Wildflower Holistic Services - Principal Psychologist Alexandra McCarthy

Back to school season is in full swing, marking the perfect time for our second instalment of our Transition to School Blog series. This week, we’re diving into the role of executive functions in your child's return to the classroom, along with valuable tips to support their executive functions everyday. 

Attending school requires our kids to activate cognitive processes for effective organisation, planning, and time management. These cognitive processes are known as executive functions. Executive functions are mental processes that enable us to plan, focus our attention, and follow tasks. For example, I am going to school today which means I need to pack my bag, put my socks and shoes on, grab my hat and oh it's Wednesday so I need my library book! 

If you have a child who forgets things, gets distracted when following directions e.g. shoes and socks on buddy and you find them with one sock and shoe on and now playing with some lego you haven’t seen them play with for years, is messy and appears disorganised or you just feel like you are constantly repeating yourself well these tips are for you!

Some tips to assist with executive functioning to make the school day a little easier: 

1. Establish Routines: Create consistent daily routines for your child that include specific times for waking up, getting ready for school, homework, meals, and bedtime. During the holidays routines may have been out the window, so bringing them back in will provide structure and predictability, which can help improve executive functioning skills such as planning and time management.

2. Medication: Don’t skip out on medication! ADHD can be considered a disorder of executive dysfunction and medication is actually the first line of treatment for ADHD. For our kids who have prescribed medication, it’s important that they are taking their regular dose as this is what is going to aid in connecting the neural pathways that are crucial for executive functioning. So instead of our neural pathways taking a path of their own eg. going from putting socks and shoes on to then deciding to play on their ipad, with socks and shoes half finished, the medication aids in connecting the neural pathways that talk to each other to assist with task completion and minimise distractions. Specifically for our kids with AD/HD having their medication is going to support these neural connections, helping them to complete tasks, organise and plan, and remain focused and calm at school.

3. Use Visual Supports/Aids: Visual supports such as charts and checklists break down tasks into smaller manageable steps and provide a visual representation of the tasks that need to be completed. Preparing this for the morning of school might involve the following steps; go to the toilet, make your bed, eat your breakfast, brush your teeth, get dressed, shoes on, bag ready. This assists with executive functioning skills like planning and organisation as your child will know the steps they need to complete to be ready for school in advance. Timers or alarms are also a great way to help your child stay on track and allow appropriate amounts of time to complete a task i.e. 3 minutes to brush your teeth, 5 minutes to get dressed, and so on. 

4. Empower with Choices: Empowering children with choices is a powerful way to promote their sense of autonomy and independence. By allowing children to make decisions related to school, such as choosing a snack to take, promotes a sense of control over their environment and aids in developing executive functioning. When children are provided with choices, they learn to weigh options, consider consequences, and prioritise their preferences - all valuable components of executive functioning. For example, deciding what snack to pack for school requires children to think ahead, plan accordingly, and make decisions based on their individual preferences and dietary needs. 

5. Practice Emotional Regulation: Emotional regulation plays a crucial role on executive functioning whilst transitioning back to school. When children can effectively regulate their emotions, they are better able to maintain attention and focus on tasks, make thoughtful decisions, problem solve, and have positive social interactions. Mindfulness techniques like deep breathing exercises whenever your child is experiencing big emotions can help calm the body’s stress response and increase emotional self-awareness - learning to manage their emotions more effectively and ultimately enhancing their executive functioning skills.