Before you hire anyone I would start with the basics. The phone needs to be out of the room she’s working in during homework. She needs good sleep so if you aren’t having her leave her phone with you at night I would do that. I’m a food nut too so I would just make sure she’s eating well and not skipping meals or snacking endlessly on junk food. I’d make sure she’s using her calendar and is organizing her schoolwork well. Help her with making lists, plans of attack for her homework, and HOW to study, it’s a learned skill!
My now 20yr old struggled with executive functioning skills, still does to a point, and when she was in 9th grade I had her sit at the dining room table to do her homework. It was quiet and there were few distractions and I was there if she needed help.
She’ll be ok, it can be a rough transition to high school!
For kids that truly have executive function defects, it goes beyond that.
S23 had no distractions and good work habits. What he needed to learn was how to “attack” his work, estimate how long it would take, know when it was done (did he do too much or too little?), how to prioritize his time, how to figure out how to manage his time (because if you have executive functioning deficits, it’s hard to figure out how long things realistically take and how you can “chunk” activities). There’s a lot more to it than just “buckling down”.
Another thing an executive function coach was helpful with was teaching him to advocate for himself. Often our kids our carrying loads that are too big for a 14 year old (freshman). Our EF coach was able to sit down with my son and talk to him about what activities and self care he felt were priorities and help him to figure out how to fit that into his schedule. She also spoke to all of us what was “reasonable” and that staying up until after midnight was counterproductive. Not every kid (most kids) should be taking 3+ APs at a time.
Oh absolutely. I just think there are things to try before hiring help. Like I said, my daughter really does struggle with executive functioning and she’s had support both in college and high school. The things I suggested are just a starting point.
