The Sumpter Executive Function Framework (SEFF)
The Sumpter Executive Function Framework (SEFF) helps parents and professionals understand what may be happening underneath a child’s learning, behavior, and development.
When a child struggles to focus, follow directions, get started, handle change, stay organized, or solve a problem, it’s easy to focus on what we can see.
SEFF helps us look underneath it.
Executive function is often associated with organization, time management, and
getting things done. But it starts long before that.
A child first has to notice what matters, pay attention to it, hold information in mind, pause before responding, shift when something changes, and monitor what they’re doing. Those skills work together to support learning, communication, problem-solving, regulation, and independence.
SEFF gives us a way to understand how those skills connect.
What happens at the roots affects everything that grows above them.
SEFF helps us understand that the problem may actually begin much further down.
SEFF Builds From the Roots Up
Just like a plant, executive function develops from a foundation — you can’t strengthen the flowers without understanding the roots.
Root skills
Root skills help a child take in and work with information.
Perception
Attention
Working Memory
Inhibition
Allowing the child to:
Notice what matters
Focus attention
Hold information in mind
Pause before responding
When these foundational skills are strained, everything built on top of them can become harder.
Leaf skills
Leaf skills help a child manage themselves as they move through the day.
Cognitive Flexibility
Initiation
Self-Monitoring
Self-Correction
Self-Modulation
Time Sense and Pacing
Allowing the child to:
Get started
Shift from one thing to another
Adjust when something changes
Notice how they’re doing
Correct mistakes
Manage their responses
Understand and manage time
flower skills
Flower skills are higher-level skills that help a child plan, solve problems, and work independently — and they’re often the first executive function skills we notice when something isn’t working.
Planning
Organization
Anticipating
Analyzing
Prioritizing
Balancing
Decision-Making
What You See May Not Be What’s Really Going On
