It can be hard to keep up with new ideas and early childhood developments during the year, so to help you catch up or for inspiration to start the year on a strong footing, we’ve put together a list of ECA’s top reads from across the last year (2019). It’s a mix of favourites and […]
Category Archives: Self-Regulation
What every child needs for learning self-regulation

This article first appeared on KidsMatter Early Childhood’s Shared Thinking blog on 30 June 2014. It was first shared on The Spoke in 2018 and was updated in July 2020. What self-regulation is … and isn’t Self-regulation is not simply self-control. It is the ability to manage our energy states, emotions, behaviour and attention: the […]
‘No such thing as a bad kid’, says self reg expert

Why does self-regulation matter more than self-control? Professor Stuart Shanker shares his views on this and much more, including how educators can learn the signs and respond to children’s stress cycles. Young children make ‘dramatic advances’ when the adults in their lives—educators, teachers and family members—develop their own self-regulation, according to Professor Shanker. He spoke […]
The Self-Reg View of: Overcoming Barriers

When children build forts and stock them with toys, pillows and blankets what role does this play in their lives? DR STUART SHANKER—self-regulation expert, psychology and philosophy lecturer—applies the ‘self-reg’ lens to overcoming barriers and finds that we continue to build ‘forts’ throughout life that can be a retreat during stress and a block to […]