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The 45-day challenge: Start school with a mindset for academic success

8/12/2017

David Murphy, M.Ed., Ed.D.

Dr. Murphy is a special education teacher and founder of Effective Effort Consulting. He is a leading provider of ADHD/Executive Function coaching and consulting services on the South Shore and Greater Boston.

The start of school is only a week away. Now is the time to help your child transition from summer mode to school mode. Since self-regulation is a struggle for many children, shifting out of unproductive summer mode into productive school mode can feel quite overwhelming. To support this change in mindset, use what I call, the ‘45-day challenge’. It is a mindset shift that helps children set into motion the necessary habits to start the first 45 days of school. This change in perspective gives you and your child a short term goal to strive towards, which taps their motivation, competitive spirit, and grit.

To do this successfully, you need an agenda and a list of expectations to define the routines with each day. If you need an agenda, Order Out of Chaos is my favorite as it helps students manage both their school and non-school life. Set the expectations right away that you will be referencing the calendar to track progress each day. Creating a daily routine for your child is a little harder as it takes more time and will involve input from your son or daughter. You can use these routine templates and edit them to match the developmental needs* of your child. By helping your child see your expectations within the flow of a typical day, it will give them the reference point they need to aid their decision making and management of commitments and priorities.

Once you have the agenda and school routine set up, then it’s time for a family meeting to discuss the 45-day challenge. Consider these next steps as you help your children establish the right mindset, the right routines, and the right habits to achieve their personal and academic goals this year.

Give the agenda to each child and have them open to the date that’s 45 school days into the school year. Have them write the word ’45-day challenge’ on that date.

Discuss the importance of planning, creating productive routines in life, using a calendar to manage life’s priorities, and setting goals.
Discuss that the 45-day challenge is a goal setting technique to support their efforts to turn positive routines into positive habits and help them achieve their goals.
Discuss their goals and have them write them into their agenda or someplace for it to be posted.
Set nightly times for check-ins with each child to review the day and plan for the next.
Set Sunday family meeting time to reflect on the past week and discuss commitments for the upcoming week.

*for elementary age children and those who struggle with working memory and attention, you may want to use one of these templates.

College Readiness and Executive Function Skills

8/11/2017

David Murphy, Ed.D. and Cristina Evans, M.Ed.

"Only 6 out of 10 students who start college are still enrolled or have graduated 5-6 years later" National Center for Education Statistics.

Years ago applying to colleges and getting accepted was the hardest aspect of the higher education process. Now it is not only challenging to get accepted into a university of your choice, but it is also increasingly difficult to successfully meet academic and personal expectations while enrolled. Dr. Theresa E. Laurie Maitland of the University of North Carolina conducted a study which showed that roughly half of students enrolled in college are at risk of withdrawal, academic probation or taking longer than four years to graduate. Given the cost of enrollment, these statistics should concern us all.

To be on the right side of the 50% who struggle to manage expectations, you must ask yourself, “Is my child ready for college?” What is the plan to ensure success? Please note: HOPE IS NOT A PLAN, especially if your child has any learning disabilities or executive functioning deficits. One of the biggest challenges of the transition between high school and college is the newfound independence. With this newfound independence comes the responsibility to make decisions regarding schedules, meals, exercise, studying, socializing, etc. In some cases, a parent has gradually given their child independence and responsibilities throughout high school to prepare them for the life that awaits them in college. However, many parents of children with ADHD or other challenges often find that it is necessary and easier to manage their children’s lives all through high school for them to find success. It is with these college students that we see the greatest difficulties, as managing expectations on their own for the first time in their lives may prove impossible without some skill building.

Coaches at Effective Effort Consulting (EEC) work with high school and college students to help them develop the necessary skills for success in college and in life. We target the ten domains of college readiness assessed in the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI). We help students develop a detailed action plan to manage academic priorities and find a balance between work time and free time. A vital step in the process is to shift the student into a calendar-based lifestyle. We work with our students to find a suitable online calendar and to then enter all of their academic, personal and social commitments into the system. This process includes scheduling classes, professor office hours, academic support hours, library time, exercise times, meals and social engagements into the system. This calendar should be reviewed daily and shared with a trusted adult to promote accountability.

