EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS

Planning

Planning involves the development of a roadmap or set of strategies in order to accomplish a goal.  Components of planning include prioritization, sequencing, and foresight.  It may involve both short and long-term goals and taking all aspects of a situation into consideration while making a plan.  Responsiveness to the environment as well as social cues may be important.  Planning may involve estimation and possible anticipation of outcomes.

Planning may be a very complex process that utilizes previous experiences and then applies them to a new situation .  Planning is very important in short-term tasks or goals such as determining whether one's clothes match prior to going to school and also in more long-term goals such as having a strategy for completion of a lengthy book report.  It tends to involve a degree of problem recognition, such as, "I want to look good in my clothing at school," as well as an ability to deal with impediments to achieving a goal, such as, "My jeans are dirty, I need to wear something else."  Planning also takes into account the present situation, such as, "I have ten minutes before I have to leave the house to go to school, and I can't wear a T-shirt with inappropriate language to school." 

Planning skills are needed in many aspects of a child’s life.  At home, planning is important in extending invitations to friends for a play date, completing one's homework so that a child has time to watch her favorite television show and complete a chore before his/her parents get home.  Planning is involved in a wide range of play activities, as well, whether in developing a strategy while playing a board game, putting together a model, or creating some type of art project. 

At school, planning is extremely important in written tasks such as writing a brief paragraph or essay, as well as in longer-term projects that may involve conducting research, writing drafts, editing, and completing a final project.  The ability to formulate a plan that identifies a set of goals is very useful. 

Skillful use of planning is seen in children who:

• Display strategies such as picking up clean clothes prior to going to school.
• Recognize how much homework they have to do prior to watching their favorite television program.
• Consider the content and order of ideas for a classroom essay.
• Contact friends for a future playdate.
• Develop a strategy for completion of a lengthy book report.
• Save up enough money to buy a computer or video game console.
• Set realistic goals for themselves.
• Use their past experiences to remember how bored they were on a family trip so they remember to take a portable video game with them.
• Display strategies in playing board games.
• Utilize planners or agendas and arrange their own schedules after school and on weekends.

Unskilled use of planning is seen in children who:

• Display problems with step-by-step processes.
• Experience difficulties in determining priorities, destinations, or goals.
• Tend to complete homework at the last minute. 
• Are unprepared for routines such as organizing their books prior to leaving for school in the morning.
• Tend to jump into activities without reading the directions.
• Are unable to start and complete mazes and puzzles in an effective manner.
• Forget to take sporting equipment to a game or get the books necessary for a report for school.
• Are overly present-oriented, to the detriment of setting goals.

Planning Games

Games and technologies are often very useful in developing planning skills. Many computer and video games require the development of short- and long-term goals for success. For example, players often need to collect certain rings, coins, or other items in a game that later will allow them to achieve greater goals and to move to subsequent levels. Games can also provide an understanding of the step-by-step process that mastery frequently requires. In addition, games provide direct (but personal) feedback to players regarding the success or failure of their plans.

Game play helps children develop better planning when they practice skills such as:

• Using foresight for understanding what is likely to happen next within the game.
• Identifying areas where sequencing of steps plays a role in being successful in the game.
• Recognizing game situations in which they must account for all aspects of what is happening prior to making a plan.
• Developing strategies to be able to shift between short- and long-term goals within the game.
• Using estimation skills in order to understand likely outcomes of their actions.

Parent Tip:

Engage in a multiplayer game with children in which you coordinate plans and strategies to move up a level or to acquire skills. Work as a team, with the children designated as the leaders. Ask questions that encourage the children to reflect on their plans.

Ask children about their choice of goals in games that have many possible solutions. Encourage the children to elaborate on what they anticipate they will need to do in order to accomplish these game-based goals. 

Encourage children to replay a game with many possible solutions, e.g., Roller Coaster Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, or Civilization. Encourage them to set different goals from their first time playing the game and talk about how changing the goals affects game-based strategies.

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