Attention is an important skill. It’s the ability that helps us learn new ideas, problem-solve through challenges, and complete important tasks. So often in today’s busy world, it can feel difficult to truly give our full attention where we want it to go. There are lots of reasons why we struggle with attention, but one […]

Microlearning allows kids and young adults to learn bite-sized chunks of information at a time. The idea is for new information to be simple, meaningful, and concise. In turn, microlearning techniques can strengthen understanding of the topics and improve long-term retention. Whether you are an educator, a parent, or a student, the idea of microlearning […]

While executive function and executive functioning skills are strongly related, they are actually different abilities. They each play important roles in helping children, teens, and adults problem-solve and complete goals every day. Understanding the both the differences and how they are related can help educators and parents set the stage for success for our young […]

More recently, there has been a push to fill students’ entire school days with academic instruction. At first glance, this idea sounds solid; we want students to get as much out of their hours in school as they can. However, a completely over-scheduled and packed day misses the mark for middle and high school kids. […]

Executive functioning skills are inherently linked with academic skills. From planning to start writing an essay to managing time on a high stakes assessment, students use executive functioning skills every day in every class. This helps make the clear case that it is important to teach, practice, and foster these skills in the classroom. Making […]

The end of the year is always a great time to reflect on past experiences and reinforce skills you’ve learned along the way. This makes it an ideal time to continue strengthening executive functioning skills like organization, self-control, attention, and perseverance. Let’s face it: Kids and teens use executive functioning skills every day. From planning […]

Executive functioning skills are foundational; they’re the skills that help students plan before beginning a task, stay organized, manage time while working, and problem-solve to achieve goals. These skills are important for all of us at all ages. When it comes to teaching and practicing executive functioning skills with kids, there are many options and […]

Discussions and peer dialogue are powerful evidence-based strategies for kids and teens. While this learning technique can be used with all subject and content areas from reading to mathematics, it’s also worth using for strengthening executive functioning skills. Executive functioning skills are the foundational brain-based skills that help us plan, organize, get started, focus, manage […]