Coaching Academic Fundamentals: A Practical Guide to Teaching Students How to Plan, Learn, and Practice

Coaching Academic Fundamentals is an educator’s playbook for building academic fundamentals—routines and habits that help students plan effectively, learn deeply, and practice with purpose. Drawing from nearly two decades of teaching and coaching, the author lays out a clear progression of nine essential skills that can be taught, coached, and repeated across the classroom and at home. With practical strategies, real student anecdotes, and an unflinching focus on doing hard things, this book shows how attention, structure, and discipline can be taught like footwork or a jump shot. Educators and parents will walk away with simple routines they can implement immediately, and students will gain a model for developing the independence that school demands. Whether you’re helping one kid or redesigning your entire academic support program, these are the fundamentals worth your time. Coaching Academic Fundamentals is written for teachers, executive functioning coaches, parents, and anyone committed to helping students succeed by coaching them to master the basics.