While our staff feels that some of the best information about executive functions can be found right here on the LearningWorksforKids.com site, we recognize that there are many other great sources of information and websites about executive functions. Given that psychologists cannot agree on a standard definition for executive functions, there are many perspectives about how executive functions impact education, attention, social and emotional development, and organization. Each of the sites we have described below provides a unique perspective on executive functions.
Of course, here at LearningWorks for Kids, we add our own perspective about how parents, educators, and clinicians might use digital media and screen time to improve executive functions in children and teens. We also provide educators and clinicians with information about executive functions that they can use in their work with children. We encourage you to learn as much as you can about executive functions as psychologists and educators do agree about one thing: executive functioning skills are the key to success in the 21st-century world. As you explore these sites you’ll find that they are focused primarily on children, but others also provide information directly to adults with executive functioning difficulties
Executive Function and Self-Regulation
This article published by Harvard University is another great resource for executive functioning. They interestingly compare executive functions to an air traffic control system at a busy airport. In the same way that this system at a busy airport has to create an organized system amid confusion and distractions, our executive functions help us filter distractions, prioritize tasks, set and achieve goals, and control impulses.
This article posted on understood.org shares an abundance of information on what executive functioning is. This article shares both written information, as well as some videos explaining what executive functioning is in an easy to understand way. They also share signs, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of executive function issues.
The 3 Areas of Executive Function
Yet another great article on Executive Functioning posted by understood.org. In this article, they explore the 3 areas of executive function, which consist of working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control.
Strategies for Strengthening the Brain’s Executive Functions
This article, published on edutopia, does a really great job of addressing executive functions in terms of strategies for in the classroom. This could be a great resource for parents, to educate them on executive functions as well as strategies that could be tested in the classroom, as well as for teachers.
This website provides its unique definition of executive functions, as one common definition does not currently exist. The website features a complete list of the 12 executive functions with minor descriptions. These executive functions include flexibility, metacognition, organization, planning, working memory, sustained attention, and more.
This article published on the Brown ADHD Clinic website offers a new understanding of ADHD and executive functions known as “The Brown Model.” Dr. Brown developed this model to explain how most people with ADHD report considerable struggles with a number of the executive function clusters laid out by Dr. Brown.
The Science of Smart: A Surprising Way to Improve Executive Function
This article, published on pbs.org, focuses on potential strategies to improve executive functioning. The article breaks these suggestions up into three major populations: school-aged children, young adults, and older adults.
