The Executive Function Podcast

I don’t think we’ll soon forget the 2020 school year, most likely for its spectacularly strange ending with distance learning. At every transition in time, it’s important to take a little while to reflect on what went wonky, what went right, and what we learned. This week on the podcast, we’re doing a review of the 2019-2020 school year and its indications for executive function. All my love, Sarah

Have you ever wondered where students who can't *yet* function in regular public school settings go? Who helps them? What makes those programs a better fit for their needs? Listen, I'm  not going to pretend that all programs for students with "extreme" needs are quality. It's just not true. But, there are some that are top notch and have amazing people leading them! This episode interviews one of these amazing people, Mike Laharty. In our talk, we explore: 

"Brain stealers" are designed to capture your attention and keep it. Things like video games, apps, and platforms can hijack our kids' brains and create a struggle at home. Instead of fighting against brain stealers (you will lose!), you can own their power by allowing them at certain times. This episode is just as much for adults as kids! Jump in and strategize this week's struggle! All my love, Sarah 

If you and your children are feeling bored and blue while sheltering in place, this episode is for you. Learn two things you can do right now to help improve your child's focus and attention! You know what you won't learn because they don't work long term? Yelling and punishing! What does work is a little bit of detective work, reflecting on what goes right, and...fun. Yup, fun matters. There's brain science to back it up. Get out of your rut and join our tribe for this week's quick episode! Hey kid pep talk is at 11:13. All my love, Sarah

If I've grown over the 16 years I've been teaching, much of it is due to seeds planted by an inspiring, authentic, and upbeat expert named Patty Schetter. This interview with Patty explores her perspectives on supporting kids with executive function needs, what she's found to help them thrive, and a funny fail she will always remember. Links for more information on Patty's books and her work with CAPTAIN autism will be at sarahkesty.com/blog/episode20. All my love, Sarah

Is helping your child with Distance Learning making you feel like you're back in school? You're not alone. The amount of work varies school to school, teacher to teacher.  Then there's the technology frustations. Links don't work. PDFs don't load. And what was this about finding assignments in one place, doign the work in another, and then turning it in in yet another spot onlne? This week's podcast has your back, with tried-and-true strategies to organize workload and make a plan for success. We got this, together! All my love, Sarah

Now that we are quite literally with our loved ones 24/7, the small annoyances we used to be able to ignore might just be too much to handle. On this week's show, we discover strategies to actually solve "annoying" or "bad" behaviors, rather than just putting them on pause. You'll learn what the behavior hole is and why just demanding that your kid (or partner) "stop it!" might be pushing them into the hole.

Can't wait to strategize the struggle with you! All my love, Sarah

Learn Executive Function strategies to create a home learning schedule that works for your family! We'll go over how much time your kid can work total and in small chunks, how social time is actually, like, totally necessary for the teen brain (eye roll), and how to get your kids to help create a schedule they will actually follow! This isn't the Instragram, perfect, every-minute-planned schedule. We're setting up routines to get your life back on track while your kids are schooling at home. This is a meaty episode, so there are lots of resources linked in the show notes. All my love, Sarah

Special guest episode: Two Education Technology experts on the best apps and supports for distance learning! Kristin Oropeza and Karyn Fillhart share strategies for teachers and students across all grade levels and abilities. All resources are linked at my blog: sarahkesty.com/blog/episode16. All my love, Sarah

As we navigate the distance learning world, we need to strategize how to best support our students with learning, attention, or executive function challenges. This episode lays out the Top 7 accommodations we use at school to help bridge learning gaps and ensure success. Reach out if you need me! sarah at sarahkesty dot com. All my love, Sarah