Helping a middle schooler with executive functioning

[Runningmom80]

(Time management, and organization of school work specifically.)

 

I've made my DS 11 a Trello board where I give him daily assignments and weekly to-dos so he has some practice figuring out how to spread his work out over the week.

 

Any other suggestions?  His binder is a mess, as is his desk, and I'm no different so I can't be too mad about it.  :lol:   I can pull myself together after years of trial and error, but since he wants to go to high school, I'm feeling like I need to help him get there faster. 

[Arcadia]

My DS11 has

 

A 3-ring binder per subject. Most of his binders are the 3†or 2†ones.

A magazine holder per subject for textbooks and supplementary readers. We use the IKEA metal ones http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30153256/

 

He has a tutor for chinese so his chinese textbook, workbook and binder goes back to his chinese bag. His German textbook, workbook and binder goes back to his german bag for Saturday german class. When he attends music theory class in summer, his books goes to a music bag. So basically he has a bag for every brick and mortar class so it is grab and go for each class instead of leaving things at home accidentally. He has a pencil box each in his chinese, german and music bags.

 

My DS12 use the transparent binder pencil case for binders that are for brick and mortar classes so he doesn’t need to get his pencil box out from his bag. It is something like this link https://www.amazon.com/Cardinal-14201-Zippered-Binder-Pockets/dp/B0016L24EC/

Edited November 27, 2017 by Arcadia

[Arcadia]

For time management,

 

DS11 does a time log with me on his planner. His planner is a daily planner. So we could write the start and end time for each subject. For example he started doing his math homework at 10am and will stop at noon for his WTMA German class. We will see how much progress he has made on his homework in those two hours. We put down less details for DS12 as he doesn’t daydream or get distracted as much. DS11 notices when someone goes to the kitchen or restroom, DS12 couldn’t care less and would just concentrate on his homework. We also know which tasks are time suckers for DS11 so we could work on how to do those more efficiently.

[kbutton]

Best done together, but you could make a mockup if it makes more sense for you to run through it yourself first.

 

1. Make a weekly template of what needs to be done. This can be general or specific, so math could be math 5x per week for x time, or it could be chapters per week, etc. Whatever is most meaningful to you. List all subjects, music practice, etc. 

 

2. Make a weekly template that has times blocked off for activities and school. This should be the hard and fast unchangeable stuff. You might need to update it as activities change.

 

3. Merge the two together--use the empty spots in the time template to decide when/where the subjects fit. My son will sometimes do two easy assignments on some days that are less busy in order to give him more brain space on a full day. This is a great place to exercise some self-awareness about energy levels, study conditions (doing work in the car or in a crowded waiting room vs. home). Make it all fit, or shuffle things around.

 

4. The merged document becomes the weekly rhythm, and you can duplicate it weekly by copying to a planner, etc. and then customizing, or you can work from it weekly if it's "perfect" and doesn't need to be tweaked weekly. Pulling from your Trello board could be where he gets the specifics from this more general template.

 

We use free templates online or just create a simple table in a word processor or spreadsheet. Nothing fancy. The more general we are (math x5 per week vs. Pages and problem sets), the better it seems to work for us. My son does better copying it over each week than having copies already made--it jogs something different in his brain to write a list than using it for reference does.

 

For materials, I would be as simple as possible. Perhaps to the extent of having him put everything in one binder each week and then having a weekly File It task. Getting things where you know where they are is more important than filed. Shuffling through one dedicated pile, notebook, bag, bin, table, or bookcase is much better than, "I had to take math with me in the car, and then it ended up in my history binder, and now I don't know where it is." Organization can be just for completed work while Keeping It Together is an everyday need. The two are totally separate processes in my brain, lol! 

 

 

[mathnerd]

In another forum, a poster suggested using Kanban for helping kids stay organized. There are plenty of resources on this topic if you want to google it.

[Xahm]

The thing that helped me in middle school was to have one defined place for my loose papers. For me, I had a file folder rubber-banded inside my 3 ring notebook. I'd put all the loose things for the day: homework assignments, returned papers, permission slips, announcements, etc there. Then, at the beginning of my homework time, I'd go through each and every page of "loose papers" and put them where they went. Completed homework went back in the loose paper folder, pretty much everything else either got trashed, handed to my parents, or clipped in. This went contrary to what the school was telling us we should do: They always insisted we should never have any loose papers; we should clip them in immediately. That was impossible for me, though. By giving myself permission to have a "pile" of loose papers, but setting up some discipline of daily making sure that pile never grew out of hand, I found my own system to actually be organized instead of just clipping something in the first place I saw or stuffing it in some pocket to get lost or forgotten. I used some version of that system through college.

[deerforest]

We're a work in progress, but things that have helped, especially this year (DD 13, 8th grade)

 

- I have a 36-week weekly schedule on Google docs. She can see what she has to do for the current week but also see what's coming.

