Fairfax Early Childhood Partnership's January 5-4-3-2-1 Early Childhood Tips for Today!

Fairfax County Public Schools sent this bulletin at 02/01/2022 05:58 PM EST

Supporting Executive Functioning in Preschoolers

5 Things to Know or Do 5 Things to Know or Do:

  1. Executive functioning refers to a set of skills that promote self-control, planning, focusing, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Executive functioning can be thought of as the management system of the brain that helps us organize and manage day to day tasks.
  2. Play games with your child such as Simon Says, Red Light-Green Light, and Freeze games.  These games help develop a child’s ability to pay attention, remember rules, and use self-control.
  3. Promote creativity by providing open-ended materials for your child to create and build on their own. Open-ended materials are items that do not have a pre-determined use (for example, a box of Lego blocks instead of a specific Lego building set).
  4. Ask your child open-ended questions about their play or creations such as “Tell me about..” “What do you think …” , “How do you know…”
  5. Praise your child’s effort “You are working hard on that puzzle” and not intelligence by avoiding broad statements such as “Good job”, or “You must be smart”. This supports your child to develop a growth mindset. “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work – brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment”. (Carol Dweck, 2015)

4 Children Read Alouds 4 Children Read Alouds

  1. It Looks Looked Like Spilt Milk - Charles Shaw (Making Connections) It Looked Like Spilt Milk is a book full of white images against a royal blue background that look like spilt milk, a bird or a tree, but aren’t any of these objects. This book will keep children guessing and then coming up with their own creative games.  
  2. I Can Do It Too! - Karen Baicker (Self-Directed and Engaged Learner) I Can Do It Too! shares a child’s joy in being able to do things that her family members can do—like pour juice, get dressed and kiss “ouches” goodbye. It is a tribute to what it feels like to become more independent.
  3. Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal - Paul Fleischman and Julie Paschikis (Perspective Taking) Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal is the much-loved Cinderella story told through the traditions of many different lands.
  4. My Truck is Stuck - Kevin Lewis (Taking on Challenges) With rhyming text and bright illustrations, young children and their caregivers will enjoy finding out just how stuck one big red dump truck can be. As more and more passing travelers pitch in to help, readers will appreciate the subtle plot twists and counting lessons.

3 Links to Visit 3 Sites to Visit

  1. Mind in the Making 7 Essential Life Skills
  2. Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills With Children from Infancy to Adolescence
  3. Child Mind Institute:  Executive Function

2 Points to Access Research 2 Videos to View

  1. Inbrief: Executive Function: Skills for Life and Learning (Harvard University)
  2. How to Build Executive Function Skills in Preschool (Edutopia: George Lucas Educational Foundation (edutopia.org))

1 Video to View 1 Point of Research to Access

  1. Center on the Developing Child/Harvard University