Parents – does this sound like you?
- I don’t understand how you’ can get 100% on your math test but you forget to turn in your homework every day!
- You’re so great a building complex Lego kids, but why can’t you organize and clean your room better?
- The refrigerator is RIGHT THERE! Please just open it and put the milk back in next time rather than leaving it on the counter.
If so, then you are most definitely NOT alone!
Some of these skills may seem like common sense. Skills in one area, like math or tinkering and building, are strengths for our children. But these skills don’t necessarily translate to other important areas of functioning, like remembering to turn in homework or organizing a messy room (which have nothing to do with intelligence).
When looked at through a lens of discreet skills that are actively developing in our children, then we see a more comprehensive picture than just “smart” or “logical.” We start to see our children’s skills of organization, time management, working memory, and planning. Then, we can start to provide direct and specific strategies to support the development of these skills.
Called executive functions (EFs), these can set your child up for not only school success but for life success, as well. These higher-level thinking skills, like working memory, planning, and attention, are so important that the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University reports that “individuals and society experience lifelong benefits” when opportunities to learn and practice EF skills are presented. And research backs up that EF skills can be explicitly taught (Takas, Z. K. & Kassai, R, 2019).
WashU’s Program in Occupational Therapy offers just such an opportunity for your 9-16 year old each summer. The Train Your Brain summer camp is a week-long, half-day program for your child (with or without a diagnosis that affects EF skills) that explicitly teaches time management, planning, goal setting, and organization through engaging STEM projects. Different than other science or STEM summer camps, Train Your Brain uses STEM projects as a means to an end of learning EF strategies that campers can take with them to use at home and school.
So if you see yourself in the statements at the beginning of this article, take a look at the Train Your Brain summer camp and consider giving your child an opportunity to learn and practice important life skills.