Sleep Hygiene for Children
When we talk about sleep hygiene, we don’t mean clean pyjamas for our kids, although that’s a good idea too. The issue of sleep hygiene is essential to a child’s ability to restore energy, build overall good health and allow time for the brain to develop as all those synapses are forming and connecting. "Sleep Hygiene for Children" from Patient and Family Education at Seattle Children's Hospital is an excellent series of steps that too many of us have forgotten or were never aware of in a hurried/harried world. Thanks to Seattle Children’s Hospital for their work in this area.
Self-Regulation Assessment Scale
We are often asked questions about what self-regulation looks like across the 5 domains in the model developed by Dr. Stuart Shanker. Stuart and his team at The MEHRIT Centre have developed a useful assessment scale that will form part of upcoming self-regulation certification training to be introduced in a number of districts and systems engaged in understanding and applying the SR framework to support individual learners and the overall learning environment. We hope the framework enhances your efforts and sparks professional dialogue. Check out the document "Self-Regulation Assessment Scale" under the following link: http://www.self-regulation.ca/resources/documents-2/
Letters from the Field
The recent Sunday Edition broadcast documentary on self-regulation has resulted in many contacts from across the country and across time and careers. Here are some thoughts from a retired principal colleague. I heard the CBC program on Sunday-last and thought: How wonderful: Thanks to the likes of Stuart Shanker, Mike McKay, and others; there is a growing cadre of educators whose first order of business is the frames-of-mind and emotional states of the children and youth they face each morning! I know you know, it’s not about the grades we teach, the subjects we teach, or the “stuff” (content) within the subjects that ...
YSRI Information Bulletins
Our colleagues in Yukon Education are deeply engaged in the self-regulation journey and in building system and community capacity to support learners, educators, parents and others. These information bulletins (Parent Guide, Impact of Trauma and Science Backgrounder) are being used as part of the Yukon Self-Regulation Initiative to increase awareness, engagement and responsibility for what we know and what we do. See other PDF documents under Resources
Social/Emotional Learning: One of the New Basics
A few weeks ago, a teacher leader shared: “I never dreamed that the day would come when social emotional learning (SEL) would take its rightful place on the educational landscape and be treated with the importance it deserves.” Recently, another educator said that the national focus on child/teen mental health is both “long overdue and just in time.” It is clear from conversations like these and the work represented in schools and districts across our country that we are now attuned to the reality that the brain can’t learn, the mind can’t engage and the person can’t reach her full potential without conditions ...
Dr. Shanker: Self Regulation and Nutrition
As we develop the shape of the upcoming Self-Regulation Summer Institute in Surrey, one of the questions that has arisen for us to address focuses on the connection between self-reg and nutrition. I asked Stuart about that issue and how we can increase awareness of the importance of the body’s fuel and how it impacts an individual’s capacity to self-regulate. He took the question beyond the basic relationship between what a person has (or doesn’t have) for breakfast and how it influences the physiology and neurology for the rest of the day. Stuart points out that in addition to that ...
“Sparks Fly”
We are riding a growing wave of awareness of and engagement with self-regulation and its connection to nutrition, physical exercise, mental health, and the shape and feel of the classroom architecture and furnishings. As Dr. Stuart Shanker and I, along with so many others, work to make the CSRI site more accessible and resource rich, we hear from people who have stories to share. Here is one of those stories, from Luke MacDonald in Halifax, about an initiative that brings much needed physical activity options into the classroom, accessible to kids on an as needed basis. The initiative is known ...
Letters from the Field
Throughout this year, several of our "First Wave" self-regulation teachers have been sharing their journey with colleagues in Surrey and with First Wave explorers in other districts associated with the self-regulation initiative, under the "big tent" of the Canadian Self-Regulation Initiative. It is important to hear these stories and to get a realistic and hopeful look inside the classrooms where these remarkable educators are committing to make the kinds of changes that will support their students' learning, including social-emotional health and self-awareness. Each story brings insight to all of us involved in CSRI and helps the team gain a greater understanding ...
