Assignment on child’s self-regulation

This is an observation of a three and half year-old child (pseudo name A) in a

daycare center provided by a private organization. Two days observation (each day two
hours) included the child doing the physical exercises, listening stories, playing alone and
with other peers and both snacks and lunch time. I observed the child activities paying a
focus on her self regulating abilities .We know that, Self-regulation is a child’s ability to
control his or her behavior. It develops over time and involves many aspects of social,
emotional, and cognitive development. Self-regulation can also be thought of as the
successful integration of emotion (what a child feels) and cognition (what a child knows or
can do) resulting in appropriate behavior.

Description of my observation is given below:

Name: Pseudo name A DOB: 26.2.2009 Age: 3.5 years Gender: Female

Primary language: Bangle Ethnicity: Bengali Hand preference: Right

Date of observation: 17th and 18th July, 2012

Time Observation

10:00-10:30 a.m Children formed a quite straight line putting their hands on chests for
performing the national anthem with a little help of the caregivers.
Children respectfully performed first few lines of the national
anthem. After the national anthem children started doing ten different
types of physical exercises along with two types of yoga forms. As I
focused my attention on A, found that, she respectfully and patiently
performed the national anthem. She enjoyed doing the physical
exercises specially the breathing task of yoga. Without any pushing
or taking help from her caregiver she voluntarily did all the exercises.
Both of the days, I found her this attitude.
10:30-11:00 a.m One of the caregiver started to tell a story. The first day A was
attentive and focused while the caregiver telling the story. She was
deliberately participating in the session and promptly answering the
questions caregiver was asking. At the end of the story she clapped
hands with other peers.

But the second day A was not paying attention at all. She was
inattentive and not answering anything .She was busy plucking hair
and cutting nails with her teeth. Not only this, she was also looking
curiously what the other caregivers were doing at the other hand of
the center.

11:00-1 2:00 p.m It was the time to play. The first day, some of the children started
running and chasing one another. A also started running to and fro.
That time an 11 month old kid came into the daycare center with her
mother. A along with some other kids went near the little kid and
they were trying to take the kid on their lap. A kissed on the chicks of
the little kid. After some while she looked around and slowly walked
over to the puzzle table and picked one item. A. worked patiently and
attentively at the table. She was focused to solve the puzzle..When A.
was having trouble solving the puzzle, one of the caregiver helped
her to solve it. After that, A. finished the puzzle, dumped that puzzle
and grabbed another one and started doing that. After playing she put
all the puzzles at proper place.

The second day, while A was again playing alone with puzzle and got
stuck another girl(named C) age approximately 4 who was also
playing on the other hand of the table came to help A. A accepted
C’s help cordially and when finished they both started laughing and
clapping hands excitedly knowing that they had completed the
puzzle. Doing several puzzles together, A picked up the puzzle pieces
by pieces and cleaned the table like yesterday.
The given questions are answered below:

a) Was the child age appropriate in her self regulation?

I think the child was age appropriate in her self regulating abilities as the day care center is
providing a structure and predictable daily routine and schedule. Her calm and firm responses
during the national anthem session matched with the environment. She has the understanding
that, we have to perform national anthem quietly. She did not cry or showed anger, hostility
during the physical exercise session. Her attentive and focused responses during the story telling
session also matched with the environment of the session. Her clapping hands responses at the
end of the story telling session was also appropriate which reflects her emotion of getting
pleasure. While running she was energetic but not hyperactive. Kissing the little baby shows her
sense of love and care. During the play session she was able to decide what she wanted. She
slowly walked over the puzzle table and chose it independently. It indicates that, she has the self
regulating abilities that inhibit her urges to grab puzzle. She begins to learn that, there are plenty
of puzzles available and this helps her to regulate her emotional tension. She is capable of
managing her emotions which lead her to interact with her peer and caregiver more effectively
when needed. Cleaning up the table and putting puzzles at places after playing indicates her
behavioral self regulating abilities. Her cognitive self regulation appeared when she planned for
herself to play puzzle rather than running or chasing others. She took help from caregiver and
friend indicating that, she has the ability to regulate anxiety and uncomfortable emotions through
taking help. Her anxiety regulating capabilities and thinking helped her to be persistent during
solving the puzzle. It also increase her opportunities to practice the skills requires for an activity.

b) Did you see variations in her level of self regulation during different activities and different times of a
day?

