Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential
- Downloads：1457
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-11 09:55:34
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Peg Dawson
- ISBN：1593854455
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Scientists who study child development have recently found that kids who are "smart but scattered" lack or lag behind in crucial executive skills—the core， brain-based habits of mind required to “execute” tasks like getting organized， staying focused， and controlling emotions。 Drawing on this revolutionary discovery， school psychologist Peg Dawson and neuropsychologist Richard Guare have developed an innovative program that parents and teachers can use to strengthen kids’ abilities to plan ahead， be efficient， follow through， and get things done。 Smart but Scattered provides ways to assess children’s strengths and weaknesses and offers guidance on day-to-day issues like following instructions in the classroom， doing homework， completing chores， reducing performance anxiety， and staying cool under pressure。 Small steps add up to big improvements， enabling these kids to build the skills they need to live up to their full potential。 More than 40 reproducibles are included。
Reviews
Kristin
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Audiobook and hardback。 I am new to the term "executive skills。" This book and the accompanying Executive Skills Questionnaire was educational and helpful。 Audiobook and hardback。 I am new to the term "executive skills。" This book and the accompanying Executive Skills Questionnaire was educational and helpful。 。。。more
Kim
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Good information but repetitive to listen to as an audiobook。
Sol Smith
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I finished this a few days ago and haven’t gotten around to reviewing it。 It could be because I don’t have a lot to say about it？ It wasn’t a really cozy or interesting read， but it is useful。 The idea that we serve as our children’s “frontal lobe” while they grow up is useful。This book is full of tools for helping your kids manage their executive skills。 It breaks them down into different elements， depending on what they struggle with。 The second half is more of a reference book， while the firs I finished this a few days ago and haven’t gotten around to reviewing it。 It could be because I don’t have a lot to say about it？ It wasn’t a really cozy or interesting read， but it is useful。 The idea that we serve as our children’s “frontal lobe” while they grow up is useful。This book is full of tools for helping your kids manage their executive skills。 It breaks them down into different elements， depending on what they struggle with。 The second half is more of a reference book， while the first half is very big picture。 Useful， more than insightful。 。。。more
Jodi Uplinger
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Very good book。 Had lots of good ideas。 Some might be too young for my kids so I want to check out the teen version of this book
Ayrin Hnosko
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Excellent resource for parents， caregivers teachers and clinicians working with and loving children with executive function concerns。
Mary
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What a fantastic resource。 While written for all children， it really helped guide me through the initial process of parenting an ADHD child。 I gleaned several helpful tips from the book and， more importantly， honed in on the behaviors that I was witnessing。 It's so easy to recognize that your child is "disorganized，" but sometimes more difficult to identify what specific behaviors make you feel that way。 What a fantastic resource。 While written for all children， it really helped guide me through the initial process of parenting an ADHD child。 I gleaned several helpful tips from the book and， more importantly， honed in on the behaviors that I was witnessing。 It's so easy to recognize that your child is "disorganized，" but sometimes more difficult to identify what specific behaviors make you feel that way。 。。。more
Jennifer
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The strategies described in this book are exactly those used in education- great resource！
Katie
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I skimmed a lot of this book。 Two stars mostly because I found it boring， but that doesn’t mean there’s not good info there。 I actually picked it up to see if there was anything I could modify for college students， and ended up reading for the purpose of my 3。5 year old son。 For me， there was a lot of common sense plans in here。 And my child is nuero-typical， so the big take-away here was “know what’s age appropriate。” For parents who need an all-inclusive guide to working with your kids on exec I skimmed a lot of this book。 Two stars mostly because I found it boring， but that doesn’t mean there’s not good info there。 I actually picked it up to see if there was anything I could modify for college students， and ended up reading for the purpose of my 3。5 year old son。 For me， there was a lot of common sense plans in here。 And my child is nuero-typical， so the big take-away here was “know what’s age appropriate。” For parents who need an all-inclusive guide to working with your kids on executive skills or parents of Nuevo-diverse children who are looking for new ideas， give it a read！ I’d probably recommend this to others， it just wasn’t for me！ 。。。more
Ashley Farrar
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While the behaviourism in this book is gross at times， there is lots of great information on Executive Functioning。
Bridget
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Great book。 I feel fortunate to be a parent and an educator in a time where practitioners of all types are deep diving into ADHD， EF， and the emotions surrounding it all。 I read this for my students and my own kids。 I’m just so glad we are more open minded about these dxs today。
Dawn
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This book will give me a good foundation for conversations with parents of children that have ADHD or similar tendencies that make for a challenge in the classroom。 Lots of good strategies！
Erin Acheson
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This is a good introduction to executive functioning for neurotypical people。 Its heavy emphasis on Behaviorism is outdated， but it does have some good scripts。 As a teacher， I really need to spend more time teaching these skills to my students。 This validated a lot of the work we're doing at home。 This is a good introduction to executive functioning for neurotypical people。 Its heavy emphasis on Behaviorism is outdated， but it does have some good scripts。 As a teacher， I really need to spend more time teaching these skills to my students。 This validated a lot of the work we're doing at home。 。。。more
Christi
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Interesting book introducing the concept to me of Executive Skills as a reason kids may be behind behaviorally。 Didn't like that each skill requires a ton of work from parents and teachers to teach， but when you're at the end of your rope。。。 I guess you're willing？ Some good concepts， but just not exactly what I was looking for。 Interesting book introducing the concept to me of Executive Skills as a reason kids may be behind behaviorally。 Didn't like that each skill requires a ton of work from parents and teachers to teach， but when you're at the end of your rope。。。 I guess you're willing？ Some good concepts， but just not exactly what I was looking for。 。。。more
Heather
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I found this book extremely helpful for myself and my children。 There were so many ideas that it will be a great reference as we work on several executive skills。
