Supporting Self-Regulation Skills

EDU 146 Chapter 6 Guiding Children’s Social and Emotional Development: A Reflective

Approach. Katz, Janice Englander. Pearson. 2014

Part 3 – Building Emotional Competence

• Self-regulation (Chap 6) Have direct correlation with academic and personal

success; Relies on both nature and nurture.

• Autonomy (Chap 7)

The Marshmallow Test

• Walter Mischel and Stanford University colleagues and grad students• Delayed gratification• Correlation to future school success and social/emotional

competencies

Self-Regulation

• Self-regulation – “the ability to monitor and manage one’s thinking, attention, feelings, and behavior to accomplish goals.” (Thompson, 2009)• How is self-regulation different from self-control?• Executive functions – follow the link to excellent information about

executive functions from the National Center for Learning Disabilities

Components of Self-Regulation• Sensory regulation• Sensitivity to input • Reactivity to input

• Sensory Threshold• Sensory ProcessingKnow how these components interact with one another and impact a child’s behaviors

Temperament characteristics

Components of Self-Regulation (cont.)

• Attention Regulation – How well can an individual focus and avoid distractions to complete a task?• Joint attention – with another person or people?• Theory of mind – This term explains how we think about others’

thinking. Children who are better able to make predictions about how others think and feel are shown to have better social, emotional and cognitive development. • As new tasks and learning emerges, the demand for a

child’s attention and attention regulation also increases.

What’s Appropriate?

• Look at the suggestions on p. 101 in your text for suggestions of attention expectations that are developmentally typical and appropriate for children who are 3 years old, preschool aged, and kindergarten aged. • You will have a YouTube scenario and related Discussion Board of a

child who is having trouble attending to his teacher. We will practice our ABCs of observing

Components of Self-Regulation (cont.)

• Emotional Regulation – keeping emotions in check to accomplish goals• Look at the 8 basic emotional skills on pp. 102 & 103 in your text.• Consider!!

• Many children learn these skills in day to day interactions with their peers and basic guidance from the adults around them.

• For children with challenging behaviors or delayed social and emotional development, we need to provide specific formal and informal interventions and activities to help develop these skills.

• “How Do You Feel” chart from Conscious Discipline• “Emotion Faces” from csefel

Regulating Emotions (cont.)

• Sympathetic nervous system – automatic; fight or flight; limbic system• Parasympathetic nervous system or relaxation response – allows us to

calm down; physical responses such as deep breaths or “going to our happy place” in our minds are strategies that can be taught to children for calming down. • An excellent strategy is S.T.A.R. found in Conscious Discipline. There

are wonderful resources, suggestions for implementation, and even a “STAR Song”. Teach STAR (Smile, Take a deep breath, And Relax) to your children with the accompanying movements.

Logic vs. Empathy

• What happens if we try to be logical or immediately problem solve when a child is upset about something?• What happens if we empathize with the child and validate his

feelings?• Caregivers must be attuned to a child’s inner state.• Remember the “Still Face” experiment?

Components of Self-Regulation (cont.)

• Behavior Regulation or Impulse Control – ability to consider choices and potential consequences before acting• Challenging behavior – “Conduct that is disruptive, dangerous, or

otherwise interferes with a child’s functioning, learning, or relationships.” (Katz, 2014)• Read the anecdotes on p. 106 in your text. Do we punish children

regularly for those behaviors or do we recognize that the children need help with new skills? • Delayed or deferred gratification – the ability to postpone the immediate

reward to attain future results, goals, rewards, etc. This skill allows for negotiation, compromise, etc.

Why We’re Different

• Both nature and nurture play a role in our abilities to self-regulate• Nature includes• Temperament• Brain development – please note, however, that healthy brain development is

impacted by experiences, either positively or negatively.

• Nurture includes• Attachment and supportive relationships• Supportive environments and positive guidance techniques

Strategies that Promote Self-Regulation

• Supportive classrooms• Developmentally appropriate• Modeling• Positive and clear expectations• Direct and indirect instruction of expected behaviors• Opportunities to learn and practice new skills

• Some resources• Tucker Turtle, problem solving techniques, scripted stories, etc. from csefel• “What is Self-Regulation” from Tools of the Mind• Teaching Young Children Self-Control Skills from National Mental Health and Education

Center• Resources from Conscious Discipline• John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt – this is one of those “whisper songs” that I

remember from years ago. Children sing the lyrics softer and softer, but continue to shout “Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da!” each time

Now for the Challenges!

• Look at the first full paragraph on p. 114 in your text. My question is, “Do we really want to protect children from difficult experiences?” Would we not do better to prepare them for handling difficult experiences that will inevitably arise in their lifetimes? • Our challenges!

• Recognize “misbehaviors” as opportunities to help children develop new skills and coping strategies.

• Learn to “reframe” our thinking so that the “misbehaviors” can be considered in more positive thinking and, thus, will be more manageable for us to handle. (Example – whining is VERY annoying vs. this child may not realize what her whining sounds like and could use some direct coaching in using a more appropriate tone of voice)

What Do They Need from Us?

1) Acknowledge the child’s feelings and thinking – increases self- awareness2) Help the child by exploring the consequences of the behavior along with

its impact on others – improves empathy and theory of mind3) Help the child through negotiations, compromises, choices, and/or

consequences (if over 3 years)4) Support the child as he/she recognizes his/her feelings and behaviors as

problems to be solved through self-regulationNOTE: None of this happens quickly! Just as with academic skills, a child will need practice and support to master these skills.See problem solving steps in Table 6.2 on p. 116 in your text

Remember the ABCs of Behavior?• A = Antecedent (trigger) –

• What happened before a behavior that triggered that behavior? • It may be internal (examples – hungry or tired) or • External (a child taking a favorite toy, transitions, etc.)

• B = Behavior – • Specifically describe the behavior; • Use objective language; help the child differentiate between a reaction and a

responses; • Identify the situation as a problem to be solved

• C = Consequences (Maintaining consequence) – • Be aware of other circumstances that may be contributing to the misbehavior• As the adult, are we reacting or responding to a child’s behaviors?• Is our environment conducive to self-regulation?

Looking in the Mirror. . .

• Reflect on “Looking in the Mirror” at the bottom of p. 116 and at the top of p. 119. • The better we know ourselves, the better able we are to positively

guide and support the process of healthy social and emotional development in children.

References• Behavior Problems: Teaching Young Children Self-Control Skills. (n.d.). Retrieved

October 9, 2014.• Conscious Discipline Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2014.• CSEFEL: Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. (n.d.).

Retrieved October 9, 2014.• Effects of Stress on Brain Development. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2014.• Katz, J. (2014). Guiding children's social and emotional development: A reflective

approach. Boston: Pearson.• Self-Regulation - Tools of the Mind. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2014.• Thompson, R. A. (2009). Doing What Doesn’t Come Naturally: The Development of Self-

Regulation. Zero to Three, 30 (2), 33-39.• What Is Executive Function? | Executive Functioning. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2014.