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Self-Regulation in Preschoolers
The early years are a time of extraordinary growth and development. Children’s capacity for self- regulation—how they manage energy expenditure in response to stressors and then recover from the effort—becomes wired during these critical years. Trajectories are set early and once set, can be difficult to change later in life. Anyone concerned with the healthy development of a young child needs to pay close attention to the child’s self- regulation.
Unfortunately, self-regulation is often confused with self-control, which leads people to think that effective discipline is key. Behaviour modification techniques and programs designed to instill self-control in young children can have short-term success. However, this approach might also lead to more longer-term problems in mood, attention and behaviour.
Similarly, self-regulation should not be confused with the ability to control emotions or social emotional learning (SEL) programs designed to teach emotion regulation. However, there is an intimate link between SEL and self-regulation. Helping children develop effective self-regulation in the early years sets the underlying foundation for successful SEL over their whole lives.
At its core, self-regulation refers to the manner in which a child recovers from spending the energy required to deal with stressors. Prolonged and excessive stress (allostatic overload) can put a child into fight or flight, or freeze, which greatly affects “higher” functions such as language, social cognition, executive functions and, indeed, self-control.
Self-Reg: A Valuable Tool for the Early Years
Shanker Self-Reg® is a process for enhancing self-regulation by understanding and dealing with stress. In Self-Reg we consider both our responses to stress and how stress affects our ability to maintain a healthy energy/tension balance. Self-Reg looks at stress across five domains: biological, emotion, cognitive, social, and prosocial. Heightened stress in any or all of these domains leads to problems in behaviour, mood, learning, and overall development. Identifying and reducing children’s stressors is the first step towards easing their stress levels and bringing them back to a calm and focused state, and ultimately improving their ability to self-regulate.
Stressors can vary quite a lot from child to child. What is a stressor for one child may not be for another. And what may be a stressor in a child one moment, may not be in another when the child is in a different physical or emotional state. Common stressors for children in the early years include:
The child’s biology—for example, their sensory/motor system
- Insufficient sleep
- Poor diet (high in processed foods)
- Lack of physical activity
• Stressors in the environment—for example, too much noise, light or feeling crowded.
• Difficulty understanding the patterns and non-verbal aspects of social interaction
Clinical studies have shown that it is indeed possible to enhance children’s self-regulation, and that doing so results in meaningful improvements in any or all of the above five domains.
However, there is no such thing as a “quick fix,” or a “one-size-fits-all” solution to building self-regulation in young children. It’s a gradual, educational and experiential process. Self-Reg can help us understand and respond to the roots of behaviour, learning, motivation and social problems in young children, which are almost always related to excess stress.
The Five Practices of Self-Reg Applied in the Early Years
Shanker Self-Reg® has five accessible practices that parents and other caregivers can take to understand and address self-regulation problems in children, whether it’s a chronic issue or happening “right now.”
- Reframe the behaviour. Learn the difference between misbehaviour and stress behaviour.
- Recognize the stressors.
- Reduce the stress.
- Reflect: enhance stress awareness.
- Restore energy.
These practices have proven very successful in helping parents and teachers nurture happier and healthier children. They apply to individuals, groups of children, or indeed, to the caregivers themselves. How they are applied will vary across centres, classrooms, communities, and families. With the right kind of support, the results can happen fast. We explore all of this and more in our Self-Reg in Early Childhood Development Program.
I would like to advance my studies
So glad to hear that, Michelle! Have you take some courses through The MEHRIT Centre?
Aviva
It is definitely important to consider a consistent healthy routine is kept when working with children with positive interactions. This will lead children to feel less stressed. If there is stress for children it is important ro follow the Five Practices of Self- Reg Applied in Early Years from this article to help reframe behaviour, figure out why a child may be stressed, reduce stress, enhance stress awareness, and restore energy.
Thanks for sharing this, Melodie! What might this look like in practice? I would love to hear about some of your experiences.
Aviva
My son lately has been staying up later to help me with the Dogs for we live in the bushes and spring is and can be a dangerous time of the year. So I’ve noticed a change in his behavior. He shows stress and easily distracted. So I told him early bed. It helps with his behavior, and diet.
Yvette, your comment really makes me think about the importance of sleep too. How do we support this routine, especially at different times of the year (eg, when it’s lighter out)? Thanks for the reminder!
Aviva
Yes I’ve told my son Thank you for trying to be a helper. But you do enough for mommy and you need to get your rest. Because things are so much easier when we are well rested
I agree, Yvette! Does this seem to work well for him? I wonder if you reduce his stress through the words that you share too. Thoughts?
Aviva
Sorry had a classroom activity. He is much better being back to his regular ways bed time and eating habits are better as well. It goes to show to change a routine can change and stress a child. Routine is a very important part of our lives and a quick change is hard on anyone of us.
It’s so true, Yvette, about the importance of routine. How do we help kids and adults adjust to changes in routine? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Aviva
the understanding that it is ongoing learning with self reg and its not one size fits all it brilliant. Many people only want the Coles note to life and children . Self reg is life long foundations. This course is very impressive and helpful.
