Blog

When I polled our coaches for their best ideas they've used to work with their clients in the summertime, I shouldn't have been surprised at the responses - but I sort of was! It turns out, the more relaxed mode of summer is fertile ground for all kinds of in-depth projects and explorations for our clients - and that intensive work allows for several Executive Functio...

Recently, a college freshman (who happens to be our founder’s daughter, Jenna) shared with us her detailed plan to get through the first finals period of her college career. What do you notice as you look at this plan? To start, if you’re a parent, maybe you’re whispering a fervent “Thank goodness I’m done with school!” as you look at the work ahead of this student. M...

As Executive Function coaches, parents frequently ask us what skills are typical for students to have mastered by a certain age. The answer is often complex, as each child is unique — a child's learning profile, developmental history, environment, and life experiences all interact to influence how and when Executive Function skills emerge and solidify. We've created t...

It’s the first week in October. We’re ankle-deep into the school year. The new backpacks, so carefully selected in August, already have a fine patina of crud and some crumpled worksheets or permission slips in more than one compartment. The bright eyed optimism of the back-to-school transition begins to morph to a bleary resignation of another tough day of school ahea...

You feel like a broken record. How many times have you mentioned/suggested/demanded that your child stop texting, checking the Twitter feed, or watching the latest viral sensation on YouTube while doing homework? Your tween or teen assures you that they are capable of extraordinary multitasking powers; in fact, he or she says that all this social media stuff actually ...

Millions of college students are on summer break: scooping ice cream to earn a few bucks, sweating out a coveted internship, or just catching up with hometown buddies. And many, many of these students are also having some tough conversations with their parents about their grades. “How can it be,” parents say, “that you were an honor roll student in high school yet you...

Final exams are fast approaching, and your child may be teeming with text anxiety. But there’s good news! For the most part, students are simply reactivating old learning that happened over the past school year. They’re not cramming in a ton of new facts into their heads. Rather, students are dusting off those memories they’ve filed away. This week, we’re offering up ...

Every week, we open emails from parents and students who are thrilled with their outcomes from coaching. Last month on our blog, we shared one mom's heartfelt thanks to her son's coach, Samantha (Sam) Raimondi. Sam coached Mark (not his actual name) via Skype for a few weeks during his fall semester of his sophomore year in college. By the time Mark began online coach...

At the age of 30, Daniel Koh's achievements would pluck a chord of envy in professionals twice his age. The highlights of Daniel’s résumé include stints as Chief of Staff to Arianna Huffington, General Manager of HuffPost Live, and advisor to beloved former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. The press has noted his ascent; Daniel has been featured in the “30 under 30” list b...

Test-taking can rattle even the smoothest student. Kids can feel like they’re heading into a vast unknown, hostile territory when they walk into the classroom and face that exam. Before your child gets all Ernest Shackleton on you, assure him or her that there are ways to tame that test anxiety and “show what you know”. This week, we consulted with two top learning ex...

Content updated on August 30, 2023. Parents often ask us about their children’s Executive Function development. Is my child on track with her peers? Is it unusual that a 4th grader has a poor sense of time? Will my son manage his emotions better by the time he gets to high school? The short answer is that each child develops Executive Function skills on his or her own...

Families sometimes ask how we help students who are resistant to changing their work habits. The simple answer is by gentle guidance, not an iron fist. In truth, each resistant child is unique, so academic coaches tailor their approaches based on that individual child. The best way to illustrate our methods in action is through a case study of a real student. The name...

Did you know that nationwide, more students are held back in 9th grade than in any other grade in school? (Source: betterhighschools.org) Even when your child is not at risk of being held back, this statistic highlights the differences between middle school and high school expectations. Too often, we see students who are unprepared for the pace and rigor of high schoo...

The school bus door closes on another academic year and your child’s report card and teachers’ comments are in hand. Before they get swept aside under bills and junk mail (or before they are neatly filed away), now is the perfect time to carve out some quiet 1:1 time with your child to reflect on his or her academic performance in the past 9+ months of school. In acad...

So, the kids are done with school and are intent on swimming, hanging out with friends, playing video games, and delaying their summer reading until the last possible moment in August. As a parent, you know that they need this time to recharge after a hectic school year. Yet something keeps nagging at you. That little voice in your head rudely interrupts as you apply ...

The scent of June’s peonies in the air brings the promise of blissful interludes at the beach for our students. But hold on. Keep the cap on the Coppertone for now. Preparing for final exams is now top priority for our weary scholars. “No mas!” a sophomore exclaims. “How the heck am I supposed to get ready for 5 exams in the next few days?” “Planning,” we say, all coo...

The last time I broke out into hives was when a new student I was working with said she was “looking over her notes” to prepare for an upcoming exam. You see, that passive eyeball approach is up at the top of an academic coaches’ list of What Not To Do When Studying For Finals. In between scratching (due to my allergy to ineffective study habits), I explained to my st...

