with your child to reflect on his or her academic performance in the past 9+ months of school. In acad...
Summer Strategies to Improve Your Child’s Executive Function Skills
So, the kids are done with school and are intent on swimming, hanging out with friends, playing video games, and delaying their summer reading until the last possible moment in August. As a parent, you know that they need this time to recharge after a hectic school year. Yet something keeps nagging at you. That little voice in your head rudely interrupts as you apply ...
Values Based Parenting: Guideposts for Choices
What’s the difference between A and B in the following statements? A: Raise your hand if you want to talk in class. B: Every student needs a chance to contribute and be heard because every voice matters. A: No talking in the hallways. B: We respect others’ learning time by being quiet in the hallways.
Study Tips for Finals: 4 Steps to an Effective Game Plan
The scent of June’s peonies in the air brings the promise of blissful interludes at the beach for our students. But hold on. Keep the cap on the Coppertone for now. Preparing for final exams is now top priority for our weary scholars. “No mas!” a sophomore exclaims. “How the heck am I supposed to get ready for 5 exams in the next few days?” “Planning,” we say, all coo...
Test Prep Tips for Success: Studying for Finals
The last time I broke out into hives was when a new student I was working with said she was “looking over her notes” to prepare for an upcoming exam. You see, that passive eyeball approach is up at the top of an academic coaches’ list of What Not To Do When Studying For Finals. In between scratching (due to my allergy to ineffective study habits), I explained to my st...
How to Write a Paper: Write the Introduction Last
In 2000, there were two trailers for the movie Cast Away that were released, one of which I’ve linked here. In it you learn the entire plot of the film: a man gets on a plane, the plane crashes, the man is stranded on an island long enough to sport an impressive tan and facial hair, and he eventually makes it home after friends and loved ones have had a funeral for hi...
Helping Forgetful Kids: The Case of the Mislaid Novel
“Mom, where’s my backpack?” “Mom, I can’t find my favorite shirt!” “Mom, can you help me re-attach my head? It fell off again.” Chances are, you’ve heard variations on the first two statements, and have probably imagined the third at some point. (Of course, if you’ve actually heard #3 above, you may be reading the wrong blog. Just sayin’...) Our adult lives are hectic...
The Secret to Better Study Habits: Understanding Behavior Change
This week, we have the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Janice Prochaska, president and CEO of Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc., and a renowned researcher in the field of social work (please read her full bio below). She and her husband Dr. James Prochaska are leaders in the science of behavior change. As Executive Function coaches, we apply the Prochaskas’ research abou...
Can Electronic Media Impact Your Teenager's Brain?
NPR’s Fresh Air featured an article and interview with neuroscientist Dr. Frances Jensen a while back entitled “Why Teens Are Impulsive, Addiction-Prone And Should Protect Their Brains”. Within this discussion, we learn that while the frontal lobe brain structures in teens are “built”, they are far from fully-formed. These structures are the parts of the brain that co...
Transition from High School to College: Time Management is Key
Congratulations! Your son or daughter has officially been accepted to The University of All Universities. While your household spent months focusing on getting in school, it’s time to shift attention to staying in school. Today we'll share 3 tips for parents to help smooth your child's transition from high school to college.
Executive Function Coaching Benefits Families: A Success Story
I love being an Executive Function coach and find it extremely rewarding. One of my favorite aspects of coaching is working with students of all ages whose needs vary greatly. I particularly enjoy the challenge of working with resistant students who may not yet see the benefit of academic coaching. At times, I have students who may refuse to work with me during a spec...
An Educational Consultant's View on Admissions & Learning Disabilities
Editor’s note: This week, we interview Lori Day, an Educational Consultant in Newburyport, MA. Having worked in academia for her entire career, Lori is well-prepared to serve the needs of her clients. We chatted with her recently about her work with parents, students (with and without learning disabilities), and schools.
Distracted by Technology: Focusing Attention on Homework
Does your child stay up all night doing homework? Is he or she often texting or online while doing homework or studying? Is it possible for students to study and do their homework effectively while being distracted by technology? Is focusing attention on homework really all that important? It’s just homework, right? Welcome to the 21st century. A world filled with dis...
Self-Advocacy: When NOT to Advocate for Your Child
I’d like to begin this post by being very clear: I am not a parent. Therefore, I cannot fully imagine what it might feel like to know your child is struggling with something -- with something you can resolve -- but resisting the impulse to come to the rescue. I am, however, an Executive Function coach and classroom instructor who has seen countless students struggle w...
7 Skills For Life: A Developmental Psychologist's Perspective
This week, we feature an interview with Susan Engel, a developmental psychologist and director of the Program in Teaching at Williams College (read her complete bio below). Her article, 7 Things Every Kid Should Master, was published Sunday, March 8 in the Boston Globe Magazine. While Ms. Engel agrees that measuring a child's academic progress is important, she sugges...
How Do You Know When Your Child Needs an Academic Coach?
Many parents ask us what’s typical adolescent behavior when it comes to how students manage their academic demands. After all, we know that their frontal lobes, the part of the brain that houses executive functions and helps us set and achieve goals, are still a work in progress until at least their mid-twenties or so. We’d expect some rough patches here and there as ...
Can Executive Function Coaching Improve Relationships?
Over the winter break a friend of mine tells me about one of his coworkers, and his story sounds something like this: “I had an important work meeting last month that was scheduled to begin at 9am, sharp. At 9:03 I start pacing a bit because Jackson, my colleague who’s supposed to be presenting with me, hasn’t shown up yet. He texts me at 9:06 saying “running late. st...
Does Your Child Need a Neuropsychological Evaluation?
Editor's note: This week, Dr. Anya Dashevsky is our guest blogger. Dr. Dashevsky is a clinical psychologist in MA with over 15 years of experience working with children and families. Please read her complete bio below.
