If you’ve ever spent 15 minutes helping your child look for a backpack that “was just here a minute ago,” you’re not alone. Many bright, creative, and quirky kids struggle with organization, planning, and time management, the mental tools we call executive functioning skills.
Supporting twice-exceptional (2e) students, learners who are both gifted and have learning differences, and their executive functioning growth can sometimes be challenging; here are ways families can work together to support their growth.
1. Focus on Strengths, Not Deficits
When a child loses something or forgets a step in a project, it’s easy to slip into frustration. But it helps to remember that executive skills develop gradually and unevenly. Instead of focusing on what’s missing, highlight what is working: persistence, curiosity, creativity. Growth happens faster when kids feel capable, not broken.
2. Collaborate on Small, Achievable Goals
Executive skills don’t develop overnight; they’re built through consistent practice and incremental success.
Try setting one or two goals together, such as:
- “I’ll put my homework folder in my backpack before dinner.”
- “I’ll charge my laptop before I go to bed.”
- “I’ll check my planner every morning before school.”
Celebrate small wins. Progress compounds over time.
3. Create Predictable Routines
Predictability helps kids with executive functioning challenges feel secure and ready to focus.
At school, we found success by starting and ending each class in a consistent way: a brief check-in to start, and a quick reflection or pack-up routine to end. You can do the same at home: morning checklists, evening wind-down routines, or consistent transitions between activities.
4. Learn Together
Executive functioning isn’t just for kids; we all use these skills every day. Talk openly about them as a family. Watch short videos together about time management or organization, or attend a workshop. The more your child sees you practicing these habits, the more they’ll internalize them.
5. Keep Checking In
What works one month might not work the next. Revisit your goals regularly, celebrate growth, and tweak the plan as your child matures. Executive functioning is a lifelong process, not a quick fix.
At the end of the day, supporting executive functioning is about understanding, consistency, and connection. With patience and teamwork, you’ll help your child learn to manage these moments, and maybe even laugh about them along the way.
Abridged from “Herding Cats” by Max Melby