Self-Regulation and Child Mental Health
Over the past two decades, a number of striking advances have been made in our understanding of the development of a child’s brain. These discoveries have transformed our views about the importance of the early years for long-term mental and physical health. We are now in a position to explain just why these are so closely connected: indeed, to recognize that illness is illness, full-stop. And the crucial discoveries that have been made relate to our understanding of the core mechanisms that are impaired by excessive stress in the early years of life. Click here to download article or view under pdf ...
The Relationship Between Self-Regulation and Executive Function
In the rapidly growing exploration of the self-regulation framework, people often ask us to discuss the relationship between self-regulation and Executive Functions. This is such an important topic, particularly as enhancing self-regulation serves as critical foundation for the effectiveness of EFs. Self-regulation looks at the effect of arousal – biological, emotional, and social – on EFs. In... [Read more...]
Reflections from a “New Wave” Leader
As district initiatives related to self-regulation continue, the initial phase of uptake and support was referred to as the “First Wave.” Of course, there was lots of interest from other classrooms and schools to get involved and they became the “New Wave.” Here is a brief comment from one of the fine educators who is responsible for supporting those First Wave and New Wave teachers... [Read more...]
It’s Smartest to Co-Regulate!
Our friend Paula Jurczak, who is leading the self-reg on line book club option for a number of communities, continues to do wonderful work in helping people access learning and activate strategies that will make a difference for children. The chart is one of the tools she has created. It’s a great reminder for us as educators, as parents and as people who sometimes need to do a little “check... [Read more...]
Scanning the District – West Vancouver
Checking in on what our leaders are writing about gives a great sense of the current topics and issues percolating in our schools. In the age of encouraging our students to be public digital writers, we are so fortunate to have a number of our leaders modeling the way. What is so interesting is that the ideas from our schools are influencing each other and one feels the diffusion of new ideas... [Read more...]
Sparks Brain Bike
One size does not fit all in teaching, learning or most of life’s adventures, so it is always interesting to see how various people are using the self-regulation framework to re-shape the learning environment for children. In Nova Scotia, there is a growing movement to use spin bikes as a classroom resource: not for every student and not all the time, but as a way to help up-regulate or down-regulate... [Read more...]
KidsAttuned.org
Early childhood educators, parents of young kids and all of us who are interested in human development will see articles and videos of interest thanks to the Kids Attuned organization. It is a virtual village of interdisciplinary professionals and parents working together to advance understanding of the importance of healthy relationships in all infants and young children’s development. Such... [Read more...]
Letters from the Field – Spin Bikes in the Classroom
We have recently highlighted the impact of spin bikes and other new/non-traditional classroom resources that help kids self-regulate. In Halifax, and growing in other communities, the team from Sparks Fly (see previous post Sparks-Fly) have supported the introduction of the spin bikes, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Here’s a note from a Grade 4 teacher reflecting on her kids’... [Read more...]
Self-Reg Book Clubs – Let us know what you think.
The CSRI team is working to coordinate and share information about self-regulation programs and practices from across Canada, to explain the five-domain stress model and to suggest techniques that have been shown to significantly enhance the effectiveness of these programs. In September 2013, Paula Jurczak convened an on-line book club for BC educators using Stuart Shanker’s book Calm, Alert and... [Read more...]
Changing the make-up of Canada’s Classrooms
Transforming tiny terrors with ‘self-regulation’ might change the makeup of Canada’s classrooms. Dr. Stuart Shanker, a noted child psychologist will be in Ottawa on Thursday, March 27, 2014 to share a new method with parents and teachers on how to better deal with behavioural issues in the classroom and at home. Supplied photo. QMI File photo. By Aedan Helmer, Ottawa Sun First posted: ... [Read more...]
CSRI Webinar 13: Brenda Whittam-Neary
Nanaimo Celebrations in Self-Regulated Learning. Brenda Whittam-Neary. Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District #68.
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