Behavior

Winner of the 2021 Counselor's Choice Award! Problem solving involves many other executive functioning behaviors, including reasoning, attention, planning, initiation, working memory, and self-monitoring. The one thing all of us have in common is that we...

Isaac is a second-grader who hates having to decide between options that are not fun, totally boring, or too hard. If he wants to ride his bike to a buddy's house, Isaac has to wear his helmet even though it's so hot he thinks his head will melt. Or, he...

Amelia is her name and conquering new challenges is her game! She's an up-for-any-adventure second-grader who's eager to try new things, provided nothing can go wrong. She takes up skateboarding with gusto and feverishly builds a swing set for her kid...

Poor Amelia! Between softball practice, homework, and chores, she's struggling to keep her head above water! And when she starts feeling stressed out, it seems like the world is at its end! Fortunately, Amelia's mom is around to teach her some stress...

All children need to share and take turns if they are going to get along with others and be successful.  But sharing can be a difficult skill for young children to learn.  These downloadable activities can help you teach children the importance...

Staying on task until a job is done can be tough for adults, so it's not surprising that it's also difficult for most children. Teaching kids the importance of staying focused and finishing tasks is something that will serve them well in life. Help...

At some point, most people have become annoyed when someone interrupts them. For children, this might be because they are really young, too impulsive, or have just never been taught how to interrupt appropriately. Award-winning author and school...

Focusing is easier said than done for some children. Being able to focus is a life skill and can help set children up for success. School counselor Bryan Smith has developed five downloadable activities for educators to use in the classroom to help teach...

Self-monitoring is the ability to observe and evaluate one’s behavior. Give students the working knowledge of learning how to pay attention, stay on task and follow instructions with these five downloadable activities from Bryan Smith's How Did You...

Working memory is an important executive function because it helps children (and adults!) recall information required to complete tasks or functions, such as notetaking, spelling, or the order of operations in math. Some children seem to excel in this...

It's easy for kids to feel sad when bad things happen in their lives. This is especially true when boys and girls are bullied or picked on or feel left out and isolated. Author and School Counselor, Bryan Smith, has developed four exercises to accompany...

When children learn or try something new, they can easily get discouraged when things don't go as planned. They don't yet understand that mistakes and failure are parts of learning. Author and educator Bryan Smith has developed four excellent activities...

Flexible thinking allows people to think about things in new ways or to incorporate new information into a specific plan or idea. Flexible thinkers are often able to come up with more than one solution to a problem or challenge. The ability to think...

Self-control is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior and to keep one's cool in the face of disappointment. These four activities developed by author Bryan Smith can help children with self-control. The lessons are designed to...

Too much stress STINKS! Students in grades K through 6 will identify the negative side effects of experiencing too much stress and develop healthy strategies for dealing with stressful situations. Reinforce the lesson from the storybook, Stress...

Impulse control is an executive functioning skill that allows you think before you act and to prioritize long-term success over short-term gains. When you have good self-control, you are able to resist doing things that may be harmful to yourself or to...