Lisa Eirene
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This was a good book with a lot of information and I think it would be really helpful。。。I read it on my kindle and that made it a challenge。 I think a paperback book would be better， especially because of the quizzes and worksheets in it。
Lynsey
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Good to reference for executive functioning info， but not a book to sit and read from cover to cover。
Marcus Wright
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It's a good book with very practical advice for how to approach an ADHD child or child with exec function developmental needs。 It asks you to evaluate your own exec functions next to those of your child。 This helps determine how the two of you can work together to help the child develop the lacking skills。 It's a good book with very practical advice for how to approach an ADHD child or child with exec function developmental needs。 It asks you to evaluate your own exec functions next to those of your child。 This helps determine how the two of you can work together to help the child develop the lacking skills。 。。。more
Jes
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Does your child struggle with organization？ Or following through？ Are you at a loss for what to do next to help them？ I would recommend this book。 The content is presented in laymen’s terms and there are many helpful quick， easy assessments for both you and your child。 They also provide tons of examples and resources that you can copy and use。 Teachers， this would also be a great resource for you to help your students and/or to show parents who ask about what they can do to help their child。
Valarie
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A lot of useful information in here， including some charts that can be copied for home use。 Some of the recommendations are already outdated since technology advances so quickly。
Megan
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This book came highly recommended， but I had a really hard time with the writing style。 The book states that it assumes most parents are reading it because of school-specific problems， making it less useful for me， too。 The book also contains quizzes to help you figure out what your child's relatively strong/weak cognitive functions are， but earlier the authors also talk about how strong cognitive skills can bolster weak ones -- say， someone with low working memory who can still always find thei This book came highly recommended， but I had a really hard time with the writing style。 The book states that it assumes most parents are reading it because of school-specific problems， making it less useful for me， too。 The book also contains quizzes to help you figure out what your child's relatively strong/weak cognitive functions are， but earlier the authors also talk about how strong cognitive skills can bolster weak ones -- say， someone with low working memory who can still always find their stuff because they're very organized。 And the quizzes don't take this nuance into account。 Suffice to say， the scores my kiddo got on these simple quizzes don't line up at all with the thorough testing he's done with professionals， souring my taste for this book further。So， I'm glad this book has been helpful for others， but it was a bust for me。 。。。more
Kian。ting
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This book has intervention plans to improve the executive skills of both the parents and the child。 Most of the time when the child has difficulty managing their emotions or homework its because the never learned the executive skills and also their frontal cortex is not developed yet if parents are unaware that they themself are lacking in this area it would be a frustrating experience for both the child and the parent。 There are a lot of mechanics that are proposed on how to intervene and corre This book has intervention plans to improve the executive skills of both the parents and the child。 Most of the time when the child has difficulty managing their emotions or homework its because the never learned the executive skills and also their frontal cortex is not developed yet if parents are unaware that they themself are lacking in this area it would be a frustrating experience for both the child and the parent。 There are a lot of mechanics that are proposed on how to intervene and correct behavior， and also plans on how to stop even the unwanted behavior from happening， but before we blindly implement the plans we have to assess our own self as parents， given the same situation how are we acting similarly to the child， if we are acting in a similar way how can we expect the child to act differently？ This is a good book to read would need to re-read it another time。 。。。more
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Hi book
Felicia
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What an incredible resource for parents of kids with executive functioning struggles， and the professionals who come alongside to support those families！ I love that this can be applied to help kids with specific challenges， but also provides so many great ideas and tips to help foster the development of these skills in the littlest kiddos。 I will be recommending this to all my clients and colleagues！
Michelle Smart
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Full-to-the-brim of helpful examples and tips。 Better for reference than a straight read-through。
Beth Daane
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Good resource although I wish there were an updated version with technology updates。 Much has changed since 2009 in that respect。 I appreciated the guides and examples used。
Rachel
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It was okay。 Gave me a few ideas but was super long-winded and a bit dated。 The concepts are solid though。
Michelle
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I read this because it was on a list of teacher related reads。 I love the executive skills assessments。 However， rest of the content is geared toward parents rather than educators。 Instead of concrete practical ways to improve each executive skill， the advice is grouped by daily tasks like 'cleaning your room'。 Some of it transfers of course。 But， I was hoping for advice on how to help a child improve specific executive skills such as sustained attention。 I read this because it was on a list of teacher related reads。 I love the executive skills assessments。 However， rest of the content is geared toward parents rather than educators。 Instead of concrete practical ways to improve each executive skill， the advice is grouped by daily tasks like 'cleaning your room'。 Some of it transfers of course。 But， I was hoping for advice on how to help a child improve specific executive skills such as sustained attention。 。。。more
Heather Pehnec
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This definitely has some helpful techniques， but is way too wordy。 I feel like much was over explained multiple times and， this addition at least， is dated。 Overall， I would recommend it to anyone needing guidelines for managing certain behaviors that are outlined in the table of contents。 I've seen results with some very simple changes。 This definitely has some helpful techniques， but is way too wordy。 I feel like much was over explained multiple times and， this addition at least， is dated。 Overall， I would recommend it to anyone needing guidelines for managing certain behaviors that are outlined in the table of contents。 I've seen results with some very simple changes。 。。。more
Beth
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Interesting enough but nothing terribly new。 Love my kiddo but we are completely different on executive skill sets。
Elizabeth
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