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with
Colleen Kessler, M.Ed.
Colleen Kessler, M.Ed.
with
Colleen Kessler, M.Ed.
Colleen Kessler, M.Ed.
“Executive function skills become increasingly crucial as teens and young adults transition through high school and prepare for college or adulthood.”
Supporting Teens and Young Adults
With Executive Function Struggles
“I need you to record one prescreen, write one essay, and finish your part of the Common App by Sunday, and then we’ll meet to touch base on the next steps. I’ll be working on my part of the Common App and can update you about that on Sunday, too.”
My seventeen-year-old is fully entrenched in the college application process, and to make things even tougher for this homeschool mama, she’s planning to pursue a BFA in musical theatre. Like most performance-based degrees in conservatory-style programs, there are the traditional academic applications, along with artistic applications and auditions. It’s a lot.
Throw in all the normal senior year stuff like classes, time with friends, work, social events, and more, and it’s a nightmare for anyone who struggles with executive function skills.
Executive function skills become increasingly crucial as teens and young adults transition through high school and prepare for college. These cognitive processes—such as planning, time management, organization, emotional control, and self-monitoring—play a significant role in determining academic success, personal development, and the ability to navigate new challenges. For homeschooled teens, the need to develop strong executive function skills becomes especially important as they face the additional responsibility of self-directed learning and balancing a variety of tasks.
Teens and young adults are expected to manage complex schedules, tackle advanced coursework, and start preparing for life beyond high school. Unfortunately, many students—particularly those with ADHD, anxiety, or other neurodivergent traits—often struggle with executive function skills during this pivotal period. Homeschooling parents are in a unique position to offer personalized support and intervention, but they must first recognize the signs of executive function struggles and implement strategies that help their teens succeed in school and prepare for the demands of college or adulthood.
As academic demands grow and responsibilities increase, executive function skills often pose big challenges for teens and young adults. Here are some of those struggles, how they can affect your teens, and ways you can help.
Planning and Prioritizing
Signs of Struggle:
- Difficulty creating a plan for completing long-term assignments or projects
- Overwhelmed by multiple tasks and unable to determine which to complete first
- Trouble setting realistic goals and following through with them
Why It Matters:
Planning and prioritizing are essential skills for managing the increased workload of high school and college. Without these skills, teens may fall behind on deadlines, feel overwhelmed, and struggle to balance academics, extracurricular activities, and personal life.
How Parents Can Help:
- Teach backward planning: Encourage your teen to break down large projects or assignments into smaller, manageable steps with deadlines. Working backward from the due date helps them visualize what needs to be done and when it needs to be completed.
- Use tools like planners and apps: Digital tools such as task management apps or physical planners can help teens keep track of assignments, appointments, and goals. Work together to create daily or weekly to-do lists that prioritize tasks based on deadlines and importance.
- Practice realistic goal setting: Help your teens set both short and long-term goals. Encourage them to break larger goals into smaller, achievable steps so they can track their progress and feel a sense of accomplishment along the way.
Organization
Signs of Struggle:
- Frequently losing important papers, assignments, or personal items
- A cluttered workspace that makes it difficult to focus
- Inconsistent study habits and disorganized note-taking
Why It Matters:
Strong organizational skills help students keep track of assignments, deadlines, and study materials. In college, where no one is reminding them to turn in work, organizational systems become even more critical.
How Parents Can Help:
- Create organizational systems: Work with your teen to create a filing system for their schoolwork—whether physical folders or digital ones. This helps them find important documents when needed. Encourage them to organize their study space regularly so that it remains clean and functional.
- Establish study routines: Guide your teen in creating a consistent study routine, including designated times and spaces for work. Encouraging the habit of reviewing notes or materials at the same time each day can improve retention and reduce anxiety around large exams or assignments.
- Model organization: Show your teen how you organize your day, manage tasks, or keep a tidy workspace. Modeling effective organization can motivate them to adopt similar habits.
Task Initiation
Signs of Struggle:
- Procrastination or avoiding starting assignments until the last minute
- Difficulty transitioning from one activity to another, especially when starting schoolwork
- Overwhelmed by big projects and unsure of how to get started
Why It Matters:
Task initiation is the ability to start tasks without unnecessary procrastination. Students who struggle with this may often feel paralyzed by the size of a project or uncertain about how to begin, leading to delays and stress.
How Parents Can Help:
- Break tasks into smaller steps: Help your teen break down overwhelming projects into small, manageable tasks. Starting with something simple can give them a sense of accomplishment and make the larger task feel less daunting.
- Create external motivators: Offer rewards for completing specific steps of a project. For instance, after finishing an hour of work, allow a break to do something enjoyable, like going for a walk or playing a game.
- Use timers: The Pomodoro Technique, where students work for 25-minute intervals with 5-minute breaks in between, can encourage focus while breaking up large tasks into smaller, manageable chunks.
