11/17/17

Shanker Self-Reg™ in the Early

Years
Dr. Sonia Mastrangelo, Associate Professor
Shanker Self-Reg™ Consultant MEHRIT Centre

November 18th, 2017.

Introduction
•Associate Professor, Faculty of Educa4on, Lakehead
University Orillia
•Former special educa4on teacher, DPCDSB
•Editor, Interna4onal Journal of Holis4c Early Learning and
Development hFps://ijheld.lakeheadu.ca/
•Miller Method therapist for children on the Au4sm
Spectrum
•Interna4onal clinical work (Bahrain, South Korea, NZ,
Peru, US)
•Consultant with the MEHRIT Center (Cer4fied in
Founda4ons of Shanker Self-Reg™)
•Consultant with Curriculum Services Canada
•Mother of two J

Agenda
•Introduc4on: What is Stress?
•Stressors Across 5 Domains
•Dis4nguishing Between Misbehaviour and
Stress Behaviour in our children
•The Founda4ons of Self-Regula4on
•Dis4nguishing Between
Self-Control and Self-Regula4on
•5 Steps of Shanker Self Reg™
•Reflec4ng on Your Roles in EC
•Q and A

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Let’s Make a Mental Note

•Think about your current role in Early Childhood

•Which child has been struggling (i.e. think about

transi4ons, behaviour..etc)?

•Have there been any “stressful” rela4onships for

you as the professional in your environment?

Your Perspective Matters

What Do You Believe?

1 Finger=Agree, 2 Fingers=Disagree, 3 Fingers= Unsure
•All children can learn.
•Stress and anxiety don’t impede our learning.
•The 5 senses play an important role in our learning.
•Children should have fun when they are learning.
•Parents are the child’s primary educators.
•Where there’s confusion there’s learning.
•We can learn from our mistakes.
•Mental health and well-being is as important as academic
achievement.
•Technology has helped to improve children’s social
development.
•Children should be encouraged to be risk takers.
Gale (2015)

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What is Stress?

Stress Continued
•automa4c reac4on that happens in your body when
there is a ‘perceived’ threat.

•release of chemicals (i.e. adrenaline) sharpens your

senses, focuses your aFen4on, quickens breathing,
dilates blood vessels, increases heart rate, and tenses
your muscles.

•can be posi4ve or nega4ve, apparent or hidden,

physiological/psychological, internal/ external, self-
imposed or forced upon us.

Effects of Chronic Stress on Brain

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The Brain and Stress

The image cannot be displayed. Your -Initiation
computer may not have enough memory to
open the image, or the image may have been -Problem solving
corrupted. Restart your computer, and then
open the file again. If the red x still appears, -Judgment
you may have to delete the image and then -Inhibition of behavior
insert it again.
-Planning/anticipation
-Self-monitoring
-Motor planning
-Personality/emotions
-Awareness of abilities/
limitations
-Organization
-Attention/concentration
-Mental flexibility
-Speaking-expressive
language

§ It is the primitive part

of your brain.

§ It controls the fight,

flight, or freeze
instinct.

§ It is not rational; it is
emotional!

How Does A Child Respond to Stress?

•FIGHT

•FLIGHT

•FREEZE

•FAINT/COLLAPSE

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Stressors Affecting You

§ Personal Life

§ Professional Life

§ Across 5 Domains
(biological, social,
emotion, cognitive,
prosocial)

Stress Performance Connection

New Sleep Guidelines

• Infants 4-12 should sleep 12-16 hours per 24 hrs
(including naps)
• Children 1 to 2 years of age should sleep 11-14 hrs
per 24 hours (including naps)
• Children 3 to 5 years of age should sleep 10 -13 hrs
• Children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9-12 hrs
• Teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep 8-10 hrs
•Younger adults (18-25) should sleep 7-9 hrs
•Adults (26-64): should sleep 7-9 hrs
•Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7-8 hrs
Reference: American Academy of Sleep Medicine

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Did You Know? Pizzled and

Technology
•In 2006 the word pizzled entered our lexicon—a
combina4on of puzzled and pissed

•Captured the feeling people had when the person

they were with whipped out their iphone and
started talking or tex4ng—unfortunately this has
become the norm

•Today’s children are growing up where they are

aFuned more to machines and less to people

Drawbacks of Excessive Digital Use

•Social and emo4onal circuitry of a person’s brain
learns from contact and conversa4on with everyone it
encounters over the course of a day—the interac4ons
mold brain circuitry

•Research shows that children are having greater

difficulty reading behaviour face-to-face

•Losing ability to maintain/sustain a conversa4on

•In Taiwan, Korea and other Asian countries, internet

addic4on is viewed as a na4onal health crisis which
isolates the young

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Shanker Self Reg™

Self-Reg is a powerful method,
developed by Dr. Stuart Shanker,
for understanding stress
and managing energy flow
to promote self-regula4on.

