The Child Mind Institute offers specific ways for parents and caregivers to help children learn to regulate their own emotions. Self-regulation is an important skill, as it to pay attention to instructions, ignore distractions around them, and remember instructions. While self-regulation comes more naturally to some students, it is a skill that can be taught! I have found that emotional regulation is one of the biggest areas in which our Kindergarten and first grade students struggle. I continue to provide strategies and skills to help students understand and deal with their own emotions.

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In Kindergarten and First grade, we talk about the strategy: "STOP (hand out like a stop sign) and THINK (pointing to brain)". When we have big emotions, it can be easy to rush into a response, when it may not be the best one. When we STOP and take a few moments to calm down, we are better able to use a strategy, and think rationally about what we should do. Mr. Rogers shares a powerful message of empowerment: we each get to control how we feel, and our actions! Identifying feelings can be tricky, but being able to put a name to feelings can help students understand that they are ok, and then be able to know what to do with them. When I talk with students, we talk about the power of different strategies for calming down when we have big feelings. 

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Do you have questions, or would you like me to speak with you and/or your child? Contact me!

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