What exactly is executive functioning?
Executive functions are a set of brain-based skills we use in every day life.
“Executive functioning” describes a person’s strengths and weaknesses in the following areas:
Sustained attention
Planning
Self-monitoring
Task initiation
Prioritizing
Organization
Flexibility
Impulse control
Working memory
Emotional control
These fundamental skills are required for just about everything a child needs to negotiate the typical demands of childhood in school, at home and with friends. Success in using executive function skills is crucial to success in life.
As Peg Dawson of Smart But Scattered, describes:
“When all goes as planned, beginning in early childhood, we come up with ideas for things we want or need to do, plan or organize the task, squelch thoughts or feelings that interfere with our plans, cheer ourselves on, keep the goal in mind even when obstacles, distractions, or temptations arise, change course as the situation requires, and persist with our efforts until the goal is achieved. This may be as time limited as completing a 10-piece puzzle or as extensive as remodeling our house. Whether we’re 3 years old or 30, we use the same set of brain-based skills to help us reach our goal.”
How do executive functions develop?
Executive functioning skills are developed in the frontal lobes of the brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex. At birth, we are born with the innate capacity to learn and improve these skills. But the skills themselves develop through practice and experience in a complex and gradual process beginning in infancy and ending in early adulthood. As with other developmental milestones, there is some normal variability in the time at which children reach executive functioning milestones.
Believe it or not, everyone has strengths and weaknesses in their executive function profile.
But some children experience greater-than-normal challenges or delays related to their executive function skills.
Here’s why:
Why does my child struggle with executive functioning?
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Some children are just “late bloomers” whose EF strengths and weaknesses are perfectly normal developmental variations. Other times, a child's EF skill deficit can be due to intellectual disabilities, struggles with physical or mental health, or learning differences such as ADHD.
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Environmental factors play a vital role in shaping executive functioning skills. Enriching early childhood experiences, responsive caregiving, structured routines, balanced nutrition, and positive peer interactions contribute to skill development. Conversely, modern-day trends such as overscheduling, helicopter parenting and excessive screen time can hinder EF progress.
MYTH:
Parents should use discipline and “tough love” to help improve their child’s EF skills.
MYTH:
A child struggling with EF skills is not smart.
Why EF coaching?
While it’s true that some learners organically acquire executive functioning skills at home, through interactions with peers, or as part of the hidden curriculum… many learners do not.
Oftentimes, strengthening executive functioning skills requires direct instruction and explicit support just like learning geometry or any other academic subject.
Kids who are struggling to get organized, stay focused, plan ahead and solve problems independently are not lazy or unmotivated. They simply don’t have the skills they need to succeed.