This is one of my favourite areas of teaching positive behaviour for learning. From teaching Emotional Regulation, we are giving our children lifelong skills to manage their ever present emotions in a constructive and positive way.

The following explains the concept of Emotional Regulation really well:

All of us experience emotions of various kinds and attempt to cope with these emotions in either effective or ineffective ways. It is not the experience of anxiety that is the real problem. It is our ability to recognise our anxiety, accept it, use it if possible, and continue to function in spite of it. Without emotions, our lives would lack meaning, texture, richness, joy, and connection with others. Emotions tell us about our needs, our frustrations, and our rights—they motivate us to make changes, escape from difficult situations, or know when we are satisfied. Yet there are many people who find themselves overwhelmed by their emotions, fearful of their feelings, and unable to cope because they believe their sadness or anxiety prohibits effective behaviour. (Psychotherapy in Australia, Vol 19 No 1, November 2012)

This term we are giving our students the opportunity to firstly label emotions and feelings - which is the basis of being able to personally identify what they may be feeling.

Following this, we will look at ngākau aroha, and being able to recognise how others may be feeling. We will delve into effective strategies that can be used for overcoming obstacles - e.g. calming strategies, as well as strategies for persevering when things get tough, and being able to deal with mistakes by treating them as learning opportunities.

I would love parents to be cue-d into using these strategies with their children at home, too. Keep in touch with what we’re covering each fortnight, and drop a few key phrases into your conversations with your children.