Academic Goal Setting: Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan
Editor’s note: We hope you enjoy reading this story about how an Executive Function coach practices what she preaches as she encourages her students to use academic goal setting to strengthen their Executive Function skills. Last winter I was standing in line to buy coffee with a fellow coach when he got an alert on his phone reminding him to record an update on his p...
Homework Help: Plan Your Study Breaks
We’ve all been there. A mountain of homework sits in front of your child. He’s feeling overwhelmed. You’re feeling anxious. It seems like he’s barely into the first row of problems on that math worksheet when he asserts his urgent desire to take a break. Before you know it, homework time stretches into dinner time and family time and bedtime. And nobody is having a go...
How to Organize Your College Search
Editor's note: This guest blog article was written by Joan K. Casey, the president and founder of Educational Advocates College Consulting, an educational consulting firm.
Medication Strategies for Students with ADHD
Allow me to set the scene: Alison - a high school student with ADHD - is working on a 5-paragraph essay for a book she was less than thrilled to read. She’s finished the book, we’ve got a solid grasp of the prompt, and now she’s stuck. Casually, I ask her, “How does this book compare to something else you’ve read before?” This leads her to launch into a full-out discu...
Do Your Child’s Academic Strengths Mask Executive Function Deficits?
In my work supporting gifted students, I see many high achieving children who make it to middle school, and sometimes beyond, without exerting significant effort. Their cognitive abilities or remarkable memories put them in the highest reading and math groups, earn them advanced scores on standardized tests, and make completing homework packets a breeze. They often ex...
Studying More Effectively to Achieve Academic Success
This article is going to introduce a simple but powerful principle that can help you study more effectively for any given class or exam and achieve academic success. The principle is called “deliberate practice” and research has shown it to be the key to learning new things and building all types of skills: academic, athletic, musical, and more. But first, let’s addre...
Poor Academic Performance: Beware The Blame Game
As academic coaches, we have a unique opportunity to observe our students’ learning over time, across subject areas, and through a variety of assignments over the span of a school year. We gain insight into what causes students' poor academic performance and teach them tools and strategies to increase their effectiveness. Some of us (myself included) work with student...
Can Smartphones Help Build Executive Function Skills?
With December comes onslaught of holiday advertising that interrupts our favorite TV shows. Smartphone manufacturers have filled much of this coveted airtime with tableaus of super users who seem to float through life efficiently and stress-free. After all, their smartphones do everything for them. Time management, organization and a wide variety of Executive Function...
Developing Emotional Regulation Skills Through Yoga
Editor's note: This week our guest blogger is Hannah Gould M.Ed, RYT, who coordinates the therapeutic yoga program at NESCA. (Please read her full bio below.) Mind-body practices like yoga are ideal for developing emotional regulation skills because to make sense of emotions, both the mind and the body must be involved. Emotions are interpreted and labeled by the mind...
Test Preparation Tips: On the Road to Academic Success
I won’t forget the day I took the road test to earn my license. I’d been (reluctantly) attending three-hour classes on Saturday mornings and cruising around with both my mom and dad (who, by the way, took drastically different approaches to educating me on the nuances of driving). By the time my road test came, I’d felt that I had practiced enough, studied enough, and...
The Superpowers of ADHD: A Psychologist's Perspective
Editor's note: This week our guest blogger is Dr. Janna Koretz, a psychologist in MA, who shares with us her positive outlook on children with ADHD. (Please read her full bio below.) “You’re saying that this kid — my kid — has a superpower?” I sure am. Your child may have been diagnosed with ADHD, but there’s another side to this diagnosis that can be great news, espe...
Getting Organized: Minimizing Clutter In 4 Easy Steps
Clutter, now that school is underway, has had a chance to take hold and start growing at a rapid rate. I’ve been a diligent clutter buster for years. In fact, my husband once bought me a magnet that reads “Organized People Are Too Lazy to Look for Things”, in a playfully teasing nod to my tidy ways. (Maybe you can guess why I need to continue my diligence on the home ...
Planning and Prioritizing: A Moving Story from an Executive Function Coach
On August 17th I walked away from the closing table with a single key in my hand that had “41” written in marker on the keychain. This item would let me into my new home, my FIRST home ever. And with that realization, I began to panic. I spend the majority of my career working with students on their Executive Functioning as it relates to academic success. I often shar...
Academic Coaching in Action: Transforming Disorganized Students
As academic coaches, our goal is to teach students how to study and to provide them with tools, strategies and Executive Function support. This particular story is not necessarily one that happens with every student, but it demonstrates the power of coaching combined with a student who is open and willing to learning new ways to manage to their academic demands. As th...
Executive Functions 101: Organizing a Messy Desk
Katie is an exuberant 4th grader with enormous creativity, boundless energy, and a school desk that gives chaos a bad name. You may have witnessed your child's messy school desk firsthand. When you show up at school on Parent Night, you know immediately where your child’s desk is without looking at the construction paper name tags scotch-taped on carefully by the teac...
IQ and Executive Function Skills: The Engine and the Fuel
Executive Function skills are self-management skills that help us achieve goals. It’s how we manage our emotions and attention, organize and plan our work and time, and reflect upon and revise our tactics as circumstances change. These skills are critical for meeting the challenges of school demands and later, as an adult, our professional and personal lives.
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What are Executive Function skills?
Executive Function Skills are a set of cognitive skills that help individuals plan ahead, stay organized, regulate thoughts and behaviors, stay focused, and achieve their goals. Each of these skills can be taught, learned, and applied at any stage of life.
- Time Management
- Maintained Focus
- Task Initiation
- Stress Management
- Organization
- Prioritization