We know this fall is full of educational uncertainty! So if your child already struggles with executive function, it will be even more challenging with all the disruptions this fall! This video explains 3 KEY areas to consider and I give you a clear framework to help you get going with more sanity! Get ready to hit pause a lot and take some notes!
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Video Transcript: Click here to download the transcript PDF.
Hey, parents, what’s up? It’s me, Seth with SethPerler.com. I’m an executive function coach in Colorado and I help struggling students navigate this thing called education so that they can have a great life. Whoa, look me, I look kind of crazy today with my pandemic haircut. What’s up parents? I have an important message for you today. And that message is this. Today’s date is Friday, July 31. My blog goes out on Sundays, so you’ll be seeing this Sunday; start now to get ready for school. Your school is going to start most likely in August or the beginning of September. Things are crazy, start now. What does Seth mean by start now? If your child struggles with executive function, so if you have a child who struggles with time management, organization, planners, missing work, late work, incompletes, zeros. They’re often unprepared. They have difficulty transitioning from one thing to the other. They don’t appear very motivated, they are very resistant, they procrastinate a lot, those sorts of things. If your child struggles with these things, start prepping now. Now, you may or may not get buy-in from your child. That’s a whole nother issue, but trust me to start prepping now.
What does that mean? What is Seth talking about prepping? So basically, in my work, I talk about three things. So when working with a student who struggles, how do we get them to turn the corner so that they’re pretty on top of it. Not perfect, but they’re pretty on top of it. That is a long journey. Okay. So how do we do that? There are three things that I, Seth as the coach, what I do with students to help them get to that point. What are those three things? (1) systems, (2) mindsets, (3) habits and routines. I’m running an executive function conference starting on August 21. Check it out, TEFOS, executivefunctionsummit.com. The experts on there, it’s so cool to hear how they have different models that are basically the same sorts of things. So you should check that out because that will help you. But you can just listen to what I’m saying now. Systems mindsets, habits and routines. What does that mean, parents? What can you be setting up now, before school starts, proactively not reactively so that your child can hit the ground running and have a better chance at not hitting the mid-semester dip where everything falls apart. You’re going to be dealing with that stuff anyway, you just want to minimize that. You want to help them be more successful. And by being proactive, you will do that.
Number one: Systems. When you’re doing systems, I have a bunch of stuff on my site, you can check out for how to do the systems, but I want you to set up their folders early, color-coded, clearly labeled, organized. If they’re doing digital folders in Google Classroom or Google Docs, set up those color-coded folders for each class online early, proactively. Systems means getting their planner front-loaded, I have videos on that. Getting their planner whether it’s digital, or whether it’s an analog planner, getting that set up and front-loaded now before school starts. Getting their SSS, their sacred study space. Right now I’m at my standing desk. I have my mic here, I’m peaking to my computer here. I have all my guitars there. I have all my school supplies on my standing desk here, my supplies that I use. Help your child get a sacred study space, a place where they can concentrate free of distractions, and optimize for focus. So those sorts of things, I could go on with some more systems. But generally speaking, start to get these systems built out, think through what they’re going to need to be successful, proactively. Again, you can use my Systems Assessment, which is somewhere on my website to help you do that. It lays out everything you need to know.
Number two: Mindsets. Your child is resistant. The resistance mindset, which is something I struggle with, with executive function. You may struggle with it as a parent, I am resistant. I want to procrastinate, we have excuses. We don’t want to take action on things that are not fun, that are not interesting, that are not meaningful. And oftentimes when it comes to like your school, prepping for school, or writing a paper, or studying for a test, or doing homework, they can be resistant. Or using a planner or whatever. They can be resistant. So that’s a mindset, and the mindset with resistance is “This is too hard. This is too much. I’m lazy. I’m stupid. I can’t do it. I don’t feel like it. I’ll do it tomorrow.” These are all mindsets and stories. So working on the mindset of “I can do this. I can be successful. I care about myself. I want to have a great future. No, I don’t like all of it, but I can handle it. I can do a little bit of time.” We want to work on the mindsets proactively, systems, mindsets. What was the last one I said?
Number three: Habits and routines. Systems, mindsets, habits and routines. What kind of habits and routines are your kids going to need this fall? Are they going to need a good habit and routine for wake-up time? For getting moving, for getting to the online class or getting to the school, or whatever is going on? Are they going to need a good habit and routine for going to bed? What about dealing with electronics? What time do we turn them off? What about habits and routines for fitness, exercise, sleep, nutrition? What about habits and routines for chores or responsibilities, and fun too? When are we going to have family fun and connect? So what kinds of habits and routines do you need to build in for this fall?
I don’t have all the answers for you, but I want to give you a simple framework. So if you’re going to write anything down from this video, this is what I want you to write down. One, be proactive. Two, write down the systems, mindsets, habits and routines that would help your child this fall. Go ahead and take out a piece of paper, write systems. Take another paper, write mindsets. Take another piece of paper to write habits and routines. When you write down mindsets, write resistance mindsets and positive or productive or helpful mindsets. And start making lists of these things. And then sit down with your child and start to think through how you can proactively start to implement the systems, mindsets, and routines. Why? Again, so that they can hit the ground running and have a much more successful fall than they would if they hit the ground with a mess of stuff. Then they’re trying to figure out how to build their systems after everything.
One last note, in prepping, some of the teachers are going to have their supply lists early, or their syllabi early, or their websites updated with a great note that’s helpful to you early. Look at those, bookmark those, and start looking at what the teachers told you proactively so that you can better prep in your systems, mindsets, habits and routines.
My name is Seth Perler. I’m an executive function coach in Colorado and I help struggling students navigate this thing called education so they can have a great life. Give this video a thumbs up, it helps me on YouTube. Subscribe on YouTube, that helps my word get out to more people. And if you like this, please share it with somebody, that helps my work get to more people as well. I appreciate you. I hope you’re safe, healthy, that you have a little bit of joy in your heart today and peace in your heart today. And that you have a good, good, real connection time with your child and your family today. Be well, I’ll see you soon.
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