On Wednesday evening, we were fortunate to welcome Clinical Psychologist Sumayyah Khan from Therapy Pods. She spoke to local ECD centres and parents on the topic of ‘Little hearts, big feelings – navigating emotional regulation in early childhood’. Khan opened her talk with explaining that children move from co-regulation to self-regulation, and they need support so that they will develop resilience and positive relationships.
She outlined common emotional challenges such as anxiety, sadness, frustration, low self-esteem, anger, and isolation which manifest in facila expressions, tone of voice; and shifts in behaviour. Khan educated the audience about the four smoke signals – red, yellow, blue, green – which help parents or educators to recognise varying states of regulation. She briefly touched on the digital impact of screentime, reminding listeners that screens don’t teach regulation where children can pick up on social cues or learn other vital life skills. One hour of co-viewing good quality content per day was recommended, as well as no screens an hour before bedtime. The content should be fun and educational, and not loud with high energy and bright lights.
Khan shared strategies and tools / activities to overcome any dysregulation. Importantly she noted that a dysregulated adult cannot regulate a dysregulated child – “be the thermostat, not the thermometer”. Khan stressed the importance of practicing the strategies consistently, realising that the beginning will be difficult. Some of the useful tools that were suggested were 1) deep breathing 2) emotional flashcards and 3) calm down corners.
It was a very worthwhile experience as those in attendance could ask for advice on specific scenarios, and could also relate to issues raised. “I would like to thank your team for arranging last night’s talk. My staff and I found it very informative and definitely gave us some tools to use in the classroom and information to give to our parents,” said Debbie van der Waag of Ready Steady Grow Montessori.
Khan ended with the important notion of “Children are allowed to have all the emotions – it is acceptable and normal. They need to learn to manage them in a healthy way.”
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