Let's SING to LEARN! If you have been to any of my executive function workshops, you know I love to sing songs with students to teach them about their self-regulation, attention, memory, planning, and cognitive flexibility. Moving and singing in time with peers provides a valuable opportunity to practice beat competency, self-regulation, and focused attention. Music naturally engages multiple attention and memory systems simultaneously. When cognitive skill lessons are embedd

Just in case my newsletter today didn't reach you, here is what I shared with our executive function community. Good Day Colleagues, It's a beautiful day for sharing resources with you all to support children's cognition and learning. We finished our Executive Function curriculum for the classroom. It's heading to the publisher for design. Can't wait to share that with you. I hired a wonderful artist to design the "My Attention Engine" storybook that goes with our FREE Exe

Every student knows the feeling: you're sitting in class, trying to pay attention, and suddenly you realize you have no idea what the teacher just said. Your mind wandered off to lunch, or last weekend, or that thing your friend said at recess. And then comes the familiar thought: What makes me so distracted? Here's what every child—and every teacher—needs to know:   Attention shifts from moment to moment. When you raise your awareness of when you are focused and why your bra

Visual Processing Skills: Building Blocks for Learning and Development Visual processing encompasses a sophisticated set of cognitive abilities that allow children to make sense of the visual world around them. These skills work together as an integrated system, enabling everything from reading and writing to navigating playground equipment and solving math problems. Understanding these skills helps educators, clinicians, and parents recognize both strengths and areas where c

According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), approximately 25% (1 in 4) of all children have a vision problem significant enough to impact their learning. While exact numbers vary, studies suggest around 3-4%  of children have significant visual processing deficits like Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) or Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD), though some estimates place general vision problems affecting learning as high as 10-15%, and even higher (30-60%) in childr

Deep Pressure & Vestibular Input Help Children Calm When children become dysregulated in the classroom, their brains are telling us something important: the demands of the moment have exceeded their current capacity to cope. Dysregulation isn't a failure of character or a choice to misbehave-it's a neurological reality. The child's brain has detected a threat, whether that's sensory overload, cognitive overwhelm, social stress, or physical discomfort, and has automatically sh

We enjoyed an engaging webinar on the role of music and movement in cognition and learning with Alex Doman at Advance Brain Technologies. When we strengthen the brain through rhythm and music, children build the skills they need to succeed in school, relationships, and daily life. 🔸 Why rhythm is the foundation for language, cognition, and social connection 🔸 How music helps children regulate emotions and build focus 🔸 Everyday activities that combine movement and rhythm t

Physical activity, neuroplasticity, and brain growth are interconnected elements in childhood development. Regular physical activity stimulates neural growth and strengthens connections between brain regions, enhancing cognitive function, learning ability, and emotional regulation. Our students need to physically move 2-5 minutes every 45 minutes in class to prime the brain for learning. Our next book about movement, music, and cognition will include over 50 activities for yo

Steven G. Feifer D.Ed. Shared with the permission of Jack Hirose & Associates According to a recent survey conducted by the Canadian Mental Health and Access to Care (2022), more than 5 million Canadians were experiencing symptoms of mental illness in the aftermath of the world-wide pandemic.  Unfortunately, the mental health of children was disproportionately impacted by the pandemic as well, due primarily to extended disruptions in education, as well as forced social distan

Cognitivities Help Children Self-Regulate The human brain and music share an ancient relationship. When humans listen to or engage with music, multiple brain regions activate simultaneously in a neural symphony of their own (Toader et al., 2023). This is particularly significant for children as their brains are in an important period of development, forming neural connections at an astonishing rate, particularly in areas related to language, emotional regulation, and executiv

Teaching children how to slow down enhances self-regulation. Today on our Executive Function Festival on Instagram and Facebook, we are doing some cognitive-motor activities to enhance self-regulation. Here are some of the benefits of motor movement for calming. https://www.instagram.com/drlynnekenney Engaging children and adolescents through rhythm - The benefits of coordinative cognitive rhythmic movement for children's self-regulation include: Activating executive function

Written By Dr. Lynne Kenney, PsyD for Fit & Fun Playscapes  via ... Self-regulation is a core executive function skill associated with academic achievement, learning, behavior, and successful social relationships in children. Self-regulation is generally defined as the ability to manage one’s thoughts, behaviors, and feelings to achieve goal-directed behaviors. Self-regulation is so important that, for many children, it is a better predictor of early academic success than is