So great to hear this, Lesley! How might you share this learning with others? I would love to hear more.
Aviva
Truly happy I chose to do self-reg!
I love reading this! What makes you the most happy?
Aviva
We have so many students who arrive at school with limited sleep and no breakfast. We do a morning check-in and if they need either of these, we provide the food and a place to rest prior to starting any learning. This is so helpful as many of our students come from complex backgrounds and trauma.
Thanks for sharing what you do! It’s great to hear that this has an impact for your students. I’d love to hear what else others do that work well for kids.
Aviva
Thanks so much
You’re welcome! Is there anything about this post that really resonated with you? I would love to hear more.
Aviva
Hi Aviva, I am currently enrolled in the Self-Reg ECD course; just started module 12. I have thoroughly enjoyed my journey and I feel I have more knowledge and understanding to help the children in my care. I work with toddlers and as mentioned they do not have the ability to bring themselves back to a homeostasis state if allowed to go for too long in a stressed state. Now, I haven’t come in contact with many children who have not been able to find their way back with the help of a caring adult; however, I think that is because the children that I have worked with have had the help that has been needed. Those situations are pretty common such as first day, few days and week of being in the daycare environment and watching their parent walk away. Although, every so often I come across a child who has a low threshold (vagal tone) when it comes to handling situations. For the age group that I work with it can be anything from having a child too close to not getting what he/she wants and everything in between. As I began this course I quickly realized that what this child needed was for me to stay calm. I have been told that I have a lot of patience and I do, but when I am faced with a challenging situation without an idea of what to do I tend to not have that patience. What Self-Reg gave to me was the permission to not always know what to do and the realization that I can still be calm; that has truly been a game changer for me. The problem I have, (I think it’s a problem) is that I have self-reg on my brain 24/7 and I am looking at every child through that lens. I say it’s a problem because I find myself feeling that every child needs it in one way or another. For example, (I am not using real names and may tweak the story just a little) Paul is a very sensitive child who is, both very insulted and saddened when another child invades his space to push, take a toy or anything else that children do at this age. Paul’s initial reaction is to scream angrily and then lash out by hitting. Of course, this is normal behavior; however since learning about self-reg I started to lend Paul my calm. I would put myself down to his level, gently rub his back and very soothingly speak to him. I used words to validate his feelings and he would begin to calm down and then just lean in and rest his head on my shoulder. I, also like to use this as a teaching tool to help the other child understand how his/her actions made Paul feel; I will use the same soothing voice. What I see happening is that the child will place a hand on Paul and move closer to look at him and sometimes offer a hug. Another example is of a little girl (fictitious name) named Sara who is very protective of the things she is using. When their is a group activity happening such as coloring Sara wants all the markers even though she is not using them all. If a child comes within a foot/foot and a half of her she immediately pushes the child saying no mine. This child may just be coming over to see what is happening and has no intention of coloring and if he/she does they are going to use a marker that is available. I have observed this behavior many times and I feel that she is, in her mind protecting what she feels is hers because she doesn’t want to share. This behavior is typical, however I feel that I have the tools and knowledge to help her overcome her fear that every child wants to grab her stuff. So, throughout the day I watch for a potential moment when this situation might happen and try to place myself closer in order to be supportive. I have, also wondered if narrating for her something like, “here comes Ashley to see what you are doing. Hi Ashley, we’re coloring here would you like to color too? In doing this I wonder if it may be less alarming for Sara if she knows that a child is approaching. I really want to help my collogues learn about self-reg, but I need to be sure that I have a pretty good handle on the whole idea and I’m not using it under wrong circumstances or going overboard when it isn’t necessary. I would love to hear your comments, and comments from the readers. Sorry for it being so lengthy, I love to talk… 🙂
Thanks so much Lynn for your comment and for sharing the stories! I love hearing about other people’s experiences. I’m curious why you see these responses as a problem. How has responding in these ways supported children? Are there times when your responses do not work well for kids? If so, then what do you do? I think this whole reflection piece is so important. What do you think?
Aviva
I believe, if we follow a great routine in our program. The children will get use to what is happening at a specific time of the day and it helps get through transitions. Changing it up a bit every month by switching around the furniture or maybe provide a small snack upon arrival can help the children a great deal. Expands their brain and they may not bored as quickly. Rotating toys and activities always helps keep the children’s interest and needs first. Interacting with the kids , can always be fun, we all want to be kids again at some point in our life. Opening up a quiet corner for the children to have quiet time all throughout the day is a special area that all kids like anytime of the day. That is why communication is very important with the parents, so that we can get a bit of knowledge on how their night went so that we can get a small “know-how” on how their day is going to be.
Thanks for sharing some of the small changes that you might make, Tracy, and why. I wonder if students could be involved in some of these small changes? How might we also prepare students for them? Curious to hear your thoughts.
Aviva
i learn alot things about how to understand babies language and how to make them calm down when they are unhappy its good website and more helpful thanks.
Thanks for your comment! What were some of your big takeaways? I would love to hear more.
Aviva