Self-Regulation

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The Thayer Energy-Tension Matrix

States of Arousal

4. 5. 6.
3. Flooded
1. 2. Hypo- Calm, Hyper-
Drowsy Alert Alert & Alert
Asleep
Focused

Why is Self-Reg Important?

•Directly related to success in learning, academic
performance, social interac4on, and overall health
•Restore feelings of self-efficacy
•Helps us to effec4vely engage with others
•BeFer quality of life
•Moves us from survival brain to learning brain
•Enhances our well-being
•Build/strengthen our rela4onships
•BeFer predictor of academic success than IQ
•Correlates highly with longevity and happiness
HOMEOSTASIS=HAPPINESS J

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The Challenge
“ One of the biggest challenges we face in
educa4on and child care is that a certain
amount of stress is normal and posi4ve.
What’s important is reducing the stressors that
are NOT helping the child.” (Shanker)

We need to become “stress detec4ves”

through the power of observa4on.

5 Domains of Possible Stressors

Noises, crowds, too much visual s4mula4on,
Biological
not enough exercise, lack of sleep, junk food

Emotion Strong emo4ons, both posi4ve (over-excited) &

nega4ve (anger, fear)

Cognitive Difficulty processing certain kinds of informa4on

Social Difficulty picking up on social cues or

understanding effect of behaviour on others

Prosocial Difficulty coping with other people’s stress; sense of

injus4ce (misinterpre4ng stress behaviour as
misbehaviour)

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What Zaps Your Energy ?

Non
Dim /bright Waiting /
preferred
lights being late
activities

Noise /
Allergies /
quiet /visual Injustice
pain
noise

Crowds /
Being Big Struggling to
social
startled emotions pay attention
interactions

Confusion /
Sugar /salt / Too hot /
Textures don’t
junk food cold
understand

Hidden Stressors

During a Stress Response Systems

Turn….
ON
OFF
• Adrenaline raises heart
• Digestion rate, bp and rate of
breathing
• Thinking brain • Cortisol metabolizes fat
• Immune system from fatty cells and
glucose from the liver
• Cellular repair
• Sweat glands open
• Muscles in the • Endorphins released
middle ear constrict • Hair stands on end
• Capillaries • Energy and reactivity
enhanced
• Reproduction

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Signs of Excessive Stress

Stress Responses:
• Instantly go from 0 to 10!
• Disproportionate reaction to stressors!
• Volatile reaction– always ready to
attack!
• Hard to calm – once the alarm is
triggered!
The body is overwhelmed by stress!

“Our stress thermostats can be easily overloaded. If we

first calm our limbic alarm, we can bring the pre-frontal
cortex back online.” (Shanker)

Misbehaviour Vs. Stress Behaviour

The key to misbehaviour is that the child could
Misbehaviour have acted differently; that she was aware that
she shouldn’t have done something, and was
perfectly capable of ac4ng differently. Prefrontal
cortex (blue brain) is “running the show”:

Stress The key to stress behaviour is that the child is not

fully aware of what she is doing, or why: she has
Behaviour limited capacity to act differently. Limbic
system (red brain) is “running the show”

Stress behaviour is caused by too a high stress-load.

➢ The big challenge in doing Self-Reg is figuring out
why the child’s stress is so high.

Understanding Stress Behaviour

•A child who is chronically hyperaroused is
going to show it
•Children do not like being in this state any
more than we do!
•We’re not trying to change the behaviour
(we want children to eventually do this for
themselves)
•We’re trying to understand: Why this child?
Why now?

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Self-Reg vs. Self-Control

Self-RegulaMon comes first.

It makes Self-Control possible.

How Do We Learn to Self-Regulate?

