Executive functioning is the set of skills that lets a student start what they intend to start, hold onto what they need to remember, and change course when something isn't working. These skills are built through direct instruction and repeated use, and much of that use happens at home.

This 13-page guide is the parent's version of Evolved Education's Integrated Executive Functioning (IEF) Coaching Model, developed by Mary Miele over five years of studying the research directly.

Inside you'll find:

The four skills — focus, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning and organization — and what each one looks like at your kitchen table when it's still developing.

What the research tells us, including five findings from 2024 and 2025 that changed what we recommend to families: what sleep actually does, which kind of exercise helps and which doesn't, why brain-training apps don't transfer, and what heavy screen use costs.

The six teaching routines of the IEF Model, and how to teach a strategy at home so it becomes automatic — including the I do / we do / you do rehearsal cycle and how to build a system for remembering to use it.

A starter set of strategies from our tutoring library — the 5-minute start, the to-do list, stoplight sorting, time estimation, and more — plus six household routines that take the load off your child's memory and put it into the environment instead.

You don't need to become a coach. You need to understand what these skills are, know what strengthens them, and have a handful of strategies you can actually use on a Tuesday night.