Students in Ms. Cullen’s first grade class are working on their animal research group projects. Each group is researching an animal from a different animal classification

Hamilton Avenue School's Fun Run Fundraiser is in full effect! All students, K-5, have the opportunity to showcase their skills, run hard and have fun in this event! This fundraiser raises money for enrichment programs and to strengthen the overall community of the Hamilton Avenue School!

Ms. Kane's reading class at Central Middle School is reading "Call of the Wild" by Jack London. The class uses leveled reading books to ensure that everyone has just the "right" level to enjoy this classic.

Students in the ADL class at Greenwich High School utilize the Practical Assessment Exploration System (PAES) Lab, a pre-vocational program to expose students to different vocational opportunities giving them experience in different fields.

In last month’s Inclusion Corner, I shared some information and resources on a topic that impacts us ALL– Executive Functioning (EF). As a reminder, Executive Functioning (EF) is “A set of cognitive skills that act together to help you achieve a goal” (PINE, 2023). These skills develop at different times throughout a person’s life. When one hasn’t yet developed certain EF skills, they may struggle with starting, sustaining, or completing certain tasks, especially when given time constraints or there are added stressors. But remember, EF is a set of skills that can be taught. In a podcast called “Full PreFrontal”, child clinical psychologist and co-author of “Smart but Scattered”, Dr. Peg Dawson, shared 3 strategies to develop these “crucial ‘habits of mind’” while not lowering expectations.

Strategies to support EF skill development:

1. Adapting the environment or time frame to set your child up for success. For example, break a task into smaller chunks.

2. Create routines that explicitly teach specific skills that compensate for deficits. For example, if a child often forgets their school materials, create the routine of using a checklist to ensure they have their materials before leaving the house. When appropriate, engage with your child to collaboratively talk through the struggles and create a plan/ routine together.

3. Find ways to motivate your child to practice the strategies that you’re trying to teach them. Yes, this may include incentivizing and definitely includes giving them specific positive feedback. For example, if a child is working on sustaining a task (such as homework) to complete it in a timely manner, you may tell them, “If you do get your homework done by 6 o’clock, then you get to [do/ play preferred activity]”. Once they complete their homework, you may give them positive feedback by saying, “That assignment was tough for you but you showed persistence (or you stuck with it). I’m impressed with how hard you worked”. While not everyone agrees with using incentives as motivation, Dr. Dawson says, “if incentives enable them to get that practice time and then to me, they’re worth considering.”

For more information, to listen to the podcast, and to read the podcast transcript, head to the website dedicated to the podcast.