Anda di halaman 1dari 2

Dear Parents,

I would like to take this moment to discuss an important topic in your childs development. This
is in regards to self-regulation. Although your children are in the stage of early childhood it is important
to begin fostering self-regulation even now. The emotional development during early childhood,
specifically your 3 year old has begun to take another form. It is obvious now that he/she seems to
understand taking turns, but is not always willing to do so. In addition to this, some aggressive traits may
become evident. During this stage children defend toys and possessions and will be aggressive by
grabbing toys and hitting other children or possibly hiding toys. (Marotz & Allen, 2013)
First it is important to understand what emotional self-regulation means. It is defined as follows,
Emotional self-regulation refers to the strategies we use to adjust our emotional state to a comfortable
level of intensity so we can accomplish our goals (Berk, 2013, Pg. 409). A tip that can be used to teach
our children how to manage their emotions is by teaching them how to distract themselves when they
feel frustrated. As parents, you can teach children emotional self-regulation by showing them just how
you handle your own emotions. Young children will even pick up on cues from your own behavior.
Another tip is for parents to simply talk to their children. Adult-child conversations that prepare
children for difficult experiences also foster emotional self-regulation. Parents who discuss what to
expect and ways to handle anxiety offer techniques that children can apply (Berk, 2013, Pg. 411).
Parents, dont underestimate that power of communication with your young children.
If a child is having difficulty in terms of their behavior I would like to suggest a couple of
strategies to help. First, if a child is having trouble with sharing, as we discussed earlier then we should
find a way to make this easier. We can set up a timer to let them know when the timer goes off it is
time to hand over the toy to another child waiting for a turn. When a child is given a warning and there
is an actual time that they can see and hear, I believe this makes it easier for the child to cooperate with
sharing. If a child is being aggressive, as can be expected during early childhood, I believe it is important
to talk to the child and let them know how their actions are affecting their peers. If we can make a child
understand that they are hurting someone, then they may be less likely to repeat this action. Being
aware of this can actually promote self-regulation in children.
Children no doubt must develop good emotional self-regulation in order for empathy to result in
sympathy and prosocial behavior. Current theorists agree that empathy involves a complex interaction
of cognition and affect: the ability to detect different emotions, to take anothers emotional perspective,
and to fell with that person, or respond emotionally in a similar way. Beginning in the preschool years,
empathy is an important motivator of prosocial, or altruistic, behavioractions that benefit another
person without any expected reward for the self (Berk, 2013, Pg. 417). The strategies and tips we teach
our young children will help them in developing emotional self-regulation and thus will be able to be
more empathetic towards others.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call me at (478) 123-4567 or email me at selfregulation@yahoo.com
Sincerely,

Mrs. B. Kudamik
References
Berk, L. E. (2013).Child development. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Marotz, L. R. & Allen, K. E. (2013). Developmental profiles: Pre-birth through adolescence (7th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Anda mungkin juga menyukai