Presenter(s)

Allexa D. Gaewsky

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Description

The research problem we are studying is if classroom-based games used to boost children’s cognitive skills can be adapted to an at-home format. These games have been shown to boost the executive functioning skills (working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control) of young children when played in the classroom (Schmitt et al., 2014). This is important because executive functioning skills help children to adapt to an early learning environment and become ready to learn academic skills (Fuhs, Nesbitt, Farran, & Dong, 2014). Children growing up in poverty are more likely to struggle with executive functioning skills (Noble, Norman, & Farrah, 2006). Therefore, they may benefit most from having access to executive functioning skills activities at home regardless of their participation in a preschool program. As part of a larger intensive school readiness program for families living in poverty in Dayton (Taking Off To Success), we provided families with executive functioning games that we adapted to an at-home format. We will report pilot data from parent surveys to determine if parents played the games, if they enjoyed them, and how they can be improved. This pilot study will determine if the games given to the families each week are helpful and useful. The broader goal of this work is to test if providing executive functioning games to parents and children as part of an intensive school readiness program can boost the executive functioning skills of children growing up in poverty.

Publication Date

4-9-2015

Project Designation

Independent Research

Primary Advisor

Mary Fuhs

Primary Advisor's Department

Psychology

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Business | Education | Engineering | Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Executive Functioning Games at Home

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