Executive Function Skills - Your Study Skills Sweet Spot:

Tabitha Duquette
Mar 18, 2024
2 min read

Are You Uncomfortable Enough?

Hello, and welcome from the team at TGD Coach!

We are excited to launch our first regular newsletter, where we bring you evidence-based strategies designed to help you and your student Trust, Grow, and Develop the executive function skills needed for success.

For our first series, we’re tackling a huge pain point for parents: "I studied for hours, but still failed the test." Our goal is to shift your family's focus from passive studying to active learning systems.

You may have seen our social media campaign, "Study Skills Sweet Spot: Are You Uncomfortable Enough?"—this series is a deep dive into the science behind embracing productive struggle!

It's frustrating: Your child studies for hours, but the test score doesn't budge. This happens when studying is passive (like rereading) and doesn't engage the brain's "save button."

The secret to durable learning? It's Effortful Retrieval—the act of actively pulling information from memory. This process requires a productive struggle.

The Science: When a concept feels a little hard to recall, your brain is actually strengthening the neural pathway connecting that knowledge. This productive struggle is what creates a long-term memory, superior to passive methods such as restudy [1]. We call this finding the "sweet spot" of learning.
The Problem with Rereading: Rereading notes gives the illusion of learning (temporary recognition), but it doesn't build the long-term connections needed for high-stakes assessments.

How to start the 'sweet spot' today (T-G-D):

TRUST the process: Help them understand that productive struggle is the mechanism for learning.
GROW the connection: Encourage your student to explain a concept out loud without looking at their notes.
DEVELOP a habit: Use the collaborative Micro-Test below!

Build Retrieval and Your Executive Function Skills with The Collaborative 10-Minute Micro-Test

This exercise is not a pop quiz—it’s a quick diagnostic tool for the whole family. It reframes the struggle as a necessary step.

Instruction: Ask your student to get a blank piece of paper and write down every key term, formula, or concept they can remember from their notes without looking at their materials.
Timeframe: Set a timer for 10 minutes. This concrete limit bypasses the Task Initiation challenge.
Actionable Item: When the time is up, you and your student work together to compare their list to the actual notes. Have them circle the one or two items they missed or felt unsure about. This pinpoints exactly what needs to be studied next, making the next 10 minutes of studying highly efficient.

Thank you for trusting us to start this journey. Let's Grow Together,

Tabitha, Ed, and the rest of the TGD Coach Team

P.S. We're consistently sharing quick, actionable tips on executive function and productivity. Don't miss out on our next deep dive—and be sure to follow our new socials!

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