Time to Get Started: A Story About Learning to Take Initiative (Executive Function)

Winner of the 2021 Counselor's Choice Award!

Blake generally has a good time...until someone interrupts him and tells him he needs to do something RIGHT NOW!

He doesn't understand why he has to clean his room THIS SECOND! And he'd much rather be doing ANYTHING than learning multiplication.

Blake's mom steps in and helps him see that not all tasks are hard or boring - sometimes he can find a fun way to accomplish a chore if he looks hard enough. She also teaches him an important skill that her father taught her when she was young - the four steps to taking initiative. Blake learns questions to ask himself about why he doesn’t want to do something, and what he needs to do to get started right away and complete the task.

Initiative is the ability to start an activity, plan, or task. Learning how to take initiative and get things done is an important executive function skill for children.

Will Blake be able to take initiative at school and at home? Find out in Time to Get Started, another engaging title in the Executive FUNction series that inspires children in grades K through 5 to be flexible, organized, and resourceful. True to the author’s style, this story offers an entertaining lesson on taking initiative. Tips for parents and educator to help children overcome procrastination are included at the end of the storybook.

The Executive FUNction series also includes:

• What Were You Thinking?
• My Day is Ruined!
• It Was Just Right Here!
• Of Course It's a Big Deal!
• What's the Problem?
• How Did You Miss That?
• I'll Never Get All of That Done!
• Fix It with Focus
• How Do I Remember All That?

 

Bryan Smith has worked in the education field for more than 15 years, first as an elementary school teacher then as a school counselor. He excels at teaching students life skills that will take them far and help them succeed. He is also a popular children's author whose other titles include Kindness Counts, My Day is Ruined! and What Were You Thinking?