The BestEFC Blog
Welcome to my blog. In my coaching practice, from middle school through college, I see the same struggles again and again: missing work, homework that never gets started, no idea how long an assignment will take or what to work on first, and grades that keep slipping while no one is sure how to turn them around. I write about what actually helps, so you get the benefit of coaching from home. Pick a topic below, read what fits your student, and bookmark this page. I add new posts regularly. — Natalie
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Drive Safe, Love You: How to Parent a High School Senior
How to parent a high school senior: hand over as much of next year's freedom as you can now, and move from manager to coach while you're still close enough to help.
Executive Function Coach Certification: Which One Is Right for You?
No license is required to be an executive function coach. Here’s how the main certification paths compare, and how a tutor turned coach chose hers.
Twice-Exceptional Testing: What the Results Mean for School
Your kid is bright, and school is still hard. Twice-exceptional testing can explain why. Here’s what the results mean and what comes next.
After the Neuropsychological Evaluation: Who Teaches the EF Skills?
The neuropsych report recommends explicit executive function instruction. Here’s what that means, who does it, and what to ask at the feedback meeting.
Executive Function App or Coach? What Each One Changes at Home
An executive function app teaches strategies. A coach helps your student use them on real homework. Here’s how to tell which one your kid needs.
Hands-Off, Not Hands-Tied: When to Step In With Your Teen, and How
Knowing when to step in with your teen is hard. Here's how to tell what needs you, what's theirs to handle, and how to help without taking over.
What Is an Academic Coach? Tutor vs. Academic Coach vs. EF Coach
Same kid, same kitchen table, three different jobs. What an academic coach does, how it compares to tutoring and EF coaching, and which pays more.
How Much Should I Charge for Tutoring? (Hint: It’s the Wrong Question)
How much should you charge for tutoring? 2026 rates, why raising your rate has a ceiling, and how specializing changes the conversation.
Small Town to Big Campus: Executive Function Skills for College
In a class of 40, everybody notices. On a campus of 20,000, nobody does. The executive function skills small-town kids need for college.
Time Management for Student-Athletes: Bus Rides and Away Games
Practice until six, a two-hour bus ride, a test Friday. Time management for student-athletes who play where every away game is a long drive.
Farm and Ranch Families: Keeping Schoolwork on Track in Busy Season
Calving doesn’t wait for test week. How farm and ranch families keep schoolwork on track when the busy season and the school calendar collide.
Executive Function Skills for Homeschool and Co-op Students
No bell, no hallway, two sets of deadlines. Why homeschool and co-op students lean on executive function skills, and how to build them.
Executive Function Help for Small-Town and Rural Students
Smart, hardworking and still falling behind? What executive function help looks like for small-town and rural students, and where to find it.
No Executive Function Coach Near Me? What Rural Families Can Do
Searched “executive function coach near me” and the closest one is hours away? Here’s how rural families get real executive function help online.
How to Find an ADHD Coach for a College Student Before Fall Semester
How to find an ADHD coach for a college student: when to start looking before fall semester, what to ask, online vs. near campus, and what changes in college.
Executive Function Coaching for Students: What It Looks Like in Middle School, High School and College
Executive function coaching for students builds the planning, starting and follow-through skills school assumes they already have. Here’s what it looks like in middle school, high school and college, what changes at home, and how to pick a coach.
ADHD Executive Functioning Coach: What Parents Should Know
An ADHD executive functioning coach helps your student build the planning, starting and follow-through skills school expects. Here’s what coaching covers, what it doesn’t, and how to choose a coach.
Executive Function Skills for Teens: What They Are and Why They Matter
Planning, organizing, getting started, managing time, speaking up and following through. Here’s what each executive function skill looks like in a teen, what it looks like when it’s missing, and how teens build them.
Executive Functioning Activities for Teens: Simple Ideas for Home
Executive functioning activities for teens don’t have to look like homework. Here are low-key ways to practice planning, getting started, managing time and finishing what they start, right at home.
Executive Function Tutoring vs. Coaching: Which Does Your Student Need?
Your student understands the material but can’t seem to plan, start or finish the work. Here’s how executive function tutoring, subject tutoring and executive function coaching differ, and how to tell which one fits.