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By Jennifer Sax

After ten months of working hard in school, many parents want to give their children a break over the summer. While summer fun and relaxing are extremely important, it is also essential that students maintain their skills so they are ready for the upcoming school year.  Research shows that taking an extended break from academic work can “un-do” some of the skills that students gained during the school year, and this is especially true for our students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and executive functioning challenges. To prevent summer learning loss, it’s essential that your children find a way to balance fun and academics. Here are some great ideas!

• Set up tutoring sessions. The Educational Mentors and Speech-Language Pathologists at Thinking Organized are available throughout the summer for individual sessions to work on summer packets, summer reading, and to reinforce executive functioning skills. 
• Enroll in a learning-based program. When your children are home from sleep-away camp and/or vacation, enroll them in one of the intensive academic or group programs at Thinking Organized. Master Math, Ready Reader, and Just Write programs can be scheduled to fit your summer plan while targeting crucial academic skills.
• Write daily. A summer journal can keep your children writing over the summer, which will help reinforce their ability to craft clear and descriptive prose. You can have them write about their day, or give them funny or interesting prompts to write about. If you would like a list of these, feel free to contact us!
• Start a family book club.Read the same book as your children and discuss it chapter by chapter. This can help improve and support reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. Have your child make predictions, connections between events, and look up unknown vocabulary. 

It is important to cherish the enjoyable, relaxing, and care-free aspects of summer, but don’t let that come at the cost of skill regression. Thinking Organized is here to help your children maintain and build skills at a time that is convenient for you! 

By Colette Hapi

As parents of children who have ADHD or those who have the proclivity to procrastinate, it can be easy to assume that this avoidance stems from laziness. In fact, there’s a good chance that your children’s teachers have told you that they could do so much better if they would just apply themselves and stop being so lazy. 

However, it turns out that procrastination is rarely a symptom of laziness. So the question becomes, if your children’s procrastination habits are not a result of laziness, then what are they a result of?’ According to Dr. Fuschia Sirois, a doctor of psychology, “People engage in this irrational cycle of chronic procrastination because of an inability to manage negative moods around a task.” It is likely that your children avoid doing certain tasks because those tasks elicit certain moods, and procrastination serves as a coping mechanism for the challenging emotions and negative moods (including boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, and self-doubt) induced by said tasks. Children who have been diagnosed with ADHD, where focusing on tasks is already difficult, tend to procrastinate more due to feelings of low self-esteem, anxiety, or insecurity, as opposed to laziness. They worry that they won’t be able to accomplish a task correctly, and so they figure it’s better to not even try.

As parents and educators, we try to help these students by encouraging them to break a task down into smaller pieces, make a plan to tackle each piece, and then execute their plan. While this sounds good on paper, students’ feelings of anxiety, fear, and inadequacy impedes them from making thoughtful decisions on how to attack the task at hand, which makes them more prone to procrastination, thereby creating a vicious cycle.  So how do we help our children? The most important thing is to realize that their procrastination is not about productivity but about emotions. If we are able to help them manage their emotions properly by talking about them openly and acknowledging their value, then that will help them procrastinate less. 

By Kristin Backert

By now, you’re probably familiar with the college admissions scandal, where high-profile celebrities bribed others to get their children into elite schools. As a result of this scandal, there’s now a lot of scrutiny over children who claim they need accommodations at school or for standardized testing. While ensuring fairness in higher education is important, this increased scrutiny could make things more complicated for those students who truly have learning disorders and need accommodations to facilitate success. According to lawyer and disability activist Matthew Cortland, “There are already too many hoops and hurdles disabled students must navigate in order to vindicate their civil right to higher education. My fear is that these celebrity fraudsters will incite a crackdown on accommodations. Schools and testing companies will make it even more burdensome for disabled students to get the accommodations that allow them to realize their civil right to access higher education.”

If your children are preparing to either go to college or begin the application process, there are a few steps you can take to ensure they still receive the accommodations they legitimately need:

• Document.Keep physical evidence that demonstrates the differences between your children’s academic performance when they have accommodations versus when they don’t. Keep old tests, essays, and report cards, as they illustrate clear, tangible shifts in your children’s performance.
• Testimonials.Teachers, tutors, and therapists (the three T’s!) have unique insight into your children’s strengths and weaknesses, which make them an excellent resource to write letters on behalf of your children advocating that they receive accommodations in college.
• Professional Testing. Many standardized tests require that children undergo neuropsychological testing that is no older than three years by the time your children take the SAT or ACT, so keep that in mind as you begin saving for your children’s college funds. Getting an updated evaluation gives your children a better chance of using accommodations not only on the exams, but for when they go to college as well. 

