Executive function coaching · Grade 6 through graduate school
Helping capable students get started, stay organized and follow through.
I provide one-to-one executive function coaching, online, for students in the United States and internationally. Together we build the planning, organization and time management skills that school expects your child to already have, using their own coursework and their own way of thinking.
The call is free and there is no obligation. It is a conversation about your child, and you will get my honest read either way.
“We are not fighting at the kitchen table anymore. She leaves every session with work completed and an action plan until the next meeting.”
“You have changed the game, Kelly. My girl is locked in in a way I’ve never seen before.”
“He has clearly regained his love of learning. He is happy and thriving, and in this day and age, that’s really saying something.”
- 25+ yearsTeacher, interventionist, special educator, coach
- M.Ed. & ADHD-CECertified ADHD Educator
- Trained by Peg DawsonCo-author of Smart but Scattered
- Former special educator11 years as an intervention specialist
Does your child…
Eight patterns that point to executive function delays
Each of the areas below is tied directly to executive function delays or executive dysfunction, and most of the families I talk to recognize their child in two or three of them. If you do too, it is worth having a conversation.
Struggle with attention?
- Does it seem like they can do something they love with laser focus but can’t seem to focus for more than a few minutes on a less-desirable task?
- Maybe they tend to get distracted easily?
Lack organization?
- Does your child seem more disorganized than others?
- Do they feel overwhelmed by the task of tidying their bedroom?
- Do they need more structure and accountability than you can provide?
Forget things?
- Do they forget essential items for school and extracurricular activities?
- When you ask them to do two or three things, do they get off track after (or before!) completing the first one?
- Do they promise “I’ll do it later,” and fail to follow through?
Have issues managing time?
- Does your child struggle to get out the door on time?
- Is their time estimation off?
- Do they ever conflate emotions with time?
Struggle to get going?
- Do they have difficulty initiating tasks?
- Do they leave things until the last minute?
- Maybe they want things to be perfect?
- Is it hard to find ways to motivate them?
Feel anxious or down?
- Maybe their grades don’t match their capabilities?
- Do they feel like they are working harder than their peers?
- Is their confidence waning as they get older?
- Are they their own worst critic?
- Do they have trouble self-advocating?
Have difficulty regulating their emotions?
- Do they tend to have big feelings?
- Maybe their responses and reactions don’t always match the situation.
- Do they tend to be inflexible or sometimes have an all-or-nothing approach?
- Do they seem acutely sensitive to feedback or suggestions?
Struggle to plan and prioritize effectively?
- Do they need help to determine the steps to complete a long-term project?
- Can they determine what’s most important or urgent?
- Are they able to break larger tasks into smaller, manageable chunks?
Recognize your child here?
All of these are executive function skills and they can be taught directly, which is genuinely good news. I would love to hear what you are seeing at home.
Request a free 30-minute callWhat coaching actually does
They may need a trusted Executive Function Coach
Every learner’s brain is wired differently, and discovering those innate strengths is where real growth begins.
As an Executive Function (EF) Coach, I lead with a strengths-based approach to help students understand how their minds work, boost their self-esteem and rediscover the genuine joy of learning.
Through interactive activities and tailored strategies, I partner with students to turn their own goals into practical systems and daily habits. Together, we clear hurdles, internalize key skills and build the authentic confidence and autonomy needed for school and life, always with the ultimate goal of working myself out of a job.
How coaching works
Coaching happens in three phases
The phases are designed so that your child gradually takes over the work, and my goal is always to work myself out of a job. I review each student’s progress every month, and when they are ready to move to a lower-intensity phase I will let you know.
Collaborative Build
This is our high-intensity education partnership, where we design and install the foundational systems together. We work out what gets written down, where it lives and how the week is going to run, and in this phase I am carrying a good deal of the load alongside your child.
Two 45-minute sessions a week
Guided Practice
Here the heavy lifting transitions to your child while I stay close by. We build in accountability, turn the systems into daily habits and troubleshoot the barriers that only show up once real schoolwork is running through them.