•Your ability to self-regulate is rooted in both your
biology and environment (Shanker)

•As a child, you learned to SR by the regulated adults

in the environment (co-regula4on)

•Calm/Engaged Interac4ons Lead to Co-Regula4on

Still Face Experiment

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Adult Influence on Child’s Regulation

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How YOU can support Co/self-

regulation in young children
•Careful and ongoing observa4on
•Being a co-regulatory play partner
•Offering a wide array of supports in the
classroom
•Introducing it as part of the discussion for
all young children
•Use an inquiry based model for learning

Observation
•Pay close aFen4on to what interests the
child (which area of the room does (s)he
seem to stay the longest in)
•What toys/ac4vi4es is (s)he playing with?
•Is the child playing alone or with other
children?
•Is it a busy or quite area of the room?
•No4ce any change in the child’s ac4vity
level as 4me goes on?

Co-Regulatory Play Partner

•Acknowledge the child’s idea, preferences,
and emo4on
•Join in on the child’s play idea
•Use natural rich affect (facial expression, tone
of voice, gestures) that matches the context
of the interac4on
•Establish a well-paced reciprocal interac4on

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Begin with Micro-Environments

The Shanker Method™: 5 Steps

1 Read and Reframe the Behaviour

2 Recognize the Stressors

3 Reduce the Stress

4 Reflect: Develop Stress Awareness

5 Respond: Develop Personal Strategies to

Promote Restora4on and Resilience

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Step 1: Reframe the Behaviour

Hit the Pause Button: Why? Why

Now?

Step 2: Recognize the Stressors

•Which domains are being impacted? Hidden
Apparent?

•Do the stressors consistently “trip” the child’s

limbic system? In all contexts?

•Usually begins with the biological domain but

quickly impacts the others

•Consider, sleep, diet, exercise, technology use,

friendships, …etc.

Step 3: Reduce (or Remove) the

Stress
•Involves turning off the alarm

•When the stress response is ac4vated, our first order of

business is to calm the brain

•We provide safety and security to help the crisis pass

•Then - and only then - can we help the child to learn

•SuggesMons: Begin with the environment and YOUR approach/

interac4on (remaining calm)

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Step 4: Reflect on our

Stress Awareness
•Show kids what stress “looks like” and “feels
like” (Have them draw it out)
•Show kids what calm feels like
•Quiet is not the same as “calm”
•Is child able to iden4fy calm within him/herself
and others?
•For younger children, teach what “calm” feels
like through drama4c play (puppets, dolls,
figurines)

Step 5: Step 5: Respond—

Develop Strategies to Promote
Restoration and Resilience
•Understand that strategies to restore energy
and cope with stressors is unique for each
person
•Iden4fy the prac4ces that are restora4ve to
personal energy
•Iden4fy exis4ng adap4ve and maladap4ve
coping strategies to respond to excessive stress
•Build your own tool-box of self-reg strategies
(and help another do the same!) to promote
restora4on and resilience

More Calming Activities

•Deep Breathing Techniques:
hFp://www.morethanmedica4on.ca/en/stress_lessons/
insiders?parents
§Draw it out
§Music hFps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D8ezH0iXh8
•Social Stories: Problem Solving Element
•Growth Mindset: “I Can Project”
•Mo4on: Rocking, walking, dancing, using swings
•Play dough, Colouring, Hands in warm water
•Watching a calming video: Living Art DVD collec4on (visit
hFps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIrBecB746c)
•Sensory comfort objects (visit:
hFp://ww1.sensorycomfort.com/)

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How do we NURTURE the Nature of a

Child?
•Room to express individual emo4ons
•Room for quiet introspec4on
•Room for personal and collabora4ve problem
solving opportuni4es
•Room to think differently, to imagine, to
invent and try out different ways of doing
things
•Room to develop rela4onships in our
programs and homes!
•A lot of co-regula4on at first!

