Dysregulated To Regulated: Finding Hope In Schools For All Learners Collaborative Interventions To Assist Pre-K-2nd Grade Students Regulate Negative Emotions That Impede And Disrupt The School Day
Kasie Longoria • Cahn Fellow 2023
In recent years, we have observed a growing number of young students arriving at our school unprepared for the social and verbal demands of the classroom. These challenges often manifest as big emotions such as frustration, anger, and anxiety. They disrupt not only the students' own learning but also the learning environment for others. Addressing these issues has become critical to ensuring every child’s success. To tackle this challenge, we have chosen to implement collaborative interventions and a holistic approach that engages educators, parents, and the students themselves in a cooperative effort to foster emotional and social development.
Our goal is to instill several components to our collaborative interventions in order to remedy students missing class due to emotional maladjustment. Shared responsibility by working together, educators, students, and parents can create a consistent environment both at home and school. We hope this will reinforce positive behaviors and emotional regulation strategies. This consistency is key in helping children feel secure and supported. Early intervention is another key component and is a crucial period for developing social and emotional skills. By intervening collaboratively at this stage, we can equip children with the tools they need to express their feelings constructively and navigate social situations with confidence. Building communication skills is also one of the pieces to our project.
Interventions emphasize the importance of verbal expression as a means of managing emotions. Through guided practice in both settings and purposeful play, children learn to articulate their needs and frustrations, reducing the likelihood of tantrums and outbursts. Community support interventions bring the entire school community together. Teachers, parents, and support staff including the school counselor all play a role in modeling and reinforcing positive behaviors, ensuring that no child slips through the cracks. The impact we are hoping for with these interventions is to create a more harmonious and productive classroom environment where every child can thrive. By addressing the root causes of emotional and social struggles early on, we can set our students on a path toward academic and personal success. This proactive, collaborative approach not only benefits the individual child but also strengthens the entire school community. Our project emphasizes the importance and benefits of collaborative interventions in order to teach young children how to regulate emotions and be ready for the demands of attending school.
