AN EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING FRAMEWORK FROM KINDERGARTEN TO ADULTHOOD
Ladders & Treehouses
Executive functioning is how you get yourself together to do the things you need to do. It's also hard to see and hard to talk about.
The ladder gives students and adults a picture of it: everyone has one, everyone carries it everywhere, and it grows as we grow.
by Cassie Frost, M.S.Ed., ATP
One picture everyone can point to
Every piece of the picture stands for something real in a student’s day.
Treehouses
The things we are reaching for. Easy tasks are low treehouses. Bigger, harder, more elaborate tasks are higher up the tree.
Ladders
Our executive functioning system. we each get one, we carry it everywhere, and it grows as we grow. Every rung is a skill.
The Tree
The setting that holds the treehouses. The trunk is the environment. the branches are supports for everyone, there to grab or step on when a rung is missing.
Shoots
Individual supports and assistive technology that grows from a branch, right where a student needs them. Once used independently, a shoot is tied to the ladder and goes with the student.
WHY A LADDER?
It names the skill, not the student.
“Your memory rung is a little wobbly” is a problem you can work on together.
“You never remember” is not.
A ladder that grows with the student
With practice, we add rungs and reach new heights. The older we get, the more is expected of us, so we need more rungs to get there.
Grades K–5
The ladder
Four sections: Attention, Memory, Time Management, Organization.
Attention
Memory
Time Management
Organization
Around Grades 5-6
The extension ladder
Two new sections grow on top: Switching and Regulation
Switching
Regulation
Grades 7-Adult
The EF profile
The ladder tips on its side. Each section becomes a bar that shows skills built and supports filling the gaps.
Optional Add-On Skills:
Flexible Thinking
Knowing My Systems
Start with the tree
The ladder belongs to the student; the tree belongs to the setting, so it's the part adults can change today.
Same ladder, different tree. A student can climb easily in one room and struggle in the next. Often it's the tree that changed, not the ladder.
Check the trunk and branches before adding a shoot. If several students need the same shoot, it may be a missing branch.
For Schools and Teams
Bring Ladders & Treehouses to your school
Cassie’s executive functioning trainings feature Ladders & Treehouses.
Trainings for teams about executive functioning can include:
workbooks for learning about executive functioning
practical tools for supporting students with a focus on environmental, systematic, instructional and individual supports
a deep-dive into Ladders and Treehouses and how to talk to students about their executive functioning systems.
Coming Soon
The Book and Workbook
A Ladders & Treehouses book and companion workbook are in progress.
Join the list to be notified as soon as these materials are ready.
What you will receive:
Updates when the materials are coming out
Early access to pilot materials/activities