A Note from Dr. Johnson ...

Over the past decade, more and more research has focused on the role of executive function in children (e.g., Doebel & Muller, 2023) and its role in reading (Barber et al., 2021). Executive functions are like the "control center" for a child's brain. They help manage their thoughts, actions, and emotions so they can learn, play, and interact successfully with others. These skills take time to develop, but only with practice and support. There are several big parts to executive functions, depending on who you read:

1. SUSTAINED ATTENTION: Ability to maintain attention despite distractibility, fatigue, or boredom.

2. WORKING MEMORY: Holding information in your mind while performing complex tasks.

3. FLEXIBLE THINKING: To move freely from one situation to another and to think flexibly in order to respond appropriately to the situation.

4. SELF‐MONITORING/INHIBITION: The ability to monitor one's own performance and to measure it against some standard of what is needed or expected. The ability to stop one's own behavior at the appropriate time, including stopping actions and thoughts.

5. ORGANIZING/PLANNING/INITIATING: The ability to impose order on work, play, and storage spaces. The ability to manage current and future-oriented task demands. The ability to begin a task or activity and to independently generate ideas, responses, or problem‐solving strategies.

When children develop strong executive functions, they can stay organized, manage their time more effectively, solve problems, and persist through challenges. These are the skills that make everyday life—and school—run more smoothly.