Provision of Choice is Key to Executive Function Development in Toddlers It is clear that early executive function (EF) skills are important for many outcomes including social competence, emotion regulation, academic achievement, and school readiness (Allan et al., 2014, McClelland et al., 2013; Willoughby et al., 2017). We have seen remarkable growth in the number…
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Distanced but still Social: Youth and Digital Media during COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic, child and adolescent use of digital media increased at unprecedented rates. In addition to attending classes through webcams, youth relied on digital media to socialize with peers, engage in social activism, play games, learn new skills, and interact with health care providers. This increased use has many parents wondering: Are my…
May 20, 2021
Give Your Kids an “I CAN DO THIS!” Moment
In a recent Raising Good Humans podcast, Goldilocks Parenting: How to Shape Executive Function Skills Through Caregiving Dr. Carlson explains that kids need to realize they have a choice in how they think, act, or feel. As children make these decisions, they own it and learn to realize each has its own consequence, good or…
March 26, 2021
EFgoPRO™: An EF/SEL Tool You Can’t Afford NOT to Use
With the diverse methods of teaching and learning in today’s educational world, knowing where the strengths and weaknesses of each student is imperative in order to guarantee students’ needs are being met. Recently, Istation published 10 Assessment Must-Haves as a starting point for measuring student growth and providing teachers with the necessary information as they…
February 22, 2021
Using a Digital Diet for Screen time Decisions
Should we set a screen time limit What programs can our children watch? Is my child playing too many video games? Children’s technology use is a common topic of discussion echoed in living rooms across the country. A recent piece in the New York Times highlights the struggles faced by pandemic families who express…
January 26, 2021
There’s More to “Seat-Time” Than We Thought
There has been a lot of discussion about earning credit via “seat time” (aka Carnegie units) versus “proof of mastery.” Where one insists a person attend a minimum number of class periods while the other cares not about attendance, just the ability to demonstrate knowledge however that may be done. When it comes to early…
December 22, 2020
Promoting Executive Function with STEAM
Have you ever thought to yourself, “I’m just not creative,” or “Gosh, I wish I were better at math”? How about considering yourself to be either left-brained (analytical) or right-brained (creative)? It can be tempting to think of science and art as opposite ends of a spectrum, but evidence from neuroscience shows us that brain…
November 30, 2020
Mindfulness and Mental Health
As most educators and parents are seeing, this historic pandemic is having a large effect on children and students of all ages. The current pandemic has upended in-person education, disrupted our daily routines, and has isolated many of us from friends and family. A survey of 1000 students between the ages of 16 and 19,…
November 4, 2020
Embedding Executive Function into All Classrooms
For students to succeed academically, it takes more than simply knowing what to study—they need to have the ability to learn. This starts with students understanding Executive Function (EF), and the essential role it plays in achieving desired results—from aceing a test to winning an art contest. As teachers and parents, it’s our responsibility to…
October 28, 2020
Play Builds Serious Skills
Playtime is many things. It’s fun for children. It’s an escape for busy parents. But it’s much more than that. According to Dr. Stephanie M. Carlson, distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota, and Reflection Sciences co-founder, “Play is about as ‘blueprinted’ a behavior as you can have in terms of basic survival…