Please contact Jenny Lichty to get started with a Homework Helper.
214-636-6685 • JenLichty@gmail.com
CFAS Parent Portal: LearnSpeed
Housson Homework Helpers aims to help students build executive function skills, the foundational learning skills that ultimately lead to academic and personal success. Through executive function training and advising, we empower students and individuals of all ages, abilities, and academic levels to become more effective and independent learners.
Housson Homework Helpers Mission
Our mission is to improve executive function skills through our unique approach and skilled coaches. Housson Homework Helpers employs a mentoring and tutoring model that emphasizes the individual needs of each student. Our coaches and students often form positive and close, working relationships based on mutual respect, accountability, and a desire for success. Through the unique, student-coach relationship, students are taught executive function skills and learning strategies. Students and coaches are also able to explore other barriers that may be interfering with their academic success.
The immediate goal of coaching is to improve the individual’s motivation, self-esteem, study skills, assignment completion, while lessening parent-student conflicts related to academics. Our long-term goal is that students master core executive function skills to achieve academic and personal independence.
Our team of homework helpers provides flexible, customized, one-on-one coaching in the home, which allows students to work comfortably in their own environments. Based on the student’s needs, our coaches will provide executive function training and/or academic assistance.
Housson Homework Helpers improves:
- Goal setting
- Planning and strategizing
- Organization
- Time management
- Task initiation
- Prioritizing
- Self-control
- Study skills
- Assignment completion
Students & Coaches
Students
Students are school-age children, teens, and young adults who attend public and private schools. We work with bright and talented individuals who are struggling to fulfill their potential due to inefficient and ineffective study and work habits. CFAS coaches empower students to study smarter and develop foundational study skills that lead to academic success.
Housson Homework Helpers work with individuals who struggle with:
- ADHD or attention-based issues
- Disorganization
- Time management
- Anxiety and/or other emotional challenges
- General academic weaknesses
- Academic motivation
- Developmental immaturity
We work with:
- Elementary school students
- Middle school students
- High school students
- College or graduate students
Homework Helpers
Based on the student’s needs, our helpers will provide executive function training and/or academic assistance. Homework Helpers come from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds. Before working with students, all coaches are trained in executive function training strategies developed by Dr. Housson. All coaches are empathic and thoughtful individuals who have experience working one-on-one with students. CFAS coaches value confidentiality, are selected through a screening and interview process, and complete a thorough background check prior to hiring.
Our homework helpers will work with you and your child on these executive function skills:
- Task Initiation
- Housson Homework Helpers will help you or your student implement strategies to overcome procrastination and avoidance behaviors, skills to improve study habits, and prioritize skills for homework and studying.
- Academic Skills
- Housson Homework Helpers will introduce self-monitoring skills, time-management strategies, and self-advocacy skills.
- Organizational and Planning Skills
- Helpers will implement a plan to get you or your student organized. This may include the introduction or use of a planner, calendar, or task apps, and/or the introduction of an organization system at home for current and past school assignments. Our systems are designed to be functional and tailored for the student. In addition, coaches will show students how to better utilize their school-based learning management systems (e.g., RenWeb, Moodle, Blackboard, etc.)
Executive Function Skills
Executive function skills are the skills we draw upon to set and achieve our goals. These skills develop through mid-adulthood, which is attributed to the development of the prefrontal cortex area of the brain. The prefrontal cortex controls and regulates higher executive abilities, attention, and memory.
More specifically, executive function skills include:
- Goal setting
- Planning and strategizing
- Organization
- Time management
- Task initiation
- Prioritizing
- Flexibility
- Maintaining focus in the face of competing priorities
Traditional education is adept at teaching curriculum, but many institutions do not have the time or resources to teach these essential, executive skills. Because digital devices have permeated our daily life, these skills are not developing as fully as they once were.
Thankfully, these skills are flexible. We like to compare the development of executive function skills to physical health. You would not run a marathon without training and running shorter distances first. Developing executive function skills is similar. They are malleable and can be cultivated and strengthened across the lifespan. Executive function skills are developed through practice, and the more they are used, the stronger they become.
CFAS Team
Dr. Matthew Housson, Program Founder
Dr. Matthew Housson received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 1996. He began his career at The University of Texas at Dallas, Callier Center for Communication Disorders. Dr. Housson has extensive experience diagnosing autism, attention disorders, learning disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disorders.
Dr. Housson provides individual and family psychotherapy services to address behavioral and emotional concerns, as well as conduct psychoeducational and psychological assessments for children, adolescents, and adults. Additionally, he enjoys parent training and working with families to identify appropriate educational environments and accommodations for optimal learning opportunities.
Mrs. Jenny Lichty, Director
Mrs. Lichty attended Vanderbilt University and earned her MBA from the University of Dallas. She has over 10 years of experience in management consulting, including adult education, change management, and organizational behavior.
Disclaimer: Coaching for Academic Success is an educational branch of The Housson Center and is not staffed by clinicians or clinical interns who work with patients in The Housson Center.