We were fortunate to have Ellen Galinsky present a webinar about Promoting Executive Function Life Skills in Early Childhood on April 22, 2015. Many of the participants had questions that we were unable to ask Ellen. She was kind enough to answer them and they are posted below. Here is a link to the recording: Promoting Executive Function Life Skills in Early Childhood- Resources and Tools from Mind in the Making
Q.1. I am looking for common sense and easy to employ strategies for teachers to help children gain some control and engage sufficiently in activities so as to minimize disruption during (especially large group) activities in the preschool classroom. How can we help teachers to understand that these are skills to be taught and that learning some teaching strategies will help?
A.1. The goals of Mind in the Making are to share the science, put the research into action and build a common language among families and professionals to promote executive functions, serve and return, and Life Skills. At mindinthemaking.org, there are several free resources to help teachers understand the importance of Life Skills, like our 7 Essential Life Skills Modules for educating parents and teachers. There are also free downloadable tips and strategies for moving beyond managing challenging behaviors and to use them as opportunities to promote Life Skills. There are also many excellent and free resources from the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University that suggest activities for promoting executive functions across the age ranges.
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Q.2. If development does not happen without relationships, what does that tell us about children with autism?
A.2. The key findings of Mind in the Making apply to all children, regardless of their abilities. Although children with autism may struggle with the social and emotional areas of learning, they absolutely have relationships with people in their lives. Trusting and supportive relationships are developed when parents tune in to their children’s behavior and try to figure out what they are communicating. It is essential that parents, teachers and caregivers look for and build on children’s strengths, rather than focus on what they can’t do. Understood.org has many excellent resources for parents and teachers about supporting children with learning differences by promoting executive functions (i.e., How Autism Relates to Learning and Attention Issues).
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Q.3. Is talking in the singsong way with lots of facial expression only beneficial for babies? What about three and four year olds?
A.3. The research says that talking in “parentese” or “parent-speak” helps children from birth to around five years old process all of the information they are receiving when an adult speaks to them: the words, the emotional tone, the facial expressions, etc. Slowing all of this down through “parent-speak” allows children—who are just beginning to make sense of the world around them—to put it all together. Older children may not need as many cues as infants and toddlers, but will still benefit when adults slow down their speech and are mindful of how much information (serve and return—the back and forth relationship between the adult and the child, where the adult responds to the child’s cues and builds on them to keep the interaction going) they communicate.
Patricia Kuhl of the University of Washington is doing cutting-edge research using brain imaging to study parent-speak and serve and return.
Read the chapter on Communicating in the book Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs, and go to mindinthemaking.org for resources on encouraging this Life Skill.
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Q.4. Discuss the research about executive functions and bilingualism. (e.g., Byolistok’s research)
A.4. Learning to switch between languages—and talk to and connect with people from different backgrounds—relies on cognitive flexibility, focus, memory and self control, all aspects of executive functioning. You can read more about the research of Ellen Bialystock at www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/science/31conversation.html?r_0
Regardless of the language(s) spoken, the conversation is what is most important for children—the give and take, back and forth nature of a conversation.
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Questions regarding permission for video use:
Q.5. I see these little clips say “do not use without permission.” I would like to hear at the end how to get permission and what kinds of permissions can be granted!
Q.5. pt.2 Will these videos be available to use in professional training?
A.5. Bring the Seven Essential Life Skills to your community with the Seven Essential Skills Modules for professionals. The Skills are introduced to communities through Community Facilitator Institutes, three-day Institutes where community leaders will become the Community Facilitators and learn about the Seven Essential Life Skills Modules by directly experiencing them as a prelude to teaching them. Visit http://www.mindinthemaking.org/7-skills-modules/ to learn more.
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Q.6. Ellen, Adele mentioned that executive functions emerge in the preschool years. I provide PD for infant and toddler caregivers. Can you talk about appropriate expectations for infants and toddlers with regard to executive functions and precursors—i.e., what we see in very young children with regard to this topic.
A.6. The beginnings of Focus and Self Control can be seen in the efforts of infants and toddlers to self-regulate, or bring themselves under control. (See T. Berry Brazelton’s work and that of Heidelise Als, both at the Harvard Medical Center.) By tuning in to children’s behavior, adults can build on the strategies that children already use (like calming down when they hold a certain toy) and help them use those tools in other situations.
