Astonishingly enough,“The dog ate it!” remains an excuse proffered by youngsters who can’t seem to figure out where they have left their homework, which they are quite sure they completed.

Sometimes they have; sometimes they haven’t. Sometimes the omission is intentional; sometimes children truly suffer from an inability to organize their own lives, not just pesky things like spelling papers.

As part of our ongoing speaker series, the Lake Tahoe School Parent Association is sponsoring a very special seminar focusing on “executive functioning.”

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For those of you who might not be familiar with the term, though all of us are familiar with the concept, the following description comes from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University: “Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Just as an air traffic control system at a busy airport safely manages the arrivals and departures of many aircraft on multiple runways, the brain needs this skill set to filter distractions, prioritize tasks, set and achieve goals, and control impulses.

“When children have opportunities to develop executive function and self-regulation skills, individuals and society experience lifelong benefits.

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These skills are crucial for learning and development. They also enable positive behavior and allow us to make healthy choices for ourselves and our families.”

Please mark your calendars now and join Lake Tahoe School parents and others from 6:30-8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22.

Whether your interests involve your own children or, perhaps, your own challenges with organization, this is a marvelous opportunity to gain understanding about various ways that brains function.

Ruth Glass is headmaster at Lake Tahoe School. She can be reached for comment through her blog at http://www.laketahoeschool.org.