This college admissions scandal has the possibility of making it more difficult for students to navigate the accommodations process, so it’s important that you and your children remain vigilant about tracking their academic performance and advocating for needed assistance. 

By Colette Hapi

As parents, we are always looking for different avenues to help our kids develop skills that will promote success as they grow into their adult lives; this is especially true for parents of kids who have ADHD. As parents, we become quite well-versed on academic-based strategies that can help our children, but there are also non-academic avenues that should warrant our attention, like learning to play an instrument. Your kids can do something they enjoy while simultaneously developing and fostering critical executive functioning skills; sounds like a win-win situation! 

You might be wondering: how does playing instruments help with executive functioning? Well, it’s been said that musical training strengthens the brain’s critical tasks, such as processing and retaining information, controlling behavior, and problem-solving. For children to play an instrument, they need to:

• Focus their attention, set goals, prioritize practice over other activities, and plan how to learn a piece. Skills strengthened: Inhibitory control, planning, and prioritizing
• Process multiple stimuli at once, such as keeping in mind what they just played to know what comes next, or remembering the new information that the conductor or teacher tells them and incorporating it into the piece. Skills strengthened: Working memory
• Be flexible enough to switch back and forth between tempos and styles. Skills strengthened: Cognitive flexibility
• Measure how they are currently playing a piece with how they want it to sound. Skills strengthened: Self-monitoring

These habits draw heavily on executive function skills, so for those parents who have already enrolled their kids in musical training classes, kudos to you! To those who haven’t, this might be a good way to help your kids along as they are engaging in something that they, hopefully, enjoy. 

P.S.: Stay tuned for our upcoming tip as we go into more detail about the workings of the brain as people are learning instruments and how it helps develop executive functioning skills. 

By Kristin Backert

I’ve never been good at math. It doesn’t make sense to me, and I would be lost without a calculator. And as the prophecy foretold, most of the math that I learned in school hasn’t made an appearance in my adult life.

While this type of thinking is fairly common among parents, did you know that it’s actually detrimental to your children’s feelings about math? A few weeks ago, NPR published an article explaining how a parent’s casual remarks to their children about how they themselves were never good at math “can send a signal to kids about whether they can succeed.” When parents discuss their own dislike of math, they create an excuse their children can latch onto to explain away their own troubles and hinder them from putting forth their best efforts. If their parents don’t understand the material, then how could they possibly understand it?

When our children are having a difficult time with something, we often tell them that everyone has something that they’re not good at. Some people are gifted at playing soccer, some are great at playing the piano, and some are math wizzes. Placing people into these sorts of categories sends a message to your children that there are some things they are simply incapable of succeeding at, and this reinforces a belief that there’s no point in trying at something that does not come naturally to them. It’s important to help your children realize that even if they’re struggling to understand something right now, that doesn’t mean they’ll never get it; they just need to utilize the resources around them and keep an open mind.

It may seem like a small thing, but children’s first role models are usually their parents, so they will often mimic their parents’ attitudes towards particular subjects. Even if you do have negative feelings about math, it’s crucial to project an upbeat attitude about the subject. If your children are struggling to grasp a particular mathematical concept, don’t agree that it’s too difficult to learn; instead, help them pinpoint which elements of the concept are confusing, and encourage them to meet with their teacher for help or to use an online resource like Khan Academy. Creating this positive environment will motivate your children to embrace math and learn that they are capable of accomplishing anything they set their minds to.

1. ORGANIZATION
Organization skills extend to all aspects of life from a student’s backpack to their writing skills. Language-based organization skills include organizing written language, interpreting information from a text, and effectively categorizing information for note-taking.

2. SELF-MONITORING
Language-based self-monitoring is called metalinguistic awareness. This skill involves using an “internal script” to reflect on and consciously evaluate our own behavior and performance. Language skills are vital to this process. Metalinguistic awareness is essential in following complex directions, editing written work, and determining how well one comprehends information presented to them.

3. WORKING MEMORY
Working memory is the process of temporarily storing and manipulating information for complex tasks, especially language. Working memory skills are critical in understanding spoken and written language, decoding and encoding, and following multi-step directions.

4. COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY
Cognitive flexibility is the ability to think flexibly by changing approaches or strategies when needed. It is a critical executive function for learning and succeeding in school. Language plays into this skill as students are increasingly required to interpret learned information in multiple ways. This skill is required for studying, reading comprehension, interpreting abstract language, and formulating written responses.

DO I NEED A SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST?
The reciprocal relationship between language and executive function skills is unquestionable. Both are needed to help students succeed academically and in life. Therefore, a certified Speech Language Pathologist is often the best resource to help parents and students understand that connection, and provide treatment when there are difficulties.

For a printable graphic detailing language-based executive functioning skills, CLICK HERE!

