Executive functioning (EF) is a hot topic that has received a great deal of airtime in recent years. But what is it, and why is it so important that it warrants our time and attention? 

Executive functioning skills—planning, organization, emotional regulation, and self-control, to name a few—are the brain’s command center, guiding everything from completing homework to managing big emotions. Essentially, EF is the group of mental skills that allow people (children and adults) to complete tasks. Strong EF skills correlate with success in academics, friendships, and even future careers. If you are accessing and using your EF skills, then you are smoothly navigating learning, social interactions, and daily life skills more successfully!

People use executive functions to do everything, and the great news is: these skills can be taught. Research shows that the more humans practice a skill, the better they are at using it (practice makes progress!) Practice and repetition strengthen neural pathways—and this applies to executive functioning just as it does in athletics, academics, etc. Additionally, research shows that children’s brains continue to develop until about 25 years of age. This means there is ample time and opportunity to help build these skills in students and children, and at Rye Country Day we do just that with intention and purpose!

RCD-EF
From Pre-K to Grade 12 at RCDS, executive functioning skills are fostered in each division and infused into the curriculum and daily lives of our students.

● In the Lower School, executive functioning skills are taught implicitly throughout the day,
whether the student is in the classroom, on the field, or on the stage. Students work on skills like
time management, organizing their spaces and belongings, or outlining ideas before writing, all with directed support from their teachers. As the students move through the Lower School, students take on more and more of these skills and need less guidance or repetition to make them
their own. This helps prepare them for Middle School.

● In the Middle School, EF skills are taught explicitly through the curriculum and with the expertise
of our Study Skills Coordinator, Ms. Sarah Peck, in conjunction with a content teacher. For example, students are taught how to use homework planners to plan, prioritize, and organize homework demands. Students are also taught how to study for assessments and use the study guides as a working tool. The goal is to make these routines into habits to empower our Middle School students and equip them for success in their Upper School years.

● In the Upper School, students are taught EF skills such as furthering their outlining skills for an
essay to support organization, planning, and time management in writing. Additionally, building self advocacy skills to support needed metacognition and goal-directed persistence is a top priority.

THE KEY: ROUTINE
A throughline to our approach to EF at RCDS is routine. By design, EF skills become part of
daily routines in each division. This is because routines help take the pressure off practicing EF skills. If skills can become rote and done without much thought, then working memory is freed up to tackle other tasks. Routines can also be implemented at home. For example, for Lower School
students, children may want to put their backpack in the same location when they get
home from school. This simple routine will make it easier to get out the door to school the
next day. (No one is spending time and energy searching for a backpack, and we know
exactly where it is.) Similarly, having a designated distraction-free homework
space at home can also set your child up for success. This puts the mental energy on doing homework as opposed to getting organized to do it. Understanding executive functioning isn’t just about improving homework habits; it’s about equipping students with the tools they need to navigate life with confidence and independence. For example, routines help to organize children—and adults—so they can spend less time getting ready for tasks and more time engaged in them! And research resoundingly tells us that being more present or engaged in life is continually linked to satisfaction, joy, and success. This is particularly why RCDS prioritizes equipping our students with EF skills and tools. We want to give our students tools that
set them up for academic success and lifelong independence.