Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary Executive Skills Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential

by Peg Dawson EdD, Richard Guare PhD, Colin Guare MS, BCBA

Overview

All kids occasionally space out, get sidetracked, run out of time, or explode in frustration—but some do it much more often than others. With over 425,000 in print, this encouraging, bestselling parent guide is now in a revised and updated second edition. The authors explain the crucial brain-based skills that 4- to 12-year-olds need to get organized, stay focused, and control their impulses and emotions. Handy questionnaires help parents home in on their own child's executive strengths and weaknesses. Armed with a better understanding of their "smart but scattered" kid, readers can use proven strategies to boost skills that are lacking, fix everyday routines that don't work, and reduce everyone's stress. Including new research, new and updated vignettes, and "A Good Place to Start" suggestions for each skill, the second edition features a new chapter on technology and a greatly expanded school chapter. Readers can download and print a wealth of practical tools.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781462554591
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	11/08/2024
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	332
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Peg Dawson, EdD, is a psychologist who provides professional development training on executive skills for schools and organizations nationally and internationally. She was previously on the staff of the Center for Learning and Attention Disorders at Seacoast Mental Health Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Dr. Dawson is a past president of the New Hampshire Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and the International School Psychology Association, and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from NASP. She is coauthor of bestselling books for general readers, including Smart but Scattered, Second Edition; Smart but Scattered Teens; Smart but Scattered—and Stalled (with a focus on emerging adults); and The Smart but Scattered Guide to Success (with a focus on adults). Dr. Dawson is also coauthor of The Work-Smart Academic Planner, Revised Edition, and books for professionals including Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, Third Edition.

Richard Guare, PhD, BCBA-D, is a neuropsychologist and board-certified behavior analyst who frequently consults to schools and agencies on attention and executive skills difficulties. He is former Director of the Center for Learning and Attention Disorders at Seacoast Mental Health Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Dr. Guare is coauthor of bestselling books for general readers, including Smart but Scattered, Second Edition; Smart but Scattered Teens; Smart but Scattered—and Stalled (with a focus on emerging adults); and The Smart but Scattered Guide to Success (with a focus on adults) He is also coauthor of The Work-Smart Academic Planner, Revised Edition, and books for professionals including Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, Third Edition.

Colin Guare MS, BCBA, is a Rhode Island-based behavior analyst and writer. He is coauthor of bestselling books for general readers, including Smart but Scattered, Second Edition; Smart but Scattered Teens; and Smart but Scattered—and Stalled (with a focus on emerging adults). Mr. Guare currently works with schools, organizations, parents, and kids of all ages. He has a special interest in motivation and behavior change, and has worked on several projects developing new techniques to help adults seek and achieve their long-term career and personal goals.

Table of Contents

Introduction
I. What Makes Your Child Smart but Scattered
1. How Did Such a Smart Kid End Up So Scattered?
2. Identifying Your Child’s Executive Skill Strengths and Challenges
3. How Your Own Executive Skill Strengths and Challenges Matter
II. Laying a Foundation That Can Help
4. Nine Principles for Improving Your Child’s Executive Skills
5. Modifying the Environment: A Is for Antecedent
6. Teaching Executive Skills Directly: B Is for Behavior
7. Motivating Your Child to Learn and Use Executive Skills: C Is for Consequence
III. Putting It All Together
8. Advance Organizer
9. Ready-Made Plans for Teaching Your Child to Complete Daily Routines
10. Building Response Inhibition
11. Enhancing Working Memory
12. Improving Emotional Control
13. Encouraging Flexibility
14. Strengthening Sustained Attention
15. Teaching Task Initiation
16. Promoting, Planning, and Prioritizing
17. Fostering Organization
18. Instilling Time Management
19. Increasing Goal-Directed Persistence
20. Cultivating Metacognition
21. When What You Do Is Not Enough
22. A Brief Look at Technology
23. The Role of Schools in Executive Skill Development
Parting Thoughts
Resources
Index 

Editorial Reviews

"As a pediatric neuropsychologist, I have recommended Smart but Scattered to hundreds—if not thousands—of parents. I didn’t think it was possible to improve on a classic, but the authors have done just that! With deep insight and empathy, the book provides abundant ideas and activities to increase executive function skills. Information about technology—a distraction for most 'scattered' kids—is a wonderful addition to the second edition. I love this book."—Ellen B. Braaten, PhD, author of Bright Kids Who Can't Keep Up

"The second edition improves on the original masterpiece! Drs. Dawson and Guare empower you to foster your child's self-awareness and growth—even if executive skills aren't your own strong suit. What sets this book apart is its user-friendly format, combining scientific insights with actionable advice. The questionnaires alone make the book worthwhile, providing crucial insights into your child's strengths and weaknesses. This is an invaluable resource for anyone dedicated to nurturing a child's potential."—Michael Delman, MEd, Founder and CEO, Beyond BookSmart

From the Publisher