Executive Function & Academic Coaching

Our experience has shown that difficulty with the subject matter is often not the reason students need help. Many students simply need help structuring their time, keeping track of their work and knowing how to study. These executive function skills matter as much as knowing the material, and they can be taught. Our executive function coaches are current and former Stanford students who work one-on-one with elementary, middle school, high school and college students, online from anywhere or at home in the Bay Area.

What executive function means

Executive function is the set of skills that lets students plan, organize, start tasks, manage their time and follow through. Some students seem to pick these up on their own. Many others need someone to teach them directly and help them practice until the habits stick. It can start in elementary school, when homework and long-term projects first arrive. It often shows up again in middle and high school, when students take on more classes, more deadlines and more independence, and in the first year of college.

Signs your student could use an executive function coach

Parents usually notice it in small ways first. Homework gets done and never turned in. A project is remembered the night before it’s due. The backpack is full of loose papers, and a student who clearly knows the material still ends up with grades that don’t show it. Homework stretches late into the evening without getting very far. If any of this sounds familiar, coaching can help your student build the habits that make school feel manageable again.

What executive function coaching covers

We help students with time management, prioritization, organization and study habits. In practice, that means setting up a planner or calendar they’ll actually use, breaking big assignments into manageable steps and keeping track of deadlines across classes. Coaches also help students organize their notes and materials and learn study methods that work, like active recall and spacing practice out over time instead of cramming. The goal is a system your student owns and keeps using after the sessions end.

What a coaching session looks like

Sessions are built around your student’s real schoolwork. A typical session starts with a look at the week ahead: what’s due, what tests are coming and what got left behind. The coach and student turn the biggest assignment into small first steps, put time for each one on the calendar and often get started on the hardest one together. The session ends with a short plan the student can follow until next time. Over the weeks, the student takes on more of the planning while the coach steps back.

Online executive function coaching, wherever you live

Executive function coaching works especially well online, so families outside the Bay Area can work with a Stanford coach too. Most of a student’s work already lives on a screen, from the school portal and the class calendar to the essay draft. In an online session, the student can share their screen so the coach sees exactly what’s due, help set up a digital calendar and work through an assignment with them. In the Bay Area, sessions can also be in person at your home. Coaching at home has its own advantage, since the student sets up a planner and a study routine at the same desk where they’ll keep using it.

Why a Stanford student makes a good coach

Our coaches are current and former Stanford students who have juggled demanding schedules themselves, and who remember what worked for them in middle and high school. Because they’re close in age, students often find them easier to listen to than a parent, and more relatable than a teacher. They can also help with the subject itself, so a coaching session can turn into real progress on a math problem set or an essay.

Regular check-ins with your student and with you

Coaching works best with regular sessions, usually at the same time each week, so the coach can help the student plan the week ahead, look at how the last week went and adjust. You can reach us any time, whether you have a question or something changes at school, and we’ll adjust the plan with your student’s coach. Many families pair coaching with subject tutoring in math, science or writing.

Coaching alongside ADHD support and other care

Our coaches are tutors. We don’t diagnose or treat ADHD or any other condition, and coaching fits alongside whatever support your student already has from doctors, therapists, learning specialists or their school. For students with ADHD, see our ADHD coaching. For gifted students who also have learning challenges, see our work with twice-exceptional students.

We believe underdeveloped academic habits should never prevent a student from reaching their full potential. Sessions are one-on-one, online from anywhere or at home in the Bay Area.