Have you heard about Executive Functioning skills? Hopefully? But if not, let's talk about why you should care about these important skills and why these skills have the potential to determine how well your child succeeds in their relationships, in their academic performance, and in their future work. Pretty important stuff, right?
So let's take a look at what is meant by executive function skills. But first, we have to understand a little about brain development.
Executive function skills develop in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. The prefrontal cortex is often referred to as the CEO, or the manager of the brain. It's that part of the brain that manages our attention, our emotions, and our behavior in order to reach our goals. We can also think of the prefrontal cortex as our "thinking brain." Whereas the development of this part of the brain begins in infancy, it really starts to come "on line" at approximately preschool age and does not fully mature until our early 20s!
So what are these executive function skills? Basically they include, inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and focus and attention. These skills help us remember the information we need to complete a task, filter distractions, resist inappropriate or non-productive impulses, and sustain attention during a particular activity. We use them to asses our progress along the way, and adjust the plan if necessary, while managing frustrations so we don't act on them. So as I said, important skills to have! These skills provide critical supports for learning and development.
Our kids are not born with executive function skills, but with the potential to develop them. This is where parents come in. Parents play an important role in supporting the development of these skills. It's a slow process that begins in infancy and continues into early adulthood.
In the next several posts, I'll break down each of the skills - inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and focus and attention - and give some suggestions on what parents can do to promote the development of these skills.
For more information on executive functioning, check out this short video Executive Functions: Skills For Life and Learning.
