A Guide to Executive Function
Executive function and self-regulation skills are like an air traffic control system in the brain—they help us manage information, make decisions, and plan ahead. We need these skills at every stage of life, and while no one is born with them, we are all born with the potential to develop them. But, how do we do that?
Here's a Guide to Executive Function to walk you through everything you need to know about these skills and how to develop and practice them.
Children need to be active, so Have a Ball!
Physical activity is essential to healthy child development, and the early years are the best time to give kids an active start. But where do you begin? The
Have a Ball Together website will give you the tools you need to be able to promote and encourage physical activity for children 0-6.
5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return
Child-adult relationships that are responsive and attentive—with lots of back and forth interactions—build a strong foundation in a child’s brain for all future learning and development. This is called "serve and return." Harvard Centre on the Developing Child has
a quick video that explains "serve and return," and 5 important steps to follow when you're interacting with children.
10 Activities to help young children express and label feelings & emotions
Children can have a difficult time understanding their emotions and the way certain events make them feel in the early years of life. As educators, it is our responsibility to help and support them to manage their emerging and often confusing emotions. Here are
10 strategies and 10 activity ideas for helping children express and manage their emotions.
VIDEO: What is “Self-Reg”?
Have you ever wondered what it means when someone talks about "Self-Reg"? Here's a 1-minute video that explains
Self-Reg: A 5-step method for reducing stress.
What is Developmentally Appropriate Practice?
Developmentally Appropriate Practice (also known as DAP) is a teaching perspective in early childhood education where a teacher nurtures a child’s development (social, emotional, physical, and cognitive) based on theories of child development, the needs of the individual child, and the child’s cultural background (community, family history, and family structure).
VIDEO: What is Executive Function and Self-Regulation?
The Centre on the Developing Child at Harvard University has a new,
5-minute video that explains how we use executive function and self-regulation each and every day to manage ordinary, and sometimes challenging tasks. It also shows how science offers an explanation for how we navigate tasks successfully, and what can send us off course.
What are ACES and how do they relate to toxic stress?
The term “ACEs” is an acronym for Adverse Childhood Experiences. ACEs research shows the correlation between early adversity and poor outcomes later in life. Toxic stress explains how ACEs can trigger biological reactions that lead to those outcomes. The Harvard Centre on the Developing Child has developed a
simple infographic that explains...
Children take longer to learn two languages at once compared to just one — don’t fret
Some bilingual children from immigrant families develop each language at a slower pace because their learning is spread across two languages. This research shows strong evidence that the rate of language growth is influenced by the number of languages a child is learning - which challenges the belief that children are linguistic sponges who quickly absorb the language or languages they hear and become proficient speakers of both languages!
Addressing Challenging Behaviours
Whether a child hits others, uses inappropriate language, or throws a tantrum, all educators have to address challenging behaviours in the classroom. Learn more about how
focusing on prevention, social-emotional learning and self-regulation tools can help.
