Executive Functioning Tips: Supporting Goal-Oriented Behavior and Planning
How are you able to get a million things done in the morning and still get everyone out the door on time? If you need to have dinner ready by six, how do you know when to turn the oven on and take the ingredients out of the fridge? The cognitive processes we use to plan, organize, and complete tasks are called executive functioning skills, and they’re so routine that you may not realize they’re occurring. But if one piece of the puzzle falls out of place, everyday tasks can become big challenges. You can learn more about executive functioning skills in our last post.
Kids who struggle with executive functioning skills might have trouble completing and turning in assignments on time or following multi-step directions. This week, we’re sharing tips to help kids learn how to set, plan, and meet goals. First, it’s important to understand the steps we take (often subconsciously) to help us accomplish goals.
What Our Brains Do to Help Us Accomplish a Goal
Picture the end result
Know the steps you need to take to achieve the result
Identify and gather materials needed
Estimate how much time you need to complete each step
Adjust your plan if needed
Check/monitor your work
If your kid seems to be getting bogged down in this process, what can you do to help?
Model Goal-Oriented Self-Talk
Kids (even teens!) learn a lot by watching their parents. Because executive functioning is primarily an internal process, you can externalize it through “self-talk:” verbalizing each step of the process that normally takes place in your head. Use this modeling strategy as often as you can, for any multi-step task you have. Here’s an example of how this might look:
Picture the end result: “Your aunt and uncle and cousins are coming over on Saturday, and I want the house to be sparklingly clean.”
Know the steps you need to take to achieve the result: “That means I need to clean the guest bathroom, wipe the kitchen counters, declutter the living room, and sweep the floor.”
Identify and gather the materials: “I’m going to put the cleaner and scrub brush in the cleaning bucket and get the broom out of the closet.”
Estimate how much time you need to complete each step*: “The living room’s a real mess so this will probably take me a few hours. We’re busy Friday, so I’m going to start this Thursday afternoon.” *Note: Time-awareness can be a big challenge for kids who struggle with executive functioning skills. Stay tuned for specific tips to support this skill next week.
Adjust your plan if needed: “When I was wiping the counters I realized the stove had some spills so I went ahead and cleaned it. I didn’t have time to sweep, but you can help me do that before they get here on Saturday.”
Check/monitor your work: “The bathroom and kitchen look great. The living room still looks a little cluttered. I’m going to move the rest of those books off the coffee table.”
Help Your Child with the Process - Don’t Executive Function for Them
When your child has an assignment or task to complete, it is tempting to tell them each step they need to take and when they need to do it. This may result in completion of the task, but it will not help them be more independent next time. Even strategies like using a planner to organize their assignments can be counterproductive if someone breaks it all down for them and they just copy the plan someone else made. Instead, try to walk them through the process outlined above. Here’s how this might look:
Picture the end result: “I see you have a poster due for science class next week. What are you thinking it might look like?”
Know the steps you need to take to achieve the result: “What do you think you’ll need to do first? Then what?”
Identify and gather the materials: “What art supplies are you planning to use? Where is that?”
Estimate how much time you need to complete each step: “It sounds like you have big plans for this project! I wonder when you should start?”
Adjust your plan if needed: “I didn’t realize we were out of glitter glue either. I wonder what you could use instead?”
Check/monitor your work: “What do you like about how your poster turned out? Is there anything you would fix or do differently?”
Reduce Support Gradually
When teaching any skill, the ultimate goal is for the student to eventually complete it independently. As your child becomes used to this process, begin to gradually reduce your reminders and support. Remember that this is a fluid process and you may need to increase support if you feel like they are skipping steps or if the complexity of tasks increases.
Stay tuned next week for tips for developing time awareness and time management!
If you think executive functioning skills may be impacting your child’s academic performance, communication, or social skills visit our Evaluation Hub or contact us at tpeadmin@truepotentialed.com or (515)218-8445 to schedule an evaluation.
