We have many resources and tools to grow executive functioning skills in functional tasks and learning. Explore the executive functioning blog posts below.

Some tools to support and grow executive functioning skills involve breaking down tasks into the components of executive functioning. By that I mean that you’ll want to focus on the specific executive functions that allow us to pay attention to instructions, plan out a task, and then recall how and why we are doing things, and then maintain the impulse control in order to sustain use of our existing skills in completing the task.

I love to provide students with specific tools to grow and nurture each of these executive functions.

We have resources and activities for the different executive functioning skills on different blog posts on this site, but one way to grow these areas is by focusing on one task and then developing tools for each aspect of that task.

For example, take on common struggle: writing down homework assignments and completing them when they are due, while managing the organization needed for the materials. You can try other tips for organizing a backpack that can help, too.

This is a common challenge for students with executive functioning that is below that of their peers. We know that executive functioning skills don’t fully develop until the early 30’s, so asking a teenager to utilize mature executive functioning skills requires tricks and practice. We can make it part of their routine rather than asking them to complete tasks on a whim with mature executive functioning.

Let’s look at the tools we can use to grow the skills needed for our homework example.

The student needs to write down their homework assignment during a busy classroom, possibly when there is a lot of other commotion going on. It seems like this is more of a challenge than it used to be because of the
deceives like tablets, laptops that students use now, versus the old-fashioned paper planners that they could quickly write on and then tuck into their backpacks. Now, jotting down an assignment means pulling up a notes app or opening another program on the device. It’s not as easy for students to quickly jot down page numbers for their math homework.

We see students that believe they can remember the homework or think they can write it down when they open their laptop in their next class, but that just doesn’t happen. The attention and the distraction of this
age means that the assignment is gone form their minds by the time they get that device opened back up again.

Tools to grow these skills include: using a post it note to quickly write down the assignment. This can support impulse control, attention, working memory, and organization skills.

Next, we have the home aspect. The student might not bring home all of the materials needed for the assignment. They might be left in the locker or lost somewhere along the way from school to home. We might see missing books, missing worksheets a forgotten device, or other materials that are missing or left at school. This involves organization skills, working memory, attention to detail, and impulse control.

Tools to grow this aspect might be using a check in before the student leaves school for the day. They might have a check in process in their locker in the way of a check list. You can practice this by assigning your student “homework” where they need to take home a piece of paper and bring it back to school the next day. Continue with this practice for a week so that they process of checking to make sure they have that slip of paper both in the morning and in the afternoon becomes part of the routine. 

Be sure to check out all of our strategies to grow executive functioning skills by clicking through the blog posts on executive functioning skills…