“Mom, where’s my backpack?” “Mom, I can’t find my favorite shirt!” “Mom, can you help me re-attach my head? It fell off again.” Chances are, you’ve heard variations on the first two statements, and have probably imagined the third at some point. (Of course, if you’ve actually heard #3 above, you may be reading the wrong blog. Just sayin’...) Our adult lives are hectic...

This week, we have the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Janice Prochaska, president and CEO of Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc., and a renowned researcher in the field of social work (please read her full bio below). She and her husband Dr. James Prochaska are leaders in the science of behavior change. As Executive Function coaches, we apply the Prochaskas’ research abou...

Editor’s note: This week, we interview Lori Day, an Educational Consultant in Newburyport, MA. Having worked in academia for her entire career, Lori is well-prepared to serve the needs of her clients. We chatted with her recently about her work with parents, students (with and without learning disabilities), and schools.

This week, we feature an interview with Susan Engel, a developmental psychologist and director of the Program in Teaching at Williams College (read her complete bio below). Her article, 7 Things Every Kid Should Master, was published Sunday, March 8 in the Boston Globe Magazine. While Ms. Engel agrees that measuring a child's academic progress is important, she sugges...

Many parents ask us what’s typical adolescent behavior when it comes to how students manage their academic demands. After all, we know that their frontal lobes, the part of the brain that houses executive functions and helps us set and achieve goals, are still a work in progress until at least their mid-twenties or so. We’d expect some rough patches here and there as ...

We’ve all been there. A mountain of homework sits in front of your child. He’s feeling overwhelmed. You’re feeling anxious. It seems like he’s barely into the first row of problems on that math worksheet when he asserts his urgent desire to take a break. Before you know it, homework time stretches into dinner time and family time and bedtime. And nobody is having a go...

As academic coaches, we have a unique opportunity to observe our students’ learning over time, across subject areas, and through a variety of assignments over the span of a school year. We gain insight into what causes students' poor academic performance and teach them tools and strategies to increase their effectiveness. Some of us (myself included) work with student...

Katie is an exuberant 4th grader with enormous creativity, boundless energy, and a school desk that gives chaos a bad name. You may have witnessed your child's messy school desk firsthand. When you show up at school on Parent Night, you know immediately where your child’s desk is without looking at the construction paper name tags scotch-taped on carefully by the teac...

Executive Function skills are self-management skills that help us achieve goals. It’s how we manage our emotions and attention, organize and plan our work and time, and reflect upon and revise our tactics as circumstances change. These skills are critical for meeting the challenges of school demands and later, as an adult, our professional and personal lives.

Editor's note: Guest blogger Beth Walsh, MS, OTR/L is an educational advocate and consultant from Massachusetts. Here, she provides a professional educational advocate's perspective on how parents can make the Special Education system work for their children. Congratulations! If you’re reading this article, you are likely feeling worried, frustrated, maybe angry, and ...

As Executive Function Coaches, we sometimes view this 5-minute Charlie Brown video as a fun way to start the year off with our students. It depicts various beloved characters attempting (in song, occasionally on key) to write a book report. Each character uses a very different strategy for approaching the work, and there are strengths and weaknesses to each. Here, we’...

Did you know that nationwide, more students are held back in 9th grade than in any other grade in school? (Source: betterhighschools.org) Even when your child is not at risk of being held back, this statistic serves to highlight the need to approach this transition mindfully. After all, your child’s performance “counts” in high school more than ever before. Competitio...

So, the kids are done with school and are intent on swimming, hanging out with friends, playing video games, and delaying their summer reading until the last possible moment in August. As a parent, you know that they need this time to recharge after a hectic school year. Yet something keeps nagging at you. That little voice in your head rudely interrupts as you apply ...

Few phrases are more fraught for families than “now that you’re in high school...” As if middle school wasn’t challenging enough, with bad hair days, projects, hormones, and science labs that actually expect students to construct a device to prevent a raw egg from breaking from a drop of 20 feet...with JUST STRAWS AND RUBBER BANDS! Well, you get the picture (probably ...

Projects and essays and tests, oh my! Previously we looked at 5 red flag statements that could signal difficulties with your child's Executive Functions, or self-management skills. Maybe they sounded familiar to you. Having coached hundreds of students with Executive Functioning challenges, we've heard a wide variety of statements that set off our coaching alarms. Som...

My oldest and best friend was turning a milestone age (use your imagination), and we headed to NYC for a quick overnight visit to celebrate her birthday. She knew I was terrified of driving in the city, so she happily took over for me somewhere in Connecticut. A crazy stroke of luck found us free parking yards away from our hotel. She expertly manuevered my car into t...