We Encourage Parental Support for Smarter Thinking in Our Latest Edutopia Post

As Donna Wilson and I point out in our latest blog post for Edutopia, students spend much more time outside of school than they do in the classroom. That's why partnering with parents is so important to enhancing a child's executive function and putting them on a path toward smarter thinking.

One of the ongoing and underlying threads in our work is the focus on helping students learn how they can become "the boss of their brains." Parents can help with this endeavor by reinforcing important messages and strategies that help their children take charge of their thinking.

In the Edutopia blog post, we cite several strategies for parents to use at home that will support efforts at school to enhance development of executive function. They include:

• Be the learner that you want your child to be. Show your child how you use executive function to solve problems in daily life.
• Learn out loud. Model problem solving, planning and organizational strategies as an example for your child.
• Apply classroom learning to life outside school. Children may not realize that what they are learning in class has practical applications in real life. Show them how math and science allows them to solve everyday problems.
• Create an ideal study space. By organizing a space and time for studying and reading in the home, you reinforce the need for doing homework in an environment without distractions.

Learn additional strategies by reading the entire blog post, "Engaging Parental Support for Smarter Thinking," at the Edutopia blog.