For more information, see the chapter on Focus and Self Control in the book Mind in the Making and check out the free resources at mindinthemaking.org, like our Prescriptions for Learning, tip sheets that are developmentally appropriate suggestions for dealing with common parenting questions as opportunities to promote Life Skills.
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Q.7. How can we introduce executive function skills to school families (K-8) in ways that support school success? For example, games, activities, websites, etc.
A.7. Check out the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard for a free downloadable activity book with suggestions for promoting executive functions for children birth to adolescence.
There are also lots of great free resources available for parents and families to download at mindinthemaking.org. Prescriptions for Learning for ages birth to 12 are available in both English and Spanish. These are tip sheets for caregivers that answer the most commonly asked parenting questions and approach challenging behaviors as learning opportunities. Book Tips are also available on the website in both English and Spanish for parents to use when reading with their children from birth to age 12. The free app DailyVroom is also a great tool for parents to use with children birth to age five for activities that promote executive functions and serve and return in everyday moments with children.
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Q.8. Has Ellen reviewed any research related to executive function skills and time spent in nature or time outdoors?
A.8. Richard Louv has reviewed research on natural experiences and their impact on child development. You can read more about his work in his book, Last Child in the Woods, or at Children and Nature Network on the web.
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Q.9. I have concern that we do not see early intervention assessment/screenings denoting executive functioning issues, as such. We do not seem to hear it clearly denoted until children are reaching more of the 3rd grade level. How do we get this to change?
A.9. Executive functions emerge along a developmental timeline, beginning in the preschool years as the prefrontal cortex of the brain develops. Philip Zelazo of the University of Minnesota defines executive functions as “a behavioral construct that, broadly speaking, refers to the deliberate, goal-directed control of behavior.” All goal-directed behavior relies on executive functions. Thus, even in very young children, early efforts to achieve a goal—whether it involves regulating emotions or persisting at a task—are helpful indicators of a child’s areas of strength and things to work on as his or her executive functions continue to develop.
Talk about our community surround strategy
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Q.10. What do we do with toddlers to support executive function skills?
A.10. Some ways to support developing executive function skills in toddlers are to play games that involve paying attention and controlling behavior, like moving to music and stopping when the music stops, or playing games like Peek-A-Boo and Simon Says. Playing with open-ended toys, like blocks, and engaging in pretend play are also great opportunities for encouraging flexible thinking, memory, focus and self control.
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Q.11. How does Ellen respond to criticism of the marshmallow test, i.e., saying that it only explains how much children respond and follow authority?
A.11. This is a great question and one that Walter Mischel himself discusses in this interview with The Atlantic.
In the interview, Mischel is asked just that question: “Are some children who delay responding to authority? Could waiting be a sign of wanting to please an adult and not a proxy for innate willpower? Presumably, even little kids can glean what the researchers want from them.” Mischel responds: “Maybe. They might be responding to anything under the sun. But it’s how they respond.” Mischel is focused on the strategies that children use to delay gratification, whether the motivation is external or intrinsic. He recently published a new book, The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control, which details strategies that both adults and children can use to “distract themselves from the treat when they encounter challenges in everyday life.”
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Q.12. A further study of the marshmallow test shows that children who had dependable adults in their lives were able to wait. Those with undependable experiences with adults couldn’t wait.
A.12. Research does show that when children have trusting relationships where they feel safe and supported by the important adults in their lives, they thrive in school and in life. As Jack Shonkoff of Harvard University says:“There is no development without relationships.” In fact, in the late 1990s, the National Academy of Sciences convened a committee of scientists from a number of academic child development perspectives to review the research on young children’s development. In 2000, the book From Neurons to Neighborhoods was published, detailing the scientists’ findings. They write that human relationships “are the building blocks of healthy development.” They conclude: “All of young children’s achievements occur in the context of close relationships with others.”
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Q.13. Are there activities or lessons we can implement in the classroom to build these functions, like the Head to Toe game she talked about?