A Showed little variations in her level of self regulation during different activities. On the first
as well as the second day during national anthem session she was quite and calm. There were no
differences in her level of self regulation in both days during the session. She showed enjoyment
and deliberately did all the exercises in both days. There were also no differences in her ability to
self regulate. There were differences in her self regulating abilities during the story telling
session. On the first day she intentionally participated with her peers in the session. Her
responses were proper and appropriate. But on the second day A. was inattentive and not
focused. I felt like, on the second day, A definitely showed her need for movement during the
session. I also think that while A. was not listening she was actually exploring the environment
around her to get a better understanding of it and her peers. So it was a variation in her level of
self regulations in same tasks in different days.

c) Explain the differences in her level of self regulation at these different times?

Everyone experiences peaks and lows in levels of attention, emotion, and motivation. The same
thing is true for A also. She came to know that some activities require paying more attention
(that is, the activities require increased attention arousal). So her level of self regulation during
performing national anthem was not same as her level of self regulation during story telling
session. Her attention arousal was higher in storytelling and puzzle solving session if compared
with physical exercises and singing national anthem session.

The same is true for her motivational arousal. Before playing with the puzzle she was running
with her peers for some times. That time her physical arousal was higher and when she shifted to
work with the puzzle she regulated her responses according to her. She knew that for solving the
puzzle she has to modify her arousal for running. For that, she regulated her arousal what was
not optimal for concentrating on puzzle solving.

During the play time, A. wanted to work quietly by herself at the puzzle table. Although the
other students intimidate A, she was aware of her surroundings as well as she was able to
make her own decisions. I feel that, A is a “can-do” child. We can see this by her picking
of her own puzzle to work by herself with a little guidance. The care giver used Vygotsky’s
scaffolding method in her Zone of Proximal Development (where children cannot
accomplish a task completely but can complete it with the help of skilled others). Here we
can see that A. cannot yet complete the puzzle by herself but with the help of skilled others
she could easily complete the puzzle. Through interaction with the caregiver, A. seems to be
working more efficiently. This encouragement also made her look happy and eager to
complete the puzzle. The second day it seems that, while taking help from other peers A is
using motivation (from other peers) to complete tasks to gain personal pleasure (Freud) and
was also able to regulate her emotion. In addition, it seems that A. has learned a habit. This
habit is cleaning up. Without being told, she knows not to leave a mess behind.

d) How can parents support or scaffolds the development of self regulation in the child you
observe? Give several examples for the different activities you have observed?

Helping children develop self-regulation skills is similar to helping children learn to read, count,
or ride a bike. Effective care givers use a variety of strategies to bridge the developmental space
between what children already know and can do and more complex skills and knowledge. Three
strategies are critical for scaffolding children’s development of self regulation: modeling, using
hints and cues, and gradually withdrawing adult support. For the child I observed I think,
scaffolding and using hints and cues can be the best supports.

As A was inattentive in the story telling session, through scaffolding parents can
acknowledge where the child is performing and provide the necessary level of support to
allow the child to be successful. By using how and why questions, during the story telling
session parents are able to facilitate children’s critical thinking skills and provide
opportunities for the development of self-regulation. Waiting is hard work sometimes!”
Helping a child learn additional techniques such as deep breathing when he is angry and
inattentive during a situation can also assist him with learning how to self-regulate.

Using hints and cues can also be a good way for A to regulate self regulation during the story
telling session. When parents use simple directions, gestures, and touch, they provide young
children with valuable cues about how and when to regulate their emotions, attention, and
behavior. Parents and care givers can help children regulate attention by pointing to or
commenting on important or interesting aspects of a picture, word, or pattern. They can gently
touch a child’s back to cue a child to relax (but keep in mind that for some children, touch may
increase tension).
My observed child’s self regulating ability was not appropriate on the second day during the
story telling session as she was inattentive. Parents need to follow several things so that she gets
enjoyment from the story telling session.Examples can be like,
 Try to create an atmosphere, like casting a good spell. Start with the time, place and
weather of the story.
 Use facial expressions, to show the feelings of the characters, their nature or personality,
or the situation they are in, e.g shy or cold.
 Speak more slowly and loudly than normal, so she can hear, and sit near. Vary the speed,
pace and volume of voice where appropriate. Make voice melodic and interesting.
 Use hands, shoulders and body as much as parents can, to show shapes of objects,
scenery, actions and feelings. Use mime and gesture to "paint the story", like a picture.
 Role-play any dialogue, with characterful voices.
 Use other sounds, for example, weather sounds, like wind or rain; happening sounds, like
explosions or rustling; animal sounds; emotional sounds, like sighs, sobs, yawns. Parents
can ask her to help them by making the sounds.
 Leave a space between words or sentences sometimes, to create an atmosphere.
 Occasionally surprise them with a loud noise, but do not frighten very young children.