EARLY CHILDHOOD Issue # 1

111



Early
Childhood
Self-Regulation



SUPPORTING PARENTS IN SUPPORT ING CHILDREN

IN THIS ISSUE: EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT




The practice of self-regulation skills are
very important in an early childhood
classroom. Young students should be
aware that their actions have
consequences and that they are in
control of their actions. As stated by
Jaruszewicz (2012), It is important
during early childhood because children
need to learn how to delay gratification;
respond and adapt to rules; and handle
frustration, challenges, and
disappointments in socially acceptable
ways. To aid children in applying and
learning healthy self-regulation skills, it
is vital for a parent to use scaffolding
techniques within the home to foster
childs social, cognitive and behavioral
growth.


Emotional Development:
During the Early Childhood stage of
development, children language begins
to increase dramatically. This offers
children the ability to verbally express
their emotions to others, which aids in
emotional self-regulation. Children can
now understand causes, consequences,
and behavioral signs of emotions that
improve in accuracy and complexity. As
language further develops a childs
empathy becomes more reflective.
Children begin to look to parents
behaviors in understanding their own
self-regulation skills. A childs
temperament is unique to their
personality and social experiences.
Temperament and social behaviors are
intertwined with a childs sensitivity,
security and stress. When parents aid
their young children in regulating
emotions it fosters the development of
effortful control.



According to Berk(2013), Warm, patient parents
who use verbal guidance, including suggesting
and explaining strategies and prompting children
to generate their own, strengthen childrens
capacity to handle stress (Colman et al., 2006;
Morris et al., 2011)(pg.411).

How to Support Children with Self-Regulation Skills
By Nia H. Jackson
EARLY CHILDHOOD SELF-REGULATION | Issue # 1
2


At this stage children benefit for adult-provided strategies for delaying gratification, which
will support self-control as the child matures. Setting limitations and identifying negative
behaviors through pretend play with scaffolding techniques will support a childs
understanding in aggressive behaviors.

Providing activities focusing on the power of words. Young children are very ego-centric,
they often have trouble understanding that their feelings differ from others. Having children
to identify different emotions expressed on a facial character chart and ask them how you
think that person feels, will help them identify their emotions and feelings. When children
understand that their words have power and can provoke feelings from others, they will
begin to understand and think before they aggress.



Support Self Control
Model positive behavior
management skills, understand
limits and provide support to help
your child gain control over his or
her behavior. Help your child
explore emotions and provide ways
to diffuse negative emotions.
Communication
Language guides our thinking and
our behavior. Not only do we use it
to communicate with others, we use
it internally to monitor ourselves.
Encourage your childs language
development by engaging him or
her in meaningful conversations,
allowing for your child to explore
and explain thoughts and feelings.



Include in Decision Making
Children learn to model the
language you use, as well as the
processes you enact to make
thoughtful decisions. Additionally,
by incorporating and weighing your
childs ideas, you help him/her
develops the confidence and skills
to think independently and actively
Regulating Anxiety
In order to aid children with low
self-regulation, experiences to
adapt and adjust are vital. To
promote self-regulation at home
regulating anxiety and
providing positive cues are
important. Help to regulate
anxiety by using encouraging
words and phrases, will
promote positive self-worth
and thoughts.




Parents who discuss what to expect and ways
to handle anxiety offer techniques that
children can apply. (Berk, 2013, pg. 411).





An important tool for fostering childrens prosocial behavior is their capacity for
empathy and sympathy. Empathy involves feeling anothers emotion, or feeling an emotion
consistent with what another person would be expected to feel in a given situation. Self-
regulated children can delay gratification and suppress their impulses long enough to think
ahead to the possible consequences of their actions or to consider alternative actions that
would be more appropriate. Children who are well-regulated tend to experience sympathy
rather than be overwhelmed by the negative emotion experienced when empathizing.
Helping children regulate their own emotions not only promotes childrens sympathy, but
provides them with the resources to deny themselves when it benefits another.