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(Unit 8) Topic 1: The Whole Child 

4 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

Self-Regulation and Preschoolers

​Topic 1 Page 20

​According to the US Department of Education “Self-regulation is the ability to express thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in socially appropriate ways. Learning to calm down when angry or excited and persisting at difficult tasks are examples of self-regulation.“ 

Self-regulation skills are constantly being fine-tuned for young children and preschoolers are getting a great deal of practice in that area. The skill of self-regulation needs to be developed but it will take a lot of practice and support. Emotional regulation is not fully developed which means that a preschool child’s self-regulation skills may be severely lacking. This may result in tantrums, meltdowns, arguing, and tears among many other things. Some children will have stronger self-regulation skills and more mature emotional reactions, being able to empathize with others and process their own feelings. 

​Caregivers and educators should be mindful of the appropriate self-regulation skills and milestones that preschool children will meet so that they can best support them. Preschool children may show a preference for playing with other children, be unable to differentiate between real and make believe, show concern or change their mood to match a friend’s mood, show interest in learning about new things, and be eager to please others. These common milestones can give children practice at self-regulation and also create situations where self-regulation skills are needed but are not fully developed or even developed at all!  

​As preschoolers develop they are more likely to recognize other’s emotions as well as their own. As they are given labels and tools to understand their emotions, they will have a better grasp of what they feel and how to cope with those feelings. A preschool child who becomes frustrated while playing with playdough can either experience overwhelming feelings which result in a meltdown or understand their feelings of frustration and ask for help. Likely, you have worked with both types of reactions in children. The differences in these outcomes depends largely on the child’s self-regulation skills but can also be impacted by fatigue, hunger, and other extenuating circumstances.   

(Unit 8) Topic 1: The Whole Child ​ * Navigation Menu