A.13. Games like the Head to Toes Task that Megan McClelland of Oregon University uses, including Simon Says, Red Light Green Light, Freeze Dance, Musical Chairs and Mother May I—just to mention a few—are all great ways to promote executive functions in the classroom. Switching up the rules of familiar games and asking children to do the opposite or change the speed of what they are doing makes these activities even more challenging. See the free resources at the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard for more activities that promote executive functions throughout childhood and into adolescence.
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Q.14. With regard to Perspective Taking, can you also talk about this Skill in terms of infant and toddler experiences? I’m wondering if the recommendation to work as an adult caregiver and take the perspective of the infant (rather than to try and make infants see from our perspective)—so that children experience what it is like to have someone else take their perspective as a foundation to learning to take the perspective of others as they grow—is sound.
A.14. To promote Perspective Taking in children, adults must first promote the skill in themselves. Children who feel respected, listened to and understood become better able to listen to and understand others, and serve and return promotes this understanding. Research like that of Ross Thompson at the University of California at Davis shows that children whose parents and caregivers talk about feelings have better perspective taking skills. One example of how adults can help children do this is through giving children an emotional vocabulary and labeling their emotions i.e., “It looks like you are feeling sad.”
For more information, see the chapter on Perspective Taking in the book Mind in the Making or look at the work of Alison Gopnik from the University of California at Berkeley.
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Q.15. Here is another infant and toddler focused question. Could you direct us to research on very young children and the foundations of those connection-making experiences in infants and toddlers? Early “maths” are particularly difficult to express in understandable terms to those new to the field.
A.15. Liz Spelke of the University of British Columbia has done research that indicates infants are “wired” to understand approximate numbers, and the work of Rochel Gelman of Rutgers University shows that preschoolers—as young as two and a half—are able to understand the “more versus less” concept. Karen Wynn of Yale University is another leader in investigating children’s understanding of math, and has found that very young children can tell the difference between small amounts of objects.
See the chapter on Making Connections in the book Mind in the Making for more information. Check out Prescriptions for Learning at mindinthemaking.org, as well as the app DailyVroom (joinvroom.org), for more tips and strategies for fostering the Life Skill of Making Connections in infants and toddlers.
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Q.16. What strategies do you use to get parents involved in this area? We have a great deal of problems trying to involve our parents.
A.16. There are many free resources for families available at mindinthemaking.org. Book Tips are available for download in both English and Spanish for parents and teachers to use that align with each skill and cover birth through age12. You can also find Prescriptions for Learning there in English and Spanish. These tip sheets, inspired by the most commonly asked parenting questions regarding children birth through age 12, detail strategies for turning challenging behaviors into opportunities that promote Life Skills. Spread the word with families about the free app DailyVroom, for birth through age five. It sends a personalized tip to parents every day with an activity that promotes serve and return and executive functions. Visit joinvroom.org for more information. There are many great ideas for activities for promoting executive function skills throughout childhood at the website for the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard
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Q.17. If executive function skills may be learned, what impact do they hold for children with ADHD?
A.17. Adele Diamond of the University of British Columbia is conducting a study to determine if an early childhood program that fosters executive functioning skills can reduce the incidence or severity of ADHD. F. Xavier Castellanos (a director of an institute for pediatric neuroscience at the New York University Child Study Center) has been studying ADHD for years and feels that future research must focus on children with ADHD and their difficulties with inhibition, their ability to defer gratification, their working memory and their ability to estimate time—all executive function skills that can be improved through everyday activities. The research seems to indicate that promoting executive functions provides a promising new direction for ADHD. Visit Understood.org for more information and resources on executive functions and children with learning differences, like ADHD.
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Q.18. Going along with that last question, how do we translate to all children with disabilities?
A.18. The key findings of Mind in the Making apply to all children, regardless of their abilities. It is essential that parents, teachers and caregivers look for and build on children’s strengths, rather than focus on what they can’t do. Further, all children need trusting and supportive relationships, and these can be developed through interactions that promote serve and return. For more resources and additional information on how to promote executive functions in children with learning differences, visit Understood.org.
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Q.19. Is Mind in the Making connected to the Tools of the Mind curriculum?
A.19. No, Mind in the Making and Tools of the Mind are not connected, but the work they are doing is an important example of how executive functions can be improved.
