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Showing posts from April, 2024

Planning: The GPS for Your Life's Journey

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Planning is like having a trusty GPS for your life - it's the Siri to your daily dilemmas, guiding you through the chaos of tasks and goals with the finesse of a seasoned tour guide. Just as you wouldn't embark on a road trip without a map (unless you enjoy spontaneous adventures to unknown destinations!), planning helps you navigate the winding roads of responsibilities and ambitions, ensuring you reach your desired destination with minimal detours and wrong turns. The influence of planning extends far and wide in our daily routines, weaving its way into various scenarios like a stealthy ninja organizing a surprise party. Whether you're meticulously preparing for a research paper like a detective solving a case, strategically planning the best approach to cleaning your house like a general plotting a battle strategy, or organizing the ingredients for a meal like a master chef orchestrating a culinary masterpiece, planning is the unsung hero that keeps the show running smoo...

Assessing Executive Function Skills

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Assessing executive abilities in both yourself and your child is an important exercise that offers insights into shared strengths and weaknesses, as well as areas where differences may arise. Executive skills are essential cognitive capabilities that encompass planning, organizing, time management, sustained attention, cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation, and more. There are numerous free assessments available online to evaluate your Executive Function strengths and weaknesses. Here are a couple of assessments that I find valuable. They all are created by Dr. Peg Dawson and Dr. Richard Guare, esteemed authors of the book Smart But Scattered . I highly recommend exploring this book, as it is a fantastic resource for understanding and improving executive function skills. Remember, even the most organized among us could use a little help navigating the chaos of life! Executive Skills Questionnaire - This one is geared towards adults.  Executive Skills Questionnaire Teachers/P...

The Fantastical World of Task Initiation: Unleash Your Inner Superhero!

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Greetings, esteemed parents and grown-ups! Join us on a whimsical journey as we explore the magical realm of task initiation, sprinkled with humor and a hint of wisdom. Get ready to unleash your inner superhero and dive into the art of starting tasks with flair! Decoding the Mystery of Task Initiation Task initiation is like possessing a superpower that propels you into action without hesitation. It's all about vanquishing the arch-nemesis known as procrastination and charging into tasks, even when the siren song of Netflix beckons. This skill is more precious than a unicorn in a field of rainbows because, let's be real, life is a never-ending parade of chores and tasks that require our attention, whether we like it or not. A Playful Peek at Task Initiation Spotting task initiation skills is as tricky as finding Waldo in a crowd, mainly because it often masquerades as just doing what you're "supposed" to do! Let's add a splash of humor to this serious topic wi...

What Are These Fancy Executive Functioning Skills Anyway?

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Executive Functioning Skills (EFS) are like the bossy bosses in our brains that help us get things done without losing our minds. Imagine them as the secret agents making sure you don't forget your keys or wear your shirt inside out. These skills include planning (the mastermind), organization (the neat freak), time management (the clock whisperer), metacognition (the thinker), working memory (the memory wizard), self-control (the superhero), attention (the focus guru), flexibility (the adaptability champ), and perseverance (the never-give-up trooper). Decoding the Brilliance of Each EF Skill Planning: It's like creating a game plan before you dive into something, making a checklist so you don't end up painting your cat instead of the fence. Organization: Think of it as your brain's Marie Kondo, keeping things tidy and making sure you don't lose your homework under a pile of socks. Task Initiation: The art of not procrastinating, especially when faced with dreade...