We believe that if children learn early on how to recognise and regulate their emotions, we’re setting up a future of more empathetic, kind and respectful generation.
It’s so important, in fact, it’s a huge part of our Collective curriculum across all age groups. Our educators incorporate age and development-appropriate emotions learning opportunities throughout the year. Children who learn how to understand emotions in themselves and others are better able to regulate their own responses to strong emotions, helping them to move through that emotion and focus on all the other aspects of their lives!
There’s of course a number of reasons why emotional regulation is important to children’s development and wellbeing.
The early childhood years (o-5) have been identified in numerous studies as a crucial period for the development of important executive functions such as attention, inhibition, working memory, and literacy skills, all that are necessary for successful school transition and later academic success.
Even though this seems important, there hasn’t been much research on how emotion regulation affects young children’s academic performance. But we’ve found a couple of examples that highlight what we feel to be quite important in children’s development. Since academic skills tend to stay fairly stable over time, it’s essential to understand how managing emotions can support a successful start to school, especially in primary school.
Researchers have identified factors such as anxiety, aggression and verbal abilities as challenges that can affect children’s success in school, and furthermore relationships and career. One such study, The Role of Emotion Regulation and Children’s Early Academic Success, looked at how emotional regulation in young children can help with early academic success. Researchers identified that adaptive functioning, which refers to ‘numerous global positive outcomes including normative social, cognitive, and language development as well as the ability to cope with daily living tasks and environmental changes’ can be affected negatively or positively depending on children’s ability to succeed in school.
This particular study also emphasises that transition to school. Children enter a school environment where they are expected to learn important skills like reading, maths, and socialising. At the same time, they may receive less one-on-one support because of larger class sizes and a greater focus on their independence. Adjusting to these new academic and social demands, without the extra support they may have had in an early learning setting, can be challenging for many young children.
Another study, The Development of Self-Regulation across Early Childhood, highlighted that children who learn how to understand emotions in themselves and others are better able to regulate their own responses to strong emotions.
That’s where we come in!
Learning feelings through play
At Little Scholars, we believe helping children recognise and name their emotions is an important first step in developing emotional awareness. This approach is also supported by the Early Years Learning Framework, which encourages children to build a strong sense of identity.
One example from our campuses is the use of a much-loved book, The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas. This story helps children identify different emotions through colours. After reading the book, our educators extend the learning with creative activities that use colour and storytelling as tools for emotional recognition. These experiences help children build healthy emotional responses and support their overall wellbeing.
Our campuses also incorporate songs and affirmations as part of their routines to reinforce children’s understanding of feelings, and help them figure out what works for them in regards to regulating those feelings.
We also actively participate mindfulness activities into our days to help children process and manage big emotions. Along with songs and affirmations, we use our sector-leading Bush Kinder program to get children out into nature, as well as deep breathing exercises, meditation and yoga as helpful ways for children to slow down, reset, and navigate their feelings.
At Little Scholars, our goal is for our services to be a welcoming second home for children where they can focus on learning through play, and our educators to be a source of comfort and trust for these wonderful little people. We offer calming zones both inside our studios and in our outdoor environments to allow children to escape and rest when they need a break.
Our hope is the foundations we’re setting in children’s emotional and social development in those crucial first five years of development can be built upon in all stages of their childhood and beyond.
At Little Scholars, we’re focused on the holistic growth of each child in our care, by helping these small humans grow into kind, empathetic little legends who are ready to take on the big wide world. Book a tour at one of our 17 locations across the Gold Coast, Redlands, Brisbane and soon Ipswich to see how we incorporate social and emotional growth into our learning curriculum!
