Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary 'Executive Skills' Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential

There's nothing more frustrating than watching your bright, talented son or daughter struggle with everyday tasks like finishing homework, putting away toys, or following instructions at school. Your "smart but scattered" 4- to 13-year-old might also have trouble coping with disappointment or managing anger. Drs. Peg Dawson and Richard Guare have great news: there's a lot you can do to help. The latest research in child development shows that many kids who have the brain and heart to succeed, lack or lag behind in crucial executive skills; the fundamental habits of mind required for getting organised, staying focused, and controlling impulses and emotions.

Learn easy-to-follow steps to identify your child's strengths and weaknesses, use activities and techniques proven to boost specific skills, and problem-solve daily routines.

Helpful worksheets and forms can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8½" x 11" size. Small changes can add up to big improvements—this empowering book shows how.

Table of Contents

Introduction

I. What Makes Your Child Smart But Scattered

1. How Did Such a Smart Kid End Up So Scattered?
2. Identifying Your Child's Strengths and Weaknesses
3. How Your Own Executive Strengths and Weaknesses Matter
4. Matching the Child to the Task

II. Laying a Foundation That Can Help

5. Ten Principles for Improving Your Child's Executive Skills
6. Modifying the Environment: A Is for Antecedent
7. Teaching Executive Skills Directly: B Is for Behavior
8. Motivating Your Child to Learn and Use Executive Skills: C Is for Consequence

III. Putting It All Together

9. Advance Organizer
10. Ready-Made Plans for Teaching Your Child to Complete Daily Routines
11. Building Response Inhibition
12. Enhancing Working Memory
13. Improving Emotional Control
14. Strengthening Sustained Attention
15. Teaching Task Initiation
16. Promoting Planning and Prioritizing
17. Fostering Organization
18. Instilling Time Management
19. Encouraging Flexibility
20. Increasing Goal-Directed Persistence
21. Cultivating Metacognition
22. When What You Do Is Not Enough
23. Working with the School
24. What's Ahead?

"Fun to read....This book is quite interactive....Questionnaires are provided both for children (of various ages) as well as parents, so that they can both see their strengths and weaknesses....Techniques to teach executive skills are shown in a step-wise manner, and planning sheets are available throughout the text....Another strength of this book is its focus on the emotional aspect of executive functioning, and providing strategies to bolster the emotional skill set of children....Strongly recommended for any parent who wishes to help their children maximize their potential, even if they do not have identified academic or behavioral struggles."
- Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

"The best parent resource on executive skills that I have seen. As a parent of three children, one of whom has learning disabilities, and as a special education associate who works in the classroom, I highly recommend this book. It shows there is hope for children who are struggling, and offers practical, detailed advice."
- L. Libbey, parent, Hampton, NH

"Drs. Dawson and Guare translate cutting-edge research into meaningful, practical, well-organized, and easy-to-implement strategies that parents can use to enhance a child's natural executive abilities. This brilliant book is by far the best on the topic that I have read to date."
- Russell A. Barkley, PhD, ABPP, author of Taking Charge of ADHD

"If you've ever wondered why your child struggles academically or behaviorally—despite having the 'right stuff' to succeed—this book is essential reading. Drs. Dawson and Guare explain the importance of executive skills and provide science-based strategies that empower you to start helping your child today."
- Sam Goldstein, PhD, coauthor of Raising Resilient Children