Have you ever told your child to start their homework, only to find them 20 minutes later staring at a blank page? Or maybe you’ve asked them to clean their room, but when you check back, they’ve lost focus and started something else? Perhaps you’ve noticed that no matter how many times you remind them what time you’re leaving, they still seem caught off guard when it’s time to go? These everyday struggles might not be about motivation or effort, but rather difficulties with executive functioning skills. These "hidden keys” to learning help children manage their time, stay organized, and follow through on tasks. When executive functioning skills are underdeveloped, even the smartest kids can struggle to meet expectations both at home and in school.
Many people believe that academic success is primarily dependent upon intelligence or natural talent, but there’s another set of skills that are often overlooked: executive functioning. Executive functioning skills help students manage their time, stay organized, and adapt to challenges. While intelligence can help with understanding concepts, it is executive functioning that enables students to apply knowledge effectively, complete assignments on time, and thrive in the structure of a school environment.
Executive functioning (EF) skills serve as the brain’s control hub, essential for planning, self-monitoring, and completing daily tasks effectively. As Tera Sumpter, an EF expert, points out, “Executive function does not function alone!” EF regulates just about all other cognitive processes, from completing homework assignments on time and following multi-step directions in class to staying calm during challenging conversations and adjusting plans when unexpected changes arise. Executive function skills begin to develop shortly after birth, with rapid growth occurring between ages three to five, but they continue to develop into the mid-late twenties.
Most experts view executive function as a broad group of skills, all of which can be impacted by inhibitory control (the ability to manage impulses and resist distractions), working memory (the capacity to hold and manipulate information in mind), and cognitive flexibility (being able to adapt to new tasks and perspectives).
Task initiation is the ability to plan for a task and begin that task without undue procrastination. It is the ability to get to work once a plan is established and to engage in the appropriate actions to follow through.
Time management is estimating how much time is needed for tasks and allocating that time effectively. This requires an understanding of the passage of time- truly an abstract concept! The time horizon is how far into the future children can anticipate, and like much else, this is developmental. Three- to five-year-olds can anticipate five to twenty minutes into the future. Kindergarteners through second graders are able to anticipate several hours into the future. For third through sixth graders, their time horizon is anywhere from eight to twelve hours. From sixth grade through the end of high school, the time horizon expands to two to three days.
Organization encompasses the ability to keep track of materials, assignments, and deadlines within a certain space and timeline. Organization moves beyond the typical understanding of putting the right paper in the right folder; instead, it encompasses the organization of abstract understandings such as time and language. Organization requires students to anticipate future activities and plan for tasks in a space different from where they currently are. Further, organization of language, both oral and written, can be impacted by EF, since these skills help us to plan, structure, and sequence thoughts.
Sustained attention is the capacity to focus on a task for an extended period. Persistence is the determination to continue working towards a goal despite challenges. Together, these skills help children remain engaged in learning activities and overcome distractions.
Metacognition, or thinking about one’s own thinking, enables children to monitor and reflect on their problem-solving processes. This self-awareness allows them to assess their strategies, identify obstacles, and make necessary adjustments. Key aspects of metacognition include: situational awareness, or the ability to read social cues, which helps children interact appropriately with others; flexible shifting, which allows children to switch focus between tasks in a dynamic learning environment; and ongoing monitoring, which helps them assess if they’re on track to meet their goals and allows for performance modification as necessary.
Nonverbal working memory is a foundational element of executive functions. It supports the development of verbal working memory, which is crucial for tasks like following multi-step instructions, increasing self-talk and task planning. Enhancing nonverbal working memory can lead to improved overall executive function skills.
Encouraging children to engage in self-talk—talking through their thoughts and processes—can strengthen their metacognitive abilities. Additionally, teaching effective task-planning skills helps children break down complex assignments into manageable steps, fostering a sense of control and accomplishment.
