PARENTS

Parent’s Comprehensive Guide to LearningWorks for Kids  

Excessive video game playing does NOT help kids develop real life skills…However, parents can guide their children’s use of digital technologies to enhance their critical thinking and self-regulatory skills known as executive functions. LearningWorks for Kids recommends the following steps:

1. Learn about executive functions and practice using digital technologies that require the use of executive functions;
2. Educate yourself regarding coaching and motivating your child;
3. Limit your child’s “screen time”;
4. Use LearningWorks for Kids guides to help apply, generalize and maintain game-based executive skills to the real world.

Parents play a critical role in the development of children’s executive functions. The LearningWorks for Kids process of using children’s digital technology engamement to enhance executive functioning skills does not presuppose that simply playing or using digital technologies will increase a child’s executive function. In fact, the current research suggests that many alternative learners may be less skilled in using executive functions in their use of digital technology/game play than their peers. LearningWorks for Kids asserts that a combination of a child’s engagement with digital technologies and a set of learning strategies--including previewing, coaching, peer tutoring and self-observation--amplifies the impact of digital technology use on the development, generalization, and maintenance of executive functions in a child’s real world.

While parents may have expertise and experience that facilitates the teaching of executive functions, such as planning, organization, and task persistence, they are generally far less knowledgeable than their children in the use of digital technologies. The goal of LearningWorks for Kids is not to have parents attempt to teach their children how to use a particular video game or digital technology, but instead to coach them in how they learn from these tools. 

The role of coaching is crucial in effectively translating digital technology use to executive function enhancement. Coaching refers to a process that encourages self-discovery, child-generated solutions, and strategies for problem solving. The LearningWorks for Kids model provides a roadmap with recommended technologies and games that focus on specific executive functions. 

Next, we have developed specific coaching guides for games and technologies that direct parents and teachers in a step-by-step process including observation, listening skills, and questions to encourage a child’s growth and development of executive functioning skills.  Certainly, when it comes to the use and mastery of digital technologies, our children are likely to be more knowledgeable and serve as better teachers than their parents. Parents can provide assistance and strategies to train executive functions by following specific game and digital technology coaching guides. These coaching strategies apply also to teachers and peer tutors. The training is simple, intuitive, and well documented.

Part I – Learning about Executive Functions and Practicing Using Executive Functions in Digital Technology

Prior to starting a formal coaching plan with your child, it is best to set the stage for teaching executive function skills through the use of digital technologies. These procedures are simple but do require a commitment of time and energy. It is recommended that parents set aside 45 minutes to an hour for preliminary training. 

Step 1:  Educate yourself about executive functions and their impact upon children with attention, organizational, learning, and self-regulatory difficulties.  Review  the LearningWorks for Kids sections on executive functions. If your child has a specific learning, attentional or emotional difficulty, refer to that section as well. In addition, there are many books and web based articles that will further your knowledge. Click here for resources.

Step 2: Learn about how many digital technologies require the effective use of executive functions. Review the Play and Digital Technology portion of our website. For further resources, click here.

It will also be helpful if you practice using executive functions with digital technologies. Play a few internet and video games. (See suggestions.) Try out your child’s video game or hand-held console, program your cell phone, pay attention to how you explore the Internet on a topic of interest. In general, develop an awareness of how you are using executive functions with digital technologies.

Part II—Coaching, Engaging and Motivating Your Child

Step 1: Educate yourself about coaching. Review the “how to” Coaching Guides in our website.  Practice these coaching strategies in other areas such as with your child’s involvement in sports, arts or hobbies.  For further resources, click here.

Step 2: Engage your child in the LearningWorks for Kids process. Provide the child with explicit instruction about what you will be doing and what your intentions are for your work together. There is a wealth of educational research that indicates that many alternative learners do not independently use the most effective executive functions and may have difficulty in observing their own problem solving behaviors. Review the Practicing Executive Functions and Talking to Kids About Executive Functions sections of the website to help engage the child in discussion.

Step 3: Get your child involved and motivated by a Growth Mindset.* (*Explained in the next paragraph.) Have her/him play with the LearningWorks for Kids e-learning module on executive functions. This serves to help the child identify his/her executive strengths and weaknesses. The coaching process is a partnership, and coaching executive function development requires ongoing motivation and effort.  Help him/her to believe that this process will result in improved performance and demonstrable benefits at home and school.

Effort can be enhanced by developing a growth mindset.  Individuals with growth mindsets believe that talents and abilities can be increased over time through sustained work and effort.  (Carol Dweck 2006)  Growth mindset implies that rather than talents--or in this case executive functions--being inborn skills, they can be taught and practiced.  The research on growth mindsets indicates that people who believe that their personality or skills can change are more likely to deal with problems in a constructive way, help people to work on solving a problem in a relationship or at work, and assist them in resolving to improve.

In order to help your children develop a growth mindset, it is important to praise them for their efforts rather than their talents.  Encouraging children to learn from their mistakes, helping them resolve to do better the next time they try something and to embrace new challenges whether one is successful or not, all lead to the development of a growth mindset. For more information, click here.           

Part III—Limiting (and replacing) Screen Time

Step 1: Allow your child a specified amount of time per day for computer and video games.  This will make the opportunity to engage in the prescribed LearningWorks for Kids games and technologies more enticing.  Keep in mind that the digital technologies LearningWorks for Kids describes in our guides are amongst the most popular games/tools for kids.  So the combination of inherent appeal and the limited opportunity will make the chance to engage in the prescribed LearningWorks for Kids games and technologies all the more enticing.

Step 2: Make it Fun.  This is an opportunity for involvement with your child in a place of his/her choosing.  Children who are frequently engaged in computer and video games often do not play these games with their parents or talk to their parents about them.  As the LearningWorks for Kids process progresses, children will have the opportunity to select games on their own.

Part IV—Play, Talk and Apply

Step 1: Familiarize yourself with the specific LearningWorks for Kids games.  As a coach you do not need to be an expert at the game or digital technology, but some general knowledge is helpful for the purposes of discussion.  At a minimum, read the coaching guides; if possible, try out the game.

Step 2:  Preview the game for the child.  Reading the LearningWorks guides helps you to preview the game for the child. The process of previewing is an integral part of the LearningWorks process.  Previewing has been widely researched as an important component of teaching reading skills to children who have problems with reading comprehension.  Each coaching guide provides a script for the parent preview.  The preview describes the major executive functions necessary for successful game play and also sets the stage for making the connection between using these strategies in game play and how they are used in a child’s real-world environment.