Executive function is the set of skills — like planning, focus, working memory, and self-control — that help kids manage schoolwork and daily life, and it can be strengthened with the right strategies and support, including Fit Learning’s science-based, individualized approach.
You’ve noticed that your learner seems particularly disorganized.
They have trouble getting started with (and completing) tasks or assignments. Perhaps they know what they need to do but seem unable to get started. Or, while they can do the work, completing it takes an unusually long time.
They repeatedly lose assignments, forget instructions, or need you to remind them what comes next.
They have difficulty recalling what was covered in class.
They have trouble shifting from one activity or task to another.
They struggle with managing impulses or emotions.
Do any of these sound familiar? If the answer is “yes,” it may be a sign that your child has executive functioning issues.
What is Executive Function?
Executive function is the set of skills that we use to plan, focus, remember instructions, problem solve, manage emotions and impulses, and adapt to change. These behind-the-scenes skills make it possible to actually use what we know. Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child defines executive function and self-regulation as “a set of skills that relies on three types of brain function: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control,” pointing out that “children aren’t born with these skills — they are born with the potential to develop them.”
Why Executive Functioning Matters
Executive function skills help children put their knowledge into action. A child may understand what an assignment requires but still struggle to get started, remember all the steps, stay focused, organize materials, or adjust when something doesn’t go as planned. Because these skills support learning and everyday problem-solving, difficulties with executive function (or executive dysfunction) can affect academic performance, independence, confidence, and a child’s ability to manage the demands of school. The good news is that executive function skills are not simply fixed traits. Research suggests that children’s executive functioning can be strengthened through targeted practice and supportive strategies, although improvements do not necessarily generalize automatically from one trained skill to every area of functioning.
Signs Your Child May Struggle With Executive Function
One influential framework, developed by psychologist Russell Barkley, describes executive functioning in terms of seven related abilities:
- Planning and problem-solving
- Motivation regulation
- Emotion regulation
- Verbal working memory
- Nonverbal working memory
- Inhibition
- Self-awareness
If your learner struggles in these areas, they could likely use help with executive function. Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child likens executive functioning to air traffic control in that “being able to focus, hold, and work with information in mind, filter distractions, and switch gears is like having an air traffic control system at a busy airport to manage the arrivals and departures of dozens of planes on multiple runways.”
It’s important to note that, while these deficits are often seen in people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, and slow processing speed, they are not the same. Many people who do not have a diagnosis struggle with executive function issues in their daily life.
How to Help Improve Executive Function
The good news is that executive function skills aren’t fixed. Like any skill, they can be strengthened with the right support, structure, and practice — both at home and in the classroom. Here are some strategies to get started.
Partner with your child’s teacher
Executive function challenges often show up most clearly at school, so looping in your child’s teacher early makes a real difference. Ask about classroom accommodations. Many of the strategies below can be built directly into your child’s school day, and some may qualify for formal support through a 504 plan or IEP if the challenges are significant.
Use visual and verbal reminders
Working memory overload is one of the most common executive function struggles. Kids simply lose track of what they’re supposed to be doing. Visual schedules, checklists, sticky notes, and verbal check-ins throughout the day reduce the mental load of having to remember everything at once. This frees up attention for the task itself.
Break tasks into smaller steps
A multi-step assignment can feel overwhelming to a child who struggles with planning. Breaking work into smaller, clearly sequenced chunks — with natural stopping points — makes getting started feel more manageable. It also gives your child regular, achievable wins along the way.
Shorten assignments where possible
For some kids, the issue isn’t ability, it’s stamina. Sustained focus is itself an executive function skill still under development. Shortening homework length (with teacher input) can keep a child engaged with the material without the assignment becoming a battle of attrition.
Give instruction that’s clear and explicit
Vague or multi-part instructions ask a lot of executive function skills a struggling child may not yet have. Ensure there are clear, explicit, one-step-at-a-time instructions — repeated or written down as needed. This reduces the guesswork and let your child focus on the task rather than on figuring out what’s being asked of them.
Build in movement and brain breaks
Sustained attention is hard to maintain without rest. Scheduled brain breaks, even short ones, help kids reset their focus rather than gradually losing it over a long task. Physical movement in particular can help “reboot” attention for the next stretch of work.
Create a quiet, low-distraction workspace
A child working on executive function skills is especially vulnerable to environmental distractions. A dedicated, quiet homework space — free of siblings, screens, and background noise — removes one more demand on a working memory and attention system that’s already working hard.
Keep energy up with healthy snacks
Blood sugar dips can look a lot like executive function struggles — irritability, poor focus, difficulty sticking with a task. A healthy snack before homework can support the sustained attention and self-regulation these tasks require.