Time Management
Signs of Struggle:
- Consistently underestimating the time needed to complete assignments
- Frequently staying up late to finish tasks they started too late
- Struggling to juggle academics, hobbies, social activities, and family responsibilities
Why It Matters:
Effective time management is essential for balancing the academic demands of high school, extracurricular activities, and social life. In college, without structured class schedules, time management becomes even more crucial to keeping up with assignments and deadlines.
How Parents Can Help:
- Teach time-blocking: Encourage your teen to schedule their day in blocks of time dedicated to different activities. By assigning a specific amount of time to each task, they can better visualize their day and avoid overcommitting.
- Use calendars: Help your teen maintain a physical or digital calendar where they can track upcoming assignments, projects, and events. Visualizing deadlines and important dates helps with planning.
- Monitor distractions: Help your teen identify distractions—whether it’s social media, video games, or other activities—and work together to create strategies for limiting those distractions during study times.
Working Memory
Signs of Struggle:
- Forgetting important instructions or details shortly after hearing them
- Difficulty following multi-step directions
- Struggling to retain information for tests or assignments
Why It Matters:
Working memory is the ability to hold information in the mind while using it to complete a task. Teens with working memory challenges may struggle to keep track of all the information needed to complete assignments or study for exams.
How Parents Can Help:
- Use repetition and review: Encourage your teen to regularly review notes and study materials. Repetition strengthens retention and helps make connections between concepts.
- Visual aids: Encourage the use of sticky notes, charts, or diagrams to keep important information readily accessible. Visual aids can serve as memory triggers during study sessions.
- Chunk information: When teaching new concepts, break information into smaller, more digestible parts. This makes it easier for teens to process and retain the information.
Emotional Control
Signs of Struggle:
- Overreacting to academic stress, such as a bad grade or a difficult assignment
- Difficulty staying calm under pressure
- Feeling anxious or overwhelmed by the demands of high school or college prep
Why It Matters:
Emotional control helps teens manage their responses to stress and setbacks. As they prepare for college, the ability to regulate emotions becomes essential for handling increased academic pressure, social dynamics, and independence.
How Parents Can Help:
- Teach coping mechanisms: Introduce your teen to stress management techniques such as deep breathing, mindfulness, or physical activity. These practices can help them stay calm and focused in the face of challenges.
- Model emotional regulation: Share your own experiences of handling stress and how you manage emotions. Show your teen that setbacks are a natural part of life and provide strategies for coping with disappointment.
- Encourage self-care: Ensure your teen has time to recharge, whether through hobbies, exercise, or time spent with friends. Emotional resilience grows when teens have healthy outlets for stress.
Self-Monitoring
Signs of Struggle:
- Difficulty evaluating their own performance or progress
- Failing to adjust study strategies based on feedback
- Not realizing when they are falling behind on assignments
Why It Matters:
Self-monitoring is essential for college readiness, as students must evaluate their own performance and adjust strategies without constant feedback from teachers or parents. Teens who struggle with self-monitoring may not recognize when they need to change their approach to studying or managing tasks.
How Parents Can Help:
- Encourage self-reflection: After completing assignments or projects, encourage your teen to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. Help them identify areas for improvement and discuss strategies for future success.
- Use feedback loops: Teach your teen how to seek out feedback from peers, mentors, or teachers. Encourage them to use that feedback to adjust their methods or strategies.
- Track progress: Help your teen set personal goals and monitor their progress over time. This could be through journaling, charts, or digital tools that track academic performance.
Ultimately, strong executive function skills will help teens navigate the complexities of adulthood, allowing them to succeed in higher education, the workplace, and their personal lives with confidence and resilience… if we can get through the college musical theatre audition process first!
Join Colleen in The Learners Lab!
A community of parents with differently-wired kids—children and teens who are empathetic, sensitive, brilliant, intensely driven, ambitious, always moving, creative, and ready to take on the world. But they aren’t always easy. They need a different approach. In The Learner’s Lab, you’ll find both the resources and the support you need to help your children succeed and feel more connected as a family.
C
olleen Kessler believes that you are the absolute best teacher there is for your amazing child. The author of more than a dozen books, award-winning educator, educational consultant, and passionate advocate for the needs of differently-wired kids, Colleen has a B.S. in elementary education, an M.Ed. in gifted studies, and is the founder of the popular podcast and website Raising Lifelong Learners and The Learner’s Lab, a membership community for quirky and creative families. Her newest book, Raising Resilient Sons: A Boy Mom’s Guide to Building a Strong, Confident, and Emotionally Intelligent Family can be found anywhere books are sold. Colleen lives in Northeast Ohio with her reading specialist husband, four delightfully differently-wired kiddos, pug, border collie, and an ever-changing assortment of small animals and insects.