over time with practice, support, and carefully curated opportunities. These include scaffolding children to take on meaningful roles, make choices, solve problems, and practice waiting and thinking before taking action.
We( the authors) have worked with early childhood educators for the past 30 years to help them build regulated, inclusive settings full of engaged learners. In this article, we describe self-regulation and its benefits, and we offer strategies that early childhood educators can use to support children’ s development in this area to set the stage for a smooth preschoolto-kindergarten transition.
What Is Self-Regulation?
Self-regulation is what enables children( and adults) to stay calm, focused, and intentional in their actions— even when it’ s hard. It’ s not just about following rules; rather, it’ s a key internal set of skills that allows people to manage their emotions, actions, and thinking. It includes inhibiting impulsive behaviors( shouting out answers) and acting intentionally( waiting for a turn). It is easy to mistake children being teacher-regulated, where they follow the rules as long as the teacher is present, for being self-regulated. However, when children are self-regulated, they follow the rules without adult direction. Focusing on the self in self-regulation is what sets children up for success.
the areas responsible for executive function skills, it offers a critical window for building the foundations of self-regulation.
Self-regulation supports social, emotional, and cognitive growth. It helps children navigate both social situations( like losing gracefully) and academic tasks( like staying focused on the word cat even when there’ s a funny picture of a dancing dog nearby). Children with strong self-regulation can plan ahead, anticipate consequences, and monitor their behavior as they pause to consider their choices. Developing regulation-related skills is especially important in preschool and kindergarten so that children have the foundation they need to learn in elementary school.
To support children to develop self-regulation, educators must help children learn to manage themselves. This requires support and guidance rather than strict behavioral rules and consequences( such as timeouts or“ three strikes and you’ re out” policies). Learning environments should have both consistent and appropriate rules and routines and opportunities for children to exercise agency. If children never have opportunities to make choices, manage themselves, or take initiative, they will struggle when asked to work independently or in small groups without adult direction— tasks that are common in kindergarten settings.
TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
Executive function skills make self-regulation possible. These include inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility( see“ Terms and Definitions” below). Because early childhood is a time of rapid brain growth in
22 Educating Young Children
Spring 2026