Self-Regulation in YOUR
environment

CHILD

PARENT ECE

It Begins with the Relational Experiences Among

These 3 Key Groups

Self-Regulation in Practice—
Moving from………To
•Imita4on………………………. Engagement
•Peer Modeling………………. Authen4c/Natural Friendships
•Si{ng for long periods ……… Learning “In Mo4on”
•Whole Group Snack/Story … Smaller clusters of children
•Structured…………………….. More flexible; Following the Child’s
Lead; Inquiry Based Model
•Literacy/Numeracy steers ….. Self Regula4on Steers our Learning
our learning
•Direc4ng Parents……………… Facilita4ng/Empowering them to
recognize their many gi|s

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Importance of Parenting Style

•Parents play an integral role in the transi4on
from home to school; Home visits—Let’s Bring
them back!
•Listen carefully to the narra4ve that parents
share—they o|en provide us with clues/insights
as to why the child might be in distress
•AuthoritaMve: Warm and Responsive, Clear
Rules, High Expecta4ons, Suppor4ve, Value
Independence
•Authoritarian: Unresponsive, Strict Rules, High
Expecta4ons, Expect Obedience
•Permissive: Warm and Responsive, Few or No
Rules, Indulgent, Lenient

The New 4 R’s

•RegulaMon—begins with Co-Regula4on and
then Self-Regula4on
•ReflecMon—we can teach kids to reflect
through ques4oning
•RelaMonships—s4mulate growth and learning;
In studies looking at mental health, well-being,
physiological health, longevity, happiness—
number one factor in all those studies
rela4onships
•Resilience—human capacity to face, overcome,
be strengthened and even transformed by
adversi4es in life (ability to bounce back)

How Does Learning Happen

and New Kindergarten Document
•HDLH Kindergarten
-Self-regulation and well-
Well Being (1 of 4 being (1 of 4 frames)
foundations) -their own thinking and
feelings, and their
Well-being addresses recognition of and respect for
the importance of differences in the thinking
and feelings of others;
physical and mental -regulating their emotions,
health and wellness. It adapting to distractions, and
assessing consequences of
incorporates capacities actions in a way that enables
such as self- care, them to engage in learning;
sense of self, and self- -their physical and mental
health and wellness.
regulation skills. See pgs. 54-62
See pgs. 30-36 Am I correcting, directing or
connecting?

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Self-Reg Begins With ME and Moves

to WE
•We all play an integral role in the social, emo4onal
and cogni4ve development of the child

•Important for US to remain regulated (our children

depend on it)

•Understand our own energy/tension levels (so that

we can stay calmly focused and alert too!)

•We want kids to be mindful of their self-regulatory

states and we need this for ourselves too

On the Path to Self-Regulation…

•A cup of teamwork!
•Have a “loose” schedule
•Team Building Exercises (Professional Learning
Communi4es among Parent Workers)
•Consider wri4ng out “case studies” of problema4c
situa4ons/challenges and brainstorm possible
solu4ons as a T.E.A.M (Together Everyone Achieves
More)
•Find an outlet to “recharge your baFeries”
•Ongoing communica4on and rela4onship building
with parents
•Engage in ongoing professional development J

Available here:
https://self-reg.ca/self-
reg-song/

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Thank you!
A Special Thanks to Jennifer Snell and her
Team for organizing this event!

Questions?

A Little Surprise: Co-Regulation

in Action! J

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Books by Dr. Stuart Shanker

References
Mastrangelo, S. (2017). The promise of play as an intervenMon to develop
self-regulaMon in children on the auMsm spectrum.
hFps://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315735290.ch27
Becker, K. and Mastrangelo, S. (2017). Ontario’s Early Learning–Kindergarten
Program: A TransformaMve Early Childhood EducaMon IniMaMve.
hFp://www.naeyc.org/yc/ar4cle/ontario-early-learning-kindergarten-program
Mastrangelo, S. (2014).Can Self-RegulaMon Create Successful School
CommuniMes.
hFp://www.self-regula4on.ca/uploads/5/6/2/6/56264915/can_self-
regula4on_create_successful_school_communi4es_dr_sonia_mastrangelo.pdf
Mastrangelo, S. (2014). The Value of DramaMc Play for Children on the AuMsm
Spectrum.
hFps://www.cpco.on.ca/files/5913/9290/9618/PCwinter2013sneakpeek.pdf
Shanker, S. Calm, Alert and Happy.
hWp://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/shanker.pdf
Shanker, S. Selected Publica4ons.
hFp://self-reg.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Stuart-Shanker-Add4onal-
Publica4ons.pdf

For Further Information:

• www.self-reg.ca
• General Inquiries - [email protected]
• TwiFer - @Self_Reg

Dr. Mastrangelo- email: [email protected]

TwiFer: @DrSMastran

www.self-reg.ca
@Self_Reg

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