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Q.20. Do you think parent overuse of handheld devices when with young children is interfering with the serve and return process?
A.20. Serve and return can be compared to a game of ping-pong. The goal is to keep the conversation going. This takes executive functioning for both of the people involved: focus, listening, self control, etc. Edward Tronick of the University of Massachusetts at Boston demonstrates through his powerful experiment, the Still Face, the importance of eye contact, facial expressions, gesture, tone of voice and words when adults engage with children. This has implications when it comes to overuse of devices, but it doesn’t mean that parents have to be perfectly “in sync” with their children all of the time. In fact, Tronick found that adults and children are only in sync 20% to 30% of the time, and that getting back in sync and reconnecting is a normal part of learning how to relate to others and strengthen relationships. So, while overuse of handheld devices might interfere with serve and return, there are always opportunities for parents to get back in sync.
For more information about children and screen time, read the newest blog from Families and Work Institute on what the science says about kids and screen time.
Also see Lisa Guernsey’s work , visit www.commonsensemedia.org or the Joan Ganz Cooney Center for more information about screen time.
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Q.21. What is the Bright Futures book for pediatricians?
A21. Bright Futures is a guidebook for pediatricians that gives an overview of child development from birth to adolescence and highlights some of the major themes of each age and stage
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Q.22. How can we make this work in single teacher, over populated classes?
A.22 Several communities (including Providence, RI; Fairfax, VA; and the state of Oregon, among others) are having success in implementing Mind in the Making strategies in the classroom. Visit mindinthemaking.org for more information about community sites and training modules for professionals and parents.
Engaging parents is another important key to promoting Life Skills and executive functions in children, in the classroom and outside of it. There are many free resources for caregivers, parents and families also available at mindinthemaking.org, like Prescriptions for Learning (tip sheets for parents that give suggestions for seeing challenging behaviors as learning opportunities). These are available for children birth through age 12 and are in both English and Spanish. There are also free Book Tips, in English and Spanish, available for parents to download as a guide for reading with children birth through age 12. The free app DailyVroom is a great tool for parents. It is a free app that sends a daily, personalized activity to their phone that promotes serve and return and executive functions for children birth through age five. Finally, the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard has an extensive list of activities for parents and teachers to help foster executive function skills in children throughout childhood and into adolescence.
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Q.23. What about tips for children with autism where these skills are very weak?
A.23. The key findings of Mind in the Making apply to all children, regardless of their abilities. It is essential that parents, teachers and caregivers look for and build on children’s strengths, rather than focus on what they can’t do. Further, all children need trusting and supportive relationships and these can be developed through interactions that promote serve and return. Understood.org has many excellent resources for parents and teachers about supporting children with learning differences by promoting executive functions, like this one: How Autism Relates to Learning and Attention Issues
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Q.24. Is there any research about dual language learners being later writers?
A.24. It may be helpful to look at the work of Ellen Bialystock and her findings regarding executive functions and dual language learning
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Q.25. What do you think about placing your two year old in a Spanish immersion school? He has a pretty good grasp of the English language so far. But, to put him in a school where he will not understand the language—with parents who do not speak the language, so, therefore, will not be able to reinforce the language learning?
A.25. For more information on executive functions and bilingualism, see Ellen Bialystock’s research
You may also want to look at the research about how children develop language in the first three years of life, like that of Patricia Kuhl of the University of Washington, Charles Nelson of Harvard Medical School, Anne Fernald of Stanford University and the work of Catherine Snow and her colleagues at Harvard University.
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Q.26. Are there any resources for middle school teachers to help them understand why my son (age 13) has executive functioning problems and ADD?
A.26. The Center for the Developing Child at Harvard has a free downloadable activity book filled with ideas for promoting executive function skills throughout childhood and into adolescence.
Understood is also a wonderful organization dedicated to promoting executive functions in children with learning differences. Their website has lots of resources for parents and teachers. You may also want to look at the work of Adele Diamond of the University of British Columbia. She is an expert on ADD and executive functions. Ellen (Galinsky)’s new book, due out in the fall of 2016, will focus on how to promote executive functioning and Life Skills in adolescents.
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