Homework completion can be a great time to practice and reinforce executive functioning skills. Always check the student planner for homework assignments. Before beginning one particular assignment, have your son estimate how long it will take him to complete the assignment. Using an analog clock and a dry-erase marker, indicate that time on the clock face. This process helps children to build up their understanding of time and their understanding of how long assignments will take to complete, which in turn supports metacognition (awareness of strengths and areas of difficulty). During the assignment, if your son is getting distracted, you can use prompts, along with the visual of the clock to ask, “Where is your focus?”, “Is that important right now?”, “Where should your focus be?” and, pointing to the clock, “What’s stealing your time right now?” These prompts reflect awareness back to the student’s own actions or cognition in order to build self-regulation skills. Sarah Ward and Kristen Jacobsen of Cognitive Connections, LLP call this strategy the Declarative Question Cue whereas Tera Sumpter refers to it as Reflexive Questioning. Ultimately this strategy, no matter the name, helps students reflect metacognitively, and switch from one cognitive task back to their homework assignment.
Additionally, it is helpful to have a designated space for homework at home. This space should have all the needed supplies for successful homework completion (i.e. crayons, markers, pencils, pencil sharpener, scissors, analog clock, iPad or computer charger). While making sure that your homework station is fully “stocked,” you should also make sure that it does not give too much visual stimulation or distraction. A good tip is to purchase a cardboard trifold often associated with science fair presentations. These can serve to minimize distractions from around the environment and provide a cue that, when it comes out, it is time to complete homework.
Executive functioning skills are not just needed at homework time. They impact all aspects of our lives. Providing visuals around the house is a great way to support developing executive functioning skills especially in order to activate the nonverbal working memory and getting that to transition to verbal working memory and self-talk. How often have you said, “Clean your room!” only to come back two hours later to the same mess? Instead, have a visual image of the clean room and “feature block” or draw a box around the important aspects (i.e. a made bed, toys off the floor, books on the shelf, dirty clothes in the hamper). This can go for the living room, play room, or kitchen to help support students as they learn what it means to “clean their room.” Before asking them to complete a task, show them what the completed task looks like. Ask them to tell you a plan that they will take to complete the task. Prompting them to gesture or point, as they describe their plan will help to transfer the process from the non-verbal working memory to verbal working memory.
Visuals can also support routines. In the morning, before school, provide a picture of the student all dressed and ready to go to school. Feature block the important aspects (i.e., book bag, dress code, neat hair, school shoes, materials they need for after school). While they are eating breakfast, have them tell you their plan for getting ready. At this point, the child is in the kitchen, planning for what it will look like to get ready, which will occur in another area of the house. Ask them to be specific about their plan, and perhaps even gesture with their pointer finger (or spoon - between bites!) about the route they will take and where important things are located. For example we’d want the talk to sound something like, “First, I’m going to go upstairs into my room. I’m going to get school clothes out of my bottom left drawer. After I get dressed, I’ll need clean socks from my top right drawer. Then, I’ll go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. My toothbrush is in the mirror cabinet. After my teeth are brushed, I’ll get the comb and brush my hair.” By starting with the picture of the student, we activate the nonverbal working memory. By asking them to show and tell their plan for getting ready, we move into verbal working memory, increase self-talk, and have them pre-imagine what getting ready looks and feels like. All of these factors help to build strong executive functioning skills.
Executive functioning isn’t just about visual cues and prompts though. Some of these skills can be practiced through family game night! Here is a list of popular games that target specific EF skills. Whether it’s self-control, planning, or working memory, these games provide practice in various components of executive function:
- Blurt – Focuses on self-control and metacognition as players think before they speak.
- Distraction – Challenges working memory and attention as players try to keep information in mind while distractions are added.
- Jenga – Strengthens self-control , flexibility , and planning with each careful block removal.
Helping students build strong executive functioning skills is essential for growth both in and out of the classroom. These skills lay the foundation for success, helping kids manage challenges, work towards goals, and adapt to change. By nurturing these abilities at home and in school, we give children the tools to become confident, capable learners and problem-solvers.
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