BACK TO SCHOOL
By Angela Young BA MSc
Managing the
Scattered
F
Tween
or the average person, it may seem that I’m
speaking a foreign language, but for those of
us who are dealing with a teen who fits the fol-
lowing description:
• Loses handouts
• Misses assignments
• Unable to find or locate belongings
Frequently asks for rides back to campus
because they forgot their text book
…then, we are in the “know”. So, let
me share my story:
Our first year in middle school was
full of challenges—all of which centered
on disorganization or as commonly re-
ferred to by psychologists as poor execu-
tive skills. (I’ll explain that later.)
From the missed assignments and
frequent detentions to the weekly evening
drives back to school to find some exercise
book, I thought I was going to lose my mind
while my patience levels were running on
fumes! But, I kept telling myself:
“Hey, transitioning from
elementary school to
middle school is not easy.
After all, these middle
school students were
tossed into a new system:
the “day” cycle as well
as a rigorous academic
format.”
While other
students seemed to
find their rhythm with
46
ease, my sweetie was drowning—and I saw
it. And, it is because I saw first-hand what
goes on with a tween who has poor execu-
tive skills that I knew I had to develop a
plan of action for the new academic year!
Let me jump in now and explain that
Executive Functioning is simply our
ability to plan, prioritize (time manage-
ment) and organize ourselves into
action in order to achieve our desired
goals. Research shows that as we
develop from birth, our brain cells
develop these skills as we grow up.
However, sometimes these skills are
not developed—and then, some of
our young people simply need to be
taught these skill sets. As the psycholo-
gists and authors of Smart but Scat-
tered Teens so eloquently explained:
“Teenagers who practice executive skills
are not only learning self-management
and independence, but in the process are
also developing
brain struc-
tures that will
support their
executive
skills into later
adolescence and
adulthood.”
In other
words, the
same skills our
kids use to com-