Ebook: Smart but scattered: the revolutionary ''executive skills'' approach to helping kids reach their potential

Scientists who study child development have recently found that kids who are "smart but scattered" lack or lag behind in crucial executive skills-the core, brain-based habits of mind required to "execute" tasks like getting organized, staying focused, and controlling emotions. Drawing on this revolutionary discovery, school psychologist Peg Dawson and neuropsychologist Richard Guare have developed an innovative program that parents and teachers can use to strengthen kids' abilities to plan ahead, be efficient, follow through, and get things done. Smart but Scattered provides ways to assess children's strengths and weaknesses and offers guidance on day-to-day issues like following instructions in the classroom, doing homework, completing chores, reducing performance anxiety, and staying cool under pressure. Small steps add up to big improvements, enabling these kids to build the skills they need to live up to their full potential. More than 40 reproducibles are included.;Introduction -- Part I: What makes your child smart but scattered -- How did such a smart kid end up so scattered? -- Identifying your child's strengths and weaknesses -- How your own executive skill strengths and weaknesses matter -- Matching the child to the task -- Part II: Laying a foundation that can help -- Ten principles for improving your child's executive skills -- Modifying the environment : A is for antecedent -- Teaching executive skills directly : B is for behavior -- Motivating your child to learn and use executive skills : C is for consequence -- Part III: Putting it all together -- Advance organizer -- Ready-made plans for teaching your child to complete daily routines -- Building response inhibition -- Enhancing working memory -- Improving emotional control -- Strengthening sustained attention -- Teaching task initiation -- Promoting planning and prioritizing -- Fostering organization -- Instilling time management -- Encouraging flexibility -- Increasing goal-directed persistence -- Cultivating metacognition -- When what you do is not enough -- Working with the school -- What's ahead?