The weeks between Thanksgiving, the Winter Holiday and the New Year can feel like a whirlwind. There are so much exciting parties, vacations, family events and concerts to attend. For children who struggle with executive functioning skills, like managing time, organizing and planning, this time of the year can feel overwhelming.
But your children can stay on track and enjoy this magical season with the implementation of a few solid and intentional strategies. This will help your children feel more confident.
For additional support and step-by-step hands-on method, check out my online course on building organization and self-regulation. It’s perfect for teachers and parents who are looking for actionable, ADHD-friendly tools.
Actionable Steps:
#1. Break It Down
Instead of giving your children a large task, explaining the assignment and having them get to work right away, break the task down into manageable pieces.
For example, instead of saying, “make a winter holiday collage,” chunk it up in the following way.
- First cut up the pictures in this magazine.
- Glue them on this page.
- Don’t leave white space.
- Write your name at the back.
- Put it on my desk when you complete it.
Giving your students clear instructions that are broken down using simple language. This will make it easier for your child to celebrate small wins instead of forgetting what to do and feeling anxious about the task.
#2. Create Seasonal Stations
Create stations that students can go to if they finish their work early, need a more challenging task or need a simple one. If they are seasonal related, your students may enjoy them even more.
Label all of the bins clearly and let your children know what’s in each bin so that don’t need to spend time fumbling around and can go to the bin that they need right away.
#3. Practice Time Understanding Skills
December can feel rushed, which makes it difficult for children to understand how long a task should take.
Take an assignment, estimate how long it will take to complete an assignment and then and time it. After, compare the answers. This builds self-awareness and develops time-management skills.
If you turn it into a game like this, your students will have fun instead of seeing it as a chore.
Recap:
Let’s recap really quickly. Today, we looked at the following:
- The reason why it’s important to focus on caring for your child whose struggling with the executive functioning skills.
- How to support executive functioning organization through December chaos: break it down, create seasonal stations, and practice time understanding skills.
Free Resources:
For a taste of the resources that were mentioned in step two, check out the following resource in my FREE Education Resource Library.
Teach your little ones how to make good choices with the following FREE Resource:
Next Steps:
If you found this video beneficial, would you do me a favor? Share this with your family, your friends, your loved ones, your co-workers or someone who you think could benefit from this. Thank you!
I’ll see you next Friday at 5:30pm PST.
Until I see you next time, remember to create, experience & teach from the heart.
Take care,
Charlotte
Disclaimer: I’m a teacher and a parent. I’m not a medical professional, so please don’t take this as medical advice. The advice that I provide in my videos and online are strategies that I have used in my own class or at home that have worked beautifully.
