Niluja Muralitharan, a PhD student in Education at Brock University, had a piece recently published in The Conversation about the importance of developing self-regulation within children.

She writes:

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has been anxiously waiting for it to end. While managing uncertainty and lockdowns, school boards have had to transition from in-person and classroom settings to offer online learning. 

 In this past difficult year, stress levels in many people have increased. Supporting children’s self-regulation is one focus of kindergarten education, including Ontario’s full-day kindergarten. 

 Self-regulation is how we manage the everyday stressors of life including all our energy and emotions. Developing self-regulation is central to a child’s capacity to learn and is critical for both social relationships and academic knowledge in years to come.

 For children enrolled both in online kindergarten or in-person learning due to the pandemic, the need to continue to learn self-regulation has never been more important.”

Continue reading the full article here.