Emotion regulation tool

The experience of emotions includes: physical reaction, feelings, thoughts and judgements; and action signals. When working with children on emotion management a good place to begin is helping become aware and recognize how their bodies react to various types of emotions. For example, a nervous stomach or tightness in shoulders may occur when they are unsure or stressed out. Talking about physical reactions and how thoughts, feelings, and behavior are connected gives children a sense of more control. Ideally when they begin to notice these sensations they will become mindful and use some of the regulation strategies we teach in counseling (like deep breathing with counting or tighten and release muscles). To read more about the concept of body reactions as part of emotional learning go to social-and-emotional-learning/emotional-development

Resources for Self-Control, Self-Regulation, and Mindfulness

I think the work of Lauren Brukner, occupational therapist, is extremely useful to elementary counselors and parents of children who struggle to self-regulate. The 3 books pictured above are the ones I use to pull ideas from for my small groups on self-regulation. The 6 exercises shown above are the ones I have pulled from the 3 books to use as the warm-ups in my third grade group. I also posted my overview of my third grade group. Small tier 2 groups are growth-promoting environments that provide children with “scaffolding” and opportunities to practice necessary skills before they must perform them alone. As counselors, we know that different tools work for different kids so I teach different ones in each group because some of these same students would have been in self-regulation groups in Kindergarten and grades 1 and 2.  Actually many of the tools presented in these books would be great for classroom lessons, particularly in grade 3 where the level of toxic stress seems to peak because of letter grades and standardized testing in our state.

She has another book Awesome and In Control that I recommend to parents. We have a copy in the Self-Regulation Family Resource Pack we loan to parents. I agree with Brukner that we want our children to gain "control, direction and ownership of their own states of self-regulation. Children are not born knowing how to self-regulate and for some children it takes special instruction to master these critical life skills.

Books that promote self-understanding and compassion

Listening to My Body by Gabi Garcia is a picture book that introduces children to the practice of paying attention to their bodies. Through a combination of story and simple experiential activities, it guides them through the process of noticing and naming their feelings and the physical sensations that accompany them, while helping them build on their capacity to engage mindfully, self-regulate, and develop a better sense of well-being. We have used this in our grade 1 and 2 self-regulation groups.
Garcia's new book Listening with My Heart introduces the universal themes of kindness, empathy and self-compassion. It includes kid-friendly self-compassion / mindfulness exercises.  So far I have just shared this book with individual students but it would work well in a group or lesson too. Go to the author's web site for free activity guides to use with these books gabigarciabooks.com/

New Author

I just found this new author, Shannon Anderson, a primary teacher that understands kid challenges. These two books are perfect to lead a session with a child whose perfectionism is getting in the way or that child who is checked out because school is boring. Both books include an activity guide and tips and information to share with teachers and parents. They are both written at a second grade reading level and published by Free Spirit Publishing.

Making a Difference

We use several of Cheri Meiners books but this new one is my favorite. She offers some making a deference activities in the back of the book but others are available on her website cherijmeiners The book goes beyond kindness to explain the importance of a good attitude, helping others, and doing something useful. I will use it in a few groups this spring but it would be a great classroom lesson book to expand on the theme of kindness.

The Fruit Salad Friend

I use several books by Maria Dismondy so I was happy to get her latest release. A girl who always loved school noticed peers were no longer being kind. After struggling for a few days trying her usual strategies, she decides to look at relationships differently. This is a great book for girls in grade 2 and 3 struggling with "tricky" peers who are sometimes friends and sometimes mean. It points out that a smile can win over people. The book includes 10 tips for parents to help promote prosocial skills written by Dr. Michele Borba the author of Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kinds Succeed. I have already used this in a small friendship group in grade 3 and know this will become a favorite on my bookshelf.

Dr. Seuss Book

In honor of his birthday I wanted to share about my favorite of his many books, My Many Colored Days. It also lends itself beautifully to a Bulletin Board or Decorate Your Door for Read Across America Day. I have used this book in so many ways from K through grade 5. If you want a lesson plan for some solid extension activities check out csefel.vanderbilt.edu or theteacherscorner We do Second Step for classroom lessons so I usually use this book in one of my emotion regulation small groups.