Welfare / Inclusion News

How Can We Help Kids With Self-Regulation?

Self-regulation is the ability to understand and manage your emotions and behaviours in an appropriate manner within a range of situations and evets.

It includes being able to:

regulate reactions to strong emotions like frustration, excitement, anger and embarrassment
calm down after something exciting or upsetting
focus on a task
refocus attention on a new task
control impulses
behave in ways that help you get along with other people.

Why self-regulation is important

As your child grows, self-regulation helps them:

learn at school – because self-regulation gives your child the ability to sit and listen in the classroom
behave in socially acceptable ways – because self-regulation gives your child the ability to control impulses
make friends – because self-regulation gives your child the ability to take turns in games and conversations, share toys, and express emotions in appropriate ways
become more independent – because self-regulation gives your child the ability to make appropriate decisions about behaviour and learn how to behave in new situations with less guidance from you.

How can you help your ch9ld build strong emotional regulation skills?

Remain calm in the face of their storm
Demonstrate understanding and management of your own emotions in various situations
Teach and practise calming strategies with your child such as meditation, mindfulness, deep breathing, stretching or exercising, journalling etc
Praise your child when they manage a situation well
Involve your child in problem solving tasks

offer the language to help children label their emotions
help children work out how their body feels when experiencing an emotion and notice the early physical and behavioural signs that emotions are building up
give children play or other activities to help explore their emotions.