A key insight of the Chess in Education movement is that CIE-trained teachers can use chess to develop critical learning skills, called “executive functions.”
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University recently released a video about the critical nature of developing executive functions in early childhood and adolescence. The video provides an overview of several papers on the subject. Executive function and self-regulation skills lay the groundwork for mental health later in life. These are defined as, “the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.” The development of these functions has life-long implications.
Find out more about the importance of executive functions and the role their relevance to Chess in Education in the Theory section on our Learn page.
Chess in Schools has developed a set of posters called “Think Like a Chess Player” to help students rehearse the skills they need to function successfully in the classroom and as adults. Schools that participate in the CIE Initiative Package receive the full set of posters as well as access to lesson plans designed by teachers to connect chess to the curriculum.