Another step in the coaching process is to be sure each student is proficient in study skills and note-taking. Often students need training in how to take notes from oral lectures, textbooks, and powerpoint slides. They also need a meaningful system to organize and track their notes and handouts. In terms of study habits, the most effective study habit is to attend all classes and plan two to three hours a day at the library to read, take notes, and complete assignments. By establishing effective zones of productivity (library time) around studying, students can manage distractions and effectively prepare and complete the content for each class.

In addition to mastering the university level academic requirements, students must also be adept at handling their personal lives. A past EEC client called this process “invaluable life skills” (Matt's Story). This process includes the maintenance of an organized room and possessions; management of laundry needs; self-care such as hygiene, healthy eating, exercise, medications, sleep, and friends; balancing emotional needs and stress level; and the management of finances. Methods for maintaining all of these daily living skills should be discussed before entering college and shared with a trusted support team to ensure accountability of the proposed methods.

If your child is a senior or is currently off to college, these are some other recommendations to consider:

See if your child can manage the college application process. If they need help, then they will ask. If they can’t do it, then that’s helpful information about their readiness skills.
Visit the school and tour the library. Help them pick the one location they will do their studying.
Once enrolled, sit down with them and map out their school week and weekends. They will need to know their schedule.
Schedule meetings with college support services and discuss the services that your child qualifies for.
Make sure they have a notebook and folder for each class and that the syllabus for each subject is printed and placed inside each class folder.

Summer --> A great time to develop executive function skills

8/5/2017

We hope you are all having a great summer. Summer is a perfect time of year to relax and regroup before school starts up. It is also a great time of year to quietly work on executive function skills. Below are a few suggestion on how to use summer time as an opportunity to build EF skills.

1. Create a summer routine checklist. A checklist is one of the most effective tools to support working memory and promote the habit of using a visual reference to aide and guide productive decision making. It should be used to help your child manage 'free time' vs. 'productive time', as well as strengthen EF skills in task planning and completion (See attached sample summer routine). Read more about EFD, routines, and breaking down tasks. (Dr. Susan Giurleo)

2. Develop expectations around meaningful family chores. Chores help foster planning and prioritizing, as well as foster independence and family connection. Many students are capable of taking an active role in mealtime prep and clean-up. For example, set a plan for each child to manage dinner one or two nights of the week. Keep it simple, but set the expectations that the meal will be healthy and something everyone can enjoy. Dinner ideas

3. Start using an agenda now to plan and manage summer work and summer activities. It should be used to plan out summer reading, math assignments, trips, and activities. You should expect that your child start using it now.

4. Use the power of positive feedback and praise. Many of our children are well aware of their EF weaknesses. They are reminded everyday of how hard life and school can be. Always try to focus on what is working as you promote effective effort to complete chores, tasks, goals, etc. Use the correct language in your feedback that will foster a growth mindset and grit. Always remind them that failure is part of life and overcoming that failure and adversity is what matters more than anything else. (Video Playlist: Freedom to Fail Forward)

5. Summer is a time to develop and explore strengths. If your child loves animals, they should be helping on a farm. If your child loves computers, they should be building computers and attending computer camp. If your child loves reading or writing, they should be involved in structured opportunities to explore these interests, make friends, etc. Webinar: 4 Ways to Unlock the Strengths of Your Child With ADHD

Next month's topic:

"The 45 Day Challenge: develop an effective mindset for school and life".

Sincerely, Dr. David Murphy

Dr. David Murphy

Dr. Murphy has dedicated his professional career to special education. For over 15 years David has supported the needs of students, parents, and teachers to overcome special education challenges, both inside and outside the classroom.

He founded Effective Effort Consulting in an effort to focus his expertise in helping students and families overcome EFD and achieve their short and long term goals.

He is currently a special education co-teacher living in Duxbury, MA. David and EEC consultants are available to work with clients on days, evenings and weekends.

ADHD Coach
Executive Function Coach
South Shore
Greater Boston

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