Use tools and apps to build independence
Phone or tablet apps that track due dates, break down projects, or set reminders can make executive function support feel less like parental nagging and more like a tool your child owns. For older kids especially, this shifts the responsibility toward independence rather than relying on parents to be the external memory system.
Practice foundational academic skills until they become fluent
When core skills like reading, math, or writing are slow and effortful, they leave less mental bandwidth for higher-level thinking. More on how Fit Learning approaches this below.
For additional suggestions, check out ADDitude Magazine’s Executive Function Worksheet and the Child Mind Institute’s School Success Kit for Kids With Executive Functioning Issues.
How Fit Learning Approaches Executive Function
Fit Learning’s individualized instruction naturally incorporates many of the foundational skills that support executive functioning, including working memory, self-monitoring, cognitive flexibility, and the ability to work independently.
When core skills like reading, math, or writing are slow and effortful, they leave less mental bandwidth for planning, problem-solving, and other higher-level thinking. Fit Learning addresses this directly. Through individualized practice, students build these foundational skills toward fluency, freeing up the cognitive resources needed for the complex work that comes next. Through fluency training, Fit’s method improves learners’ overall agility, or cognitive fitness. This means that students not only learn the academic material at hand, but also are better equipped to continue learning as the concepts become more advanced.
In her book Blind Spots: Why Students Fail … and the Science That Can Save Them, Fit Learning cofounder Kimberly Nix Berens writes, “The more fluent learners become, the better they get at learning in general … We have discovered that learners begin achieving fluency on new skills more quickly as a function of their achieving fluency on prerequisite skills. We have also discovered that accuracy improves more quickly, learners show less variability in performance on new skills, and learners begin engaging in the performance of more complex skills with little to no training required.”
This enhanced ability to learn gets to the heart of why executive functioning is so critical in all aspects of life, not just academics. Every Fit Learning program builds these foundational skills this way. However, for students who need more direct, targeted support with executive functioning specifically, Fit Logic goes a step further. Fit Logic is our dedicated program for developing problem-solving, critical thinking, advanced comprehension, study skills, and other executive-functioning related skills that become increasingly important as students move into more complex academic work.
Everyone Benefits From Enhanced Executive Function
Stronger attention, working memory, self-monitoring, flexibility, and independent learning can benefit students who are struggling academically, students who need additional challenge, and students who simply want to become more efficient and independent learners.
So, learners who benefit from Fit’s instruction include:
- Learners struggling with academic skills
- Children with ADHD, learning differences, slow processing speed, or other identified needs
- Gifted learners ready for greater challenge or enrichment
- Students who are homeschooled or whose parents are considering homeschooling
- Learners who aren’t struggling but want to prevent summer slide or skill regression
- Students seeking stronger independence, study skills, and academic efficiency
Get Executive Function Help for Your Learner in the St. Louis Area
If attention, organization, task completion, or learning difficulties are getting in the way of school success, an individualized Fit Learning assessment can help identify the foundational skills that may be creating the bottleneck. You’ll receive objective data about your learner’s current performance and a clearer picture of where targeted instruction could help. To get started, just contact lab director Janice Smith.
Note that Fit’s programs are available via online instruction as well as in-person at our Creve Coeur learning lab. For more information about our distance learning option, see the Online Services webpage … or give us a call!
Sources and Further Reading:
- Blind Spots: Why Students Fail … and the Science that Can Save Them (Kimberly Berens) – https://www.drkimberlyberens.com/blindspots
- “What Is Executive Function? 7 Deficits Tied to ADHD” (ADDitude) – https://www.additudemag.com/7-executive-function-deficits-linked-to-adhd/
- “Executive Function Worksheet” (ADDitude School Resource) – https://www.additudemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Executive-Function-Worksheet.pdf
- “InBrief: Executive Function” (Harvard University Center on the Developing Child) – https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-executive-function/
- “Key Concepts: Executive Function and Self-Regulation (Harvard University Center on the Developing Child)- https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/
- “School Success Kit for Kids with Executive Functioning Issues” (Child Mind Institute) – https://childmind.org/article/school-success-kit-for-kids-with-executive-functioning-issues/
- “What’s Executive Function – and Why Does it Matter?” (George Lucas Educational Foundation) – https://www.edutopia.org/video/whats-executive-function-and-why-does-it-matter/
More Information
- Parent’s Guide to Fit Learning St. Louis
- Frequently Asked Questions about Fit Learning
- Online Logic Tutoring
- Choosing the Right Fit Learning Program for Your Learner
- Executive Function Skills in Children: Why They Matter and How to Improve Them
- Helping Your Learner Retain What They’ve Learned
- Helping Learners With Slow Processing Speed