Executive Functioning For High School students

The transition from high school to college can be overwhelming for both students and parents/guardians.  In a majority of cases, students go from living at home (where they are supervised and most of their basic needs are taken care of) and attending school (where their behavior and performance is monitored) to living on their own or with peers, and being almost entirely responsible for their academic success.  

Research shows that executive functioning skills are just as important, if not more important than intelligence in predicting success in school and adult life.  This is especially true for success in a college setting, where the demand for independent functional problem solving increases tenfold.  We have witnessed this through our work with university students who managed to get through high school honors courses with very little effort, but are struggling in their college courses because they have not developed strong executive functioning skills.

So how do we define executive functioning skills?

• time management

• management of multiple tasks

• attention

• prediction skills (e.g., test content)

• planning and prioritization

• initiation and follow-through

• decision-making

• self-monitoring and knowing when to seek help

• functional problem solving

• study skills

If your high schooler struggles with any or all of these areas, he/she would benefit from executive functioning training.  Our clinicians provide functional strategies, tools and tips to help students get started on the right foot so that they feel like they are ahead of the game before they arrive on campus.