A Guide to Executive Functions

You’ve likely heard of the term executive function, and even have some sense of what it means. It has become more of a buzzword, especially with increasing awareness of neurodiversity and cultural shift away from placing morality on personal struggles.

Executive functions are a family of three skills that help us stay focused, plan ahead, solve problems, and handle change. These skills are the foundation for learning, behavior, emotions, and relationships, and they are linked to success in school, mental health, and physical health.

Inhibitory control

Inhibitory control helps us control our thoughts, feelings, and actions. It helps kids wait to be called on, or tune out noise to focus on their work. It's like a remote control that can help kids pause and figure out what is in their circle of control.

Quick tips: minimize distractions, practice mindfulness, and use visual reminders.

Working memory

Working memory helps us hold information in our mind, use it, and update it. It helps kids follow multistep directions in order. It's like a sticky note that can only hold so much at a time.

Quick tips: use visual reminders, create predictable routines, and write things down.

Cognitive flexibility

Cognitive flexibility helps us think about things in a new way. It helps kids pivot when plans change, or see someone else's point of view. It's like a slinky going down the stairs, bending into a new shape to keep moving.

Quick tips: model perspective taking, read stories with different points of view, and try new things.

1. These skills take time and effort to develop.

We are not born with executive functions, but we are all born with the ability to develop them. The prefrontal cortex plays a big role in these skills, and it keeps developing into the mid-20s, so kids need lots of chances to practice. Executive functions are also metabolically expensive, which means they use a lot of energy! Predictable routines, a good night's sleep, and unscheduled time to rest, create, and play can all help kids recharge.

Executive functions are not a fixed trait, and they are not a measure of intelligence or character. These skills change with sleep, hunger, stress, emotions, and surroundings, so a tired, hungry, or worried child has less to work with. Children also build these skills at different rates, which is why two kids of the same age can look very different in the same classroom.

2. Mistakes are part of learning.

Kids need a safe space to try, make mistakes, and try again. This productive struggle, paired with support, can help these skills grow. Many daily activities are chances for kids to practice, like grocery shopping together, card games, baking, organizing a space, and everyday conversations.

It's normal to want to jump in when a child is struggling, but productive struggle is often the best way for them to learn. The sweet spot for productive struggle is when demand and support are balanced. A child is stretched to learn something new while an adult encourages and supports them.

Some mantras that can help children are:

• "I can do hard things."
• "This won't be hard forever."
• "It matters that I'm trying."
• "I believe in myself."
• "Mistakes are how you grow."

3. Scaffolded support can help skills grow.

When a child is struggling, it can help to step back and think about which specific skill to support. Imagine a child has trouble remembering homework and organizing their backpack. One skill they might need help with is hanging up their backpack and taking out their homework folder when they get home. An adult can scaffold this skill. Like the scaffolding around a building, an adult's support holds things up at first and comes down little by little.

• Full support: The adult models what to do: take out the folder, hang up the backpack, and put the folder in its place.
• Less support: The adult and child create a step-by-step visual checklist, and the adult does it alongside them.
• Just a little: When the child gets home, the adult reminds them to follow the checklist, and they do it on their own.
• On their own: The child gets home and uses the checklist without a reminder.

At Bright Light Neuro, we believe children deserve to understand executive functions, too. When kids learn how they focus, plan, and handle change, they can start to notice these skills throughout their day and feel a greater sense of agency in building them. That is why we created our Executive Function unit for elementary classrooms.