Working on Executive Functions with your elementary aged child can pay big dividends in middle and high school.

Often times a weakness in Executive Functions skills does not rear its (disorganized) head until a child is in middle or high school. Many students amble on through elementary school with an occasional late or a few missing assignments. Messy backpacks are chalked up to no time to clean it. And poorest grades are blamed on not studying.

Elementary teachers are known to be positive and encouraging and perhaps to a fault generous in their extension of grace, allowing for great flexibility with due dates and multiple test retake opportunities. So the real consequences of poor study habits often do not surface until the students move into deeper waters and swim with the sharks who are middle and high school teachers, teacher who are managing due dates and grading for multiple classes and possibly hundreds of students! They will bite back and their grading policy – or adherence to it – exposes any weak study habits.

What exactly are Executive Functions? Essentially they are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. We wrote about them previously here.

What a weakness might look like

A parent can start to see weaknesses in executive functioning before school even begins. The excellent website Understood has a list of possible behaviors a parent may see in their young child:

• trouble starting and completing tasks

• difficulty prioritizing

• trouble following directions, especially multi-step ones

• difficulty switching from one activity to another

• hard time keeping track of their belongings

• trouble managing their time

Do any of these behaviors look familiar? If so, Additude provides a free online executive functions screening test you can complete with your child. This will give you some data that you can use to help your child.

Strategies to help develop executive functions

There is a good news – bad news arrangement. The bad news is that people are not born with fully functioning executive functions. Most are not fully developed until a person reaches their early 20s. The good news is that they can be taught and developed! The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard has some great information on how to develop these skills in your child at different ages.

We suggest focusing on your elementary aged child. Anyone who has had the pleasure of living with a middle school or high school aged child knows they may not be the most open to suggestions when it comes to their study habits; ironically, those who need it most tend to be the most resistant. Get to them while they are young, still relatively sweet, and coachable.

It is important to note that a weakness in executive functions is not a diagnosis of a learning disability. However, many students with a learning disability may also struggle with executive functions, especially those with ADHD.

Here’s how a parent can help:

Use checklists

Creating a checklist for the morning (or even night-before) routine can help your child start the day with everything they need. Place the list in a place your child will look every day such as in the kitchen. The list may include: lunch packed, homework in folder, laptop charged and in backpack, any sports equipment ready.

Don’t be afraid to use multiple checklists. One can be attached to a backpack or taped inside a locker – if they have one – for the end of the school day. This list may include: homework paper(s), any books or text books needed, study guides for any tests, and the laptop and charger.

Use a planner

When schools moved to digital learning, providing each student with a laptop, many students felt like a planner was not necessary. The common refrain when asked what a student has due is, “It’s all right here,” with the student pointing to the laptop screen. However, depending on the school and the teachers, a student may have to navigate to multiple websites and platforms to find the necessary information. In short the homework assignments are not right there!

These same students are also the ones with multiple missing and or late assignments. Hence, the need for a planner to have everything all in one place. Using a physical planner allows a student to “see” their week and plan homework time and study sessions around other obligations such as sports or family events.

Establish a routine

Humans thrive on routine. The last time we checked, students are human beings, at least most of the time! Similar to having multiple checklists, establishing morning routines and after school routines is important to set your child up for success. Research points to the fact that students who have a consistent homework time and place each day tend to do better than those who do not follow a schedule. Examine your child’s after school schedule and help him identify when he can complete his homework and where. Hopefully there is a distraction-free area in the home your child can retreat to. Consistency is the key.

Break bigger assignments down into smaller steps

Using the planner discussed above, help your child break bigger assignments down into smaller, more manageable steps. Establish clear deadlines for each of the smaller steps and write them in the planner. In theory this reduces stress and anxiety and as the due date arrives, the assignment is (hopefully) complete and ready to turn in.

Use self-reflection to help student take ownership of new skills

None of these executive functions skills are any good unless your child learns them AND continues to use them. One way to make these skills “stick” is to have your child create a journal. In it they can discuss the strategy they learned and how it has benefited them. The goal, of course, is for your child to take ownership of their learning and for them to figure out what tools and strategies work best for them.

A final word

Addressing Executive Functions skills while your children are in elementary school will benefit them as they move through middle school, high school, and eventually college. These are skills that can be taught. Parents can use the classic strategy of I do, we do, you do to help your child master these critical executive functions skills.

If you believe your child is struggling with their Executive Functions, please contact Jennifer Disch at Engage the Brain to learn how an Executive Functions Coach can assist your child.