- She breaks down the weekly assignments into her daily tasks and puts them into her paper-based planner (her preference). If she must do things on a particular day for some reason, I let her know. Otherwise, she owns the daily work distribution for the week. 

- For her independent work (we still spend 2-3 hours together daily), I tell her to spend no more than 45 min-1 hour on any particular class, and she uses a timer. I recommend that she breaks it up into smaller chunks and takes a break, and she does that sometimes.

- She created a system of 3 folders--1 for me to put any new assignments, 1 for her to turn things in, and 1 for things she needs to file (after I've reviewed/discussed them)

- She has notebooks with Cornell style templates in them for note taking reminders and has a 3-ring binder for each subject.

- She has a shelf to keep all her books, notebooks

Edited November 28, 2017 by deerforest

[SoCal_Bear]

I really like the Order out of Chaos planners that I learned about from other boardies. I actually don't like using electronic planners for students. The physicality of planner and having to manually write things out actually helps with memory. You have to watch the youtube video where she explains the way it works. She developed this to help her ADHD son with his EF issues. I'm totally using this planner next year since I already have a planner that I am using for this year. The planners are sold on Amazon. If you homeschool, she recommends the smaller sized planner which has more appt hours than just after school like the larger sized planner. This is helpful to block out when my son's classes are meeting during the daytime. That's the only complaint I have is that this is not available in the larger sized planner.

 

 

http://orderoochaos.com/

 

Here's a demo through the planner. 

 

She talks about EF issues here: 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2017 by calbear

[deerforest]

The Order Out of Chaos is the printed planner DD is using this year.

[SoCal_Bear]

Just saw this posted in GHF's feed this morning.

 

Parents can help their gifted students develop executive functions

https://expertbeacon.com/parents-can-help-their-gifted-students-develop-executive-functions/#.Wh75qkqnE2y

 

Edited November 29, 2017 by calbear

[Pen]

(Time management, and organization of school work specifically.)

 

I've made my DS 11 a Trello board where I give him daily assignments and weekly to-dos so he has some practice figuring out how to spread his work out over the week.

 

Any other suggestions?  His binder is a mess, as is his desk, and I'm no different so I can't be too mad about it.  :lol:   I can pull myself together after years of trial and error, but since he wants to go to high school, I'm feeling like I need to help him get there faster. 

 

My ds has gone to BMS for high school and we do struggle with EF a lot.

 

A few things that are working well, are that ds uses a spiral notebook with a pocket in the front for each class (except things like PE or study hall that don't need their own). Geometry has quad rule, the rest college rule. Loose sheets go in the pocket.  One file folder for anything else--field trip permission slips, etc.--not working perfectly, and he missed going on a field trip due to failing to get a permission slip home to be signed.  But over all it is working pretty well. 

 

He carries all 6 of these spiral notebooks in his backpack, which also has all his basic supplies (pencils, pens, extra paper, compass and straight edge, etc)--all the time.  He mostly also carries all of his books in his backpack all the time, but luckily for his back, most of his classes don't have heavy textbooks this year. I have an extra copy of his math book at home, in case needed. And ordered  a used copy of his Spanish book.

 

 

We have yet to solve the time and breaking down of assignments issue.  

[Vida Winter]

:lurk5:Love these ideas!

[pinewarbler]

Thanks for the tip on the planners from Order out of Chaos! 

 

Had to laugh at the article about helping the gifted re: executive functioning/org skills.... My DH and I have never found reward systems helpful, but it doesn't stop people from telling us that we should implement them  :laugh:

 

"Gifted kids see right through attempts to manipulate them with reward systems. Furthermore, you may be unintentionally teaching kids to manipulate others. Also, some gifted kids have already figured out more about how to do this than is healthy for them and the others in their lives. In addition, gifted kids typically modify reward systems to the point where no adult can follow through on them."

Edited November 30, 2017 by pinewarbler

[kbutton]

"In addition, gifted kids typically modify reward systems to the point where no adult can follow through on them."

 

I am having flashbacks to potty training and my bargaining child.  :svengo:

[Runningmom80]

I really like the Order out of Chaos planners that I learned about from other boardies. I actually don't like using electronic planners for students. The physicality of planner and having to manually write things out actually helps with memory. You have to watch the youtube video where she explains the way it works. She developed this to help her ADHD son with his EF issues. I'm totally using this planner next year since I already have a planner that I am using for this year. The planners are sold on Amazon. If you homeschool, she recommends the smaller sized planner which has more appt hours than just after school like the larger sized planner. This is helpful to block out when my son's classes are meeting during the daytime. That's the only complaint I have is that this is not available in the larger sized planner.

 

 

http://orderoochaos.com/

 

Here's a demo through the planner. 

 

She talks about EF issues here: 

 

 

This (the bolded) is a good point.  I will look into this planner!

Edited December 4, 2017 by Runningmom80

[SarahAgnes]

What I do with my unfocused DD10 is:

She's generally allowed freedom on the internet (don't be mean!) & has her own gmail account, so we do google docs. She likes it a lot. 

Sarah Agnes.