Does your child struggle with escalating late work, overload and shut down or even meltdowns? Are they able to get re-started when they are stuck?
It’s important to know the developmental age of your child. Kids with executive function problems are often times two years younger developmentally than their chronological age. To help combat this here are a few tips:
What can I do to motivate my child?
- To jumpstart motivation, help your child break things into smaller parts. Large assignments oftentimes are overwhelming, so chunk them and help your child estimate how long each part is going to take and then put them on a calendar so they can see when each piece needs to be done.
What do I do when my child gets behind?
- Help your child prioritize past work. Check to see what work can be submitted for points. Next help them determine the high point activities. Many students with executive function difficulties focus on low point makeup activities and “run out of gas” for the high point makeup assignments.
My bright child is failing; what can I do?
- Many bright children are used to not having to study or review material in order to do well. During hybrid and asynchronous classes when they have to study on their own, they become overwhelmed. Setting up zoom or chat study sessions with friends helps to encourage teens in particular to complete assignments and review for tests.
How do I know where to focus my help for my child?
- Start by reviewing each class with your child to determine where they are losing the most points. Take a look at the number of points assigned to each category such as homework, quizzes, tests or papers. Students often feel that if they do well on tests and quizzes than homework it is not important.
My child says that homework is not important; what can I do?
- Go over how many points the teacher seems to give in each class. In some classes, homework will have as many points as a test or quiz. Help your child estimate the total number of points that the teacher might give. Losing five homework points in a class that typically has 250 points say can have a significant impact on their grade.
If you’d like some more strategies or ideas for your child don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Midwest Educational Therapy and Associates Facebook, YouTube channel and at www.metaoh.
