🧠 Building Executive Function Skills to Support Learning

These are the mental processes that help us plan, focus attention, remember instructions, manage time, and stay organised.

For some children, especially those with learning differences such as ADHD, autism, or dyslexia, these skills can take longer to strengthen. Even very capable learners can find it tricky when there are lots of steps to remember or when routines change.

Our teachers and support staff are working alongside students to grow these skills in practical, encouraging ways, such as:

✅ Using visual checklists or step-by-step plans
✅ Breaking larger tasks into smaller, manageable parts
✅ Offering timers or gentle reminders to help with focus
✅ Teaching students to pause and plan before starting a task
✅ Celebrating effort, progress, and persistence

You can help at home too. Routines, visual timetables, and clear expectations all make a big difference.

Encouraging your child to talk through what they need to do and praising their effort rather than perfection helps build independence and confidence.

You might say:
“What’s the first thing you need to get ready for school?”
“Let’s make a quick plan — what will you do after homework?”
“I like how you kept trying, even when it was tricky.”

“You remembered your steps all by yourself!”
“You worked really hard to stick with that — ka pai for keeping going!”
“You’re getting really good at planning what to do next.”

If you’d like support, ideas, or strategies to help your child at home, please get in touch with me at kferguson@kaikorai.school.nz.