Behavior Byte: Executive Functioning Skills Help Students Every Day In & Outside of the Classroom

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. For children with learning and social differences, executive functioning skills are necessary components of any curriculum. There are many ways to practice and incorporate executive functioning skills into your home here are some examples for each category:

Planning: Create a list of goals for the day or week. What will you accomplish independently or together?

Time Management: Incorporate a timer for completing tasks/chores at home, screen time, time outside, etc.

Working Memory: Once you’ve given instructions to your child, you can ask them to repeat the instructions or directions to that task out loud.

Self-Control: Encourage your child to practice patience while waiting for something they want.

Perseverance: Help your child work through a task even if they have hit a roadblock.

Organization: Clean things up as you go, make sure toys or projects are clean and put away before moving on to the next tasks. Everything you take out should be put back in its place.

Task Initiation: Avoid procrastination and stick to your schedule. If you agree a chore or project should start at 12 then it should start on time.

Metacognition: Challenge your child to think and think critically. Ask them questions about their work. It’s not just about completing the work, it's about knowing why it works and applying it to other scenarios. Get involved in your child’s homework or projects.

Attention: Avoiding distractions can be hard. If you minimize distractions and allow your child to focus on the task at hand, it’s easier for them to stay focused. Avoid common triggers and distractions when doing less desired activities like homework or chores.

Flexibility: When a situation doesn’t go the way they plan, they can adjust their way of thinking and try something new. Avoid getting “rock brain” and have a flexible way of thinking. Creative problem solving is something you can encourage during homework!

Here are some examples of how it can be incorporated at school:

Reinforcing executing functioning skills at home will carry over positive skills into the classroom. Thank you to our BCBA, Tyler Bond, for providing this helpful information on executive functioning skills! You can also check out this helpful blog for more information about executive functioning skills https://www.thepathway2success.com/executive-functioning-skills/

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