Use holiday “thank you” notes to strengthen executive function

Many people say that letter writing is a disappearing art, but the truth is that in spite of the fact that it isn’t always taught in schools anymore, your child will still need to know how to write a formal letter. Use holiday gifts as an opportunity to help your child craft well-written thank you notes, and have her practice a variety of salutations and closings, depending on the closeness of the relationship of the addressee. Thank you notes also provide a great opportunity to practice some executive function skills. Have your child create a list or chart that shows all of the gifts she received and from whom they came. Then she can cross each one off as notes are completed and rejoice as her list gets shorter and shorter!