With thousands upon thousands of books out there, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to decide what to read next. Fiction? Some short stories? A memoir? The complete run of Wonder Woman? Ahh! Luckily, Thinking Organized is here to help. Here’s what’s on our reading list this month; check them out, and let us know what you plan on reading next!

Jessica: I recently read A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman after it was recommended to me by my mother, who was suggested to read it by her fellow teachers at her middle school. The fictional book follows the daily life of a middle-aged man who’s a bit of a curmudgeon (well, more than a bit!). Ove is a man of strong principles and strict routines, and he does not hold back when forcing his views onto everyone in his neighborhood within earshot. In each subsequent chapter, Backman reveals more of Ove’s backstory, including the trials and tribulations he faced during childhood and marriage, making Backman’s story much more compelling as you start to have sympathy for the bitter old man by the end of the book. A Man Called Ove is an easy read, but a thoroughly entertaining one at that, and I recommend the book to anyone interested in a pleasant escape from the daily grind of work or home life.

Kristin: I just finished re-reading Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel Good Omens. There’s a TV adaptation coming out next year, so I wanted to refresh my memory so I could see how well the show adapted the book. Gaiman and Pratchett have very distinct writing styles, so it’s fascinating to see them combine their talents (plus, it’s fun trying to figure out who wrote which parts). Good Omens follows an angel and a demon as they attempt to thwart Armageddon, but their plans are slightly spoiled when they realize they don’t even know where the Antichrist is. Gaiman and Pratchett create vibrant characters, and I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for something witty and funny.

Mallory: I am reading Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. It is a beautifully-written book about an impoverished, fiercely loyal family facing Hurricane Katrina. Ward writes with a poetic, almost lyrical prose, binding love, resilience, and disaster from the perspective of a poor, pregnant teenage girl. I chose this book because I volunteered in Biloxi, MS post-Katrina and was touched by the courage and resilience of the families I met. Salvage the Bones is moving, at times heartbreaking, and reads like a song.

Stephan: Recently I have been reading a number of novellas by one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman. Gaiman has an incredible ability to build worlds that balance fantasy elements with relatable and intensely human characters. Odd and the Frost Giants is the story of a young Norse man who has lost his father and has been permanently injured in an accident. When he leaves his mother’s home to escape his stepfather, he encounters a group of animals who can talk. After discovering that they are gods who have been thrown out of their home, Odd sets out on an adventure to return them to their home and rightful bodies.

With thousands upon thousands of books out there, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to decide what to read next. Fiction? Some short stories? A memoir? The complete run of Wonder Woman? Ahh! Luckily, Thinking Organized is here to help. Here’s what’s on our reading list this month; check them out, and let us know what you plan on reading next!

Jennifer: I recently read All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely after one of my students was assigned the novel for summer reading. This book focuses on the topics of racism and police brutality, and it became the most powerful book I read all summer. The alternating perspectives of Rashad and Quinn are explored as they navigate the consequences of a violent event that divides their community.

Kristin: Right now, I’m reading David Quammen’s new book The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life. Quammen is one of my favorite science writers, and I’ve been waiting months for this book to come out. It looks at the development of the concept of the tree of life and the changes it’s undergone thanks to breakthroughs in science. This book gives us a comprehensive look at the scientists responsible for altering our understanding of evolution, as well as what impacts this understanding has on our lives.

Mallory: I’m reading Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. I am absolutely loving this book. It explores the biology and history of humankind, from the Stone Age to the 21st Century. While the content is dense and mystifying, Harari writes with a clear, engaging style. I often find myself thinking about the content hours or days later. I chose to read Sapiens because I am fascinated by the human mind and human behavior. There is even a whole chapter dedicated to the evolution of language, so the nerdy-SLP side of me loved that.

Michael: I’m reading The Mountains of California, by John Muir. It’s a work I’m reading in preparation for my doctoral exams on nineteenth-century American literature. In it, Muir tells about his travels throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains. He explores the land and its history, as well as the wildlife and plants he finds there, and does so in lively prose that does a great job of communicating his own enthusiasm for the natural world.

Tara:  I’m reading Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler. It is a social psychology book that explores the way society makes various choices and provides suggestions for helping people make the best possible choices for themselves. I have always been drawn to these types of books, starting with Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s Freakonomics and Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink. I am fascinated by people’s thought process and the various influences that affect them. As someone who spends a lot of time with teenagers, I am always looking for ways to help my students make the best choices for themselves and their future.

Many students with executive dysfunction struggle with test anxiety. This challenge can manifest itself in both physical and psychological ways, making it seem almost impossible to take an exam. If your child struggles with test anxiety, check out these tips on what to do before and during an exam.