Two 30-minute sessions a week
Scaffolded Independence
In this phase your child leads and I maintain. We keep the established systems working, track progress toward their goals and keep an eye on the few habits that tend to slip first when life gets busy.
Flexible: one 30-minute or two 15-minute sessions a week
Most families begin in Phase I, and very few of them are still there a year later.
Let’s talk about which phase fitsWhy coaching is worth the investment
Investing in lasting independence
Coaching costs more per month than a weekly tutor, and parents are right to ask what they are getting for it. Here is how I would answer that.
Beyond subject-matter tutoring
When a bright student is struggling, hiring a tutor for the class they are failing is usually the first step a family takes, and sometimes that is exactly right. But when the real difficulty is task initiation, time management or disorganization, tutoring only addresses the symptom in that one subject. Executive function skills lift performance across every subject at the same time.
Skills built for a lifetime
Academic support tends to reset every school year, but executive function strategies are completely portable. The habits your child builds now for planning their work, managing a calendar and handling stress will carry straight into high school, college and their working life. I think of this as an investment in life skills that happens to show up on a report card first.
Support that continues between sessions
Your membership covers a great deal more than the time we spend together in session. Between-session accountability, custom system design, my preparation, progress tracking and ongoing communication with you and with your child’s teachers are all part of it, and they are what keep the momentum going on the days we are not meeting.
Restoring peace at home
When a parent has to act as the organizer, the manager and the reminder system, the relationship between you and your child takes the strain. Coaching transfers that responsibility to a trusted professional, so your child can build self-reliance and you can go back to being their parent.
What families say
What families tell me afterward
As far as we are concerned, Kelly performed a miracle. First, she was able to engage our high schooler in the coaching process, which was no small feat. He has dyslexia, which causes him to struggle with organization. He knew this but thought it could never change, and so was resistant to trying.
The added and unexpected bonus for us is that his work with Kelly took so much pressure off our relationship around school that we are not stressed and at odds around school assignments. What a joy!
Parent · High school sophomore“Thank you so much for the many gifts you’ve given us over the years, with your time, patience, counseling for student and parent, and friendship. I do not think this would have turned out as well without you. There are so many kids like our son who need someone like you.”
“I was able to stay in the loop without micromanaging, which was one of my primary goals. This has truly been about my son adulting and building the muscle necessary for his own future.”
“Kelly helped my son develop strategies to get and stay organized. He continues to employ the tools they developed, and we have seen improvement in both his grades and his confidence in approaching learning.”
Read every testimonial, from students, parents and professionals
Practical details
What this actually looks like
Most families want to know the practical details before they get in touch, so I have put them here. Coaching runs on a flat monthly membership instead of a per-session fee, and I share the figures on our call once we have worked out together which phase suits your child.
And if I do not think I am the right fit for your family, I will tell you so on that first call and do my best to point you toward someone who is. That happens from time to time, and everyone is better off for it.
- Structure
- A flat monthly membership, not a per-session fee
- What is included
- Sessions, preparation, record-keeping, supplies and email contact with parents and teachers
- Session pattern
- Two sessions a week in the early phases, tapering as the student takes over
- Predictable billing
- The fee is the same whether a month holds five weeks or two
- Phases
- Three, reviewed monthly. I tell you when your child is ready to step down
- Commitment
- Month to month, with 15 days’ written notice to stop
- Ages served
- Grade 6 through college and graduate school
- Format
- Online, one to one
- Where students are
- Based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I work with students across the United States and internationally
- Paying with a 529
- Some families may be able to use 529 funds toward K-12 educational support. The rules changed recently and federal guidance is still settling, so check with your plan administrator
- Fees
- Discussed on the introductory call, once we know which phase fits
- Introductory call
- Free, 30 minutes, no obligation
Start with a conversation
Thirty minutes, free, and you will come away with a much clearer picture of what is going on and what would help, whether or not we end up working together.
no obligation, and nothing is booked on the call itself
Tell me a little about what has been happening and I will come back to you to arrange a time.