🧠 Executive Functioning in ECE

Today’s Issue: Swimming in Guac, Survey Results & New Poll, New School Openings, Vendor Spotlight, AI Hack = 1 cup of coffee read time

That’s a Whole Lotta Guacamole: Chipotle has become a staple for many many households providing easy and “affordable” meal options for busy families! Being able to customize those burritos and bowls helps families easily modify orders for dietary restrictions, or, well, picky eaters. 🥣 But we all love their guac. But did you know that Chipotle accounts for 5% of the world’s avocado purchases?! 🥑 132 million pounds to be exact. Chipotle saw the writing on the wall and began to diversify its avocado sources 7 years ago anticipating tariffs. Talk about proactive management. Though, with expected increases in avocado prices, they might now be worth their weight in gold. We wonder if Chipotle’s CEO swims in a giant vault of avocados like Scrooge McDuck…

Survey Results: Review Sites That Matter

Shocker! Google Reviews is the top source of online reviews for our readers. But the competition was not even close. 69% of our readers voted that Google Reviews as their “go-to” with Yelp in a distant 2nd. 🥈

Executive Functioning in ECE

Dedicated researchers are always working tirelessly to understand what we can do to improve children’s outcomes. One newer area of focus is executive functioning. Simply put, executive functioning (EF) refers to the mental processes that enable children to plan, focus, regulate behavior, remember instructions, and complete tasks, forming the foundation for learning and social-emotional development.

🧠 Why Executive Functioning Is So Important

EF skills are the foundation for learning and life. In early childhood, they are tied to:

• Kindergarten readiness

• Self-regulation and classroom behavior

• Academic achievement (especially in math and literacy)

• Social-emotional development

Without these skills, kids can struggle with transitions, focus, and collaboration. It’s simple. It’s harder to stay ahead if you struggle with EF skills.

Vendor Sponsor: Reflection Sciences

The Ecential searches for vendors that drive meaningful impacts to children’s lives. With the growing importance of building executive functioning skills early in life, The Ecential is proud to introduce Reflection Sciences: The Executive Function Company.

Their research-backed award winning MEFS™ App provides a reliable way to quickly assess Executive Functioning skills. The ease of use, child engagement, and immediate scoring makes the MEFS™ App ideal for Executive Function research with children. Use it repeatedly with the same child to track changes, and you can start as early as 24 months!

Want to know your EF Score? CLICK their logo below to play the game and find out!

Time For a Poll! 📊

AI Hack - Student Support Plans

We got a great tip from one of our readers using AI (i.e. ChatGPT) to help create Student Support Plans. It’s easy and will save you HOURS of work. Here are some steps on how to build the questions: 👩🏽‍💻

• Ask AI tool to create a Student Support Plan for the appropriate age.

• In the follow up prompt, list the key areas of development you identified including your recommendations.

• Ask the tool to then to refine or create new recommendations based on the details provided.

• Then ask it to fill in the template with the support plan!

It’s that easy! Now you have a formal template and plan that you can share with families to help drive results.

The Internet is a Playground:

🗓️ On this Day in History: In 1974, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record hitting his 715th homer. As an African American, Hank Aaron overcame death threats and hate mail to take the record. What a feat! ⚾️

💸 Bye Bye Zelle App: We’ve all probably used it send some 💰. In 2024, Zelle sent over $1 trillion (yes, with a T). But don’t worry, Zelle isn’t going anywhere. They’re just taking down the app, which accounted for only 2% of transactions.

🎸 Music Two and Out: Have a favorite band? Chances are they were a two-hit wonder. This analysis shows that some of the world’s most iconic bands were, as far as radio was concerned, were just that.

🙀 Aww: Cats don’t make household chores easy.

YOUR VOICE COUNTS

Is there a topic you want more info on or want to share a funny story? Then let us know! Shoot us a quick email at [email protected]. This newsletter is for you, and well, you should have a say, don't’ you think?