Description of the frame
This frame encompasses children's learning and development with respect to:

  • their own thinking and feelings, and their recognition of and respect for differences in the thinking and feelings of others;
  • regulating their emotions, adapting to distractions, and assessing consequences of actions in a way that enables them to engage in learning;
  • their physical and mental health and wellness.

In connection with this frame, it is important for educators to consider:

  • the interrelatedness of children's self-awareness, sense of self, and ability to self-regulate;
  • the role of the learning environment in helping children to be calm, focused, and alert so they are better able to learn.

What children learn in connection with this frame allows them to focus, to learn, to respect themselves and others, and to promote well-being in themselves and others.

For a wide range of practical examples of how children and educators interact to make thinking and learning about self-regulation and well-being visible, in connection with related overall and specific expectations in the Kindergarten program, see the expectation charts in Chapter 4.4.

Self-regulation: What are we learning from research?

Self-regulation is central to a child's capacity to learn. It is the cornerstone of development and a central building block of early learning (Pascal, 2009a, p. 4). Children's ability to self-regulate – to set limits for themselves and manage their own emotions, attention, and behaviour – allows them to develop the emotional well-being and the habits of mind, such as persistence and curiosity, that are essential for early learning and that set the stage for lifelong learning. Self-regulation involves attention skills, working memory, and cognitive flexibility – qualities that provide the underpinning for essential skills needed throughout life, such as planning and problem-solving skills (Pascal, 2009a, p. 4). Self-regulation skills also allow children to have positive social interactions and help establish constructive patterns of behaviour that will be useful to them throughout their lives (Ponitz et al., 2009).

Research has shown that the ability to self-regulate is essential to the development of learning skills and work habits (Baumeister & Vohs, 2011), which are critically important to student success throughout the grades. The foundations for those skills and habits, identified in Growing Success (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010, pp. 9-14), are rooted in early childhood and are supported through the Kindergarten program.

Dr. Stuart Shanker (2013b, p. xiii) identifies the following as six critical elements required for optimal self-regulation:

  • when one is feeling calmly focused and alert, the ability to know that one is calm and alert
  • when one is stressed, the ability to recognize what is causing that stress
  • the ability to recognize stressors both within and outside the classroom
  • the desire to deal with those stressors
  • the ability to develop strategies for dealing with those stressors
  • the ability to recover efficiently and effectively from dealing with those stressors

Read: Dr. Stuart Shanker, Calm, Alert and Happy (2013)

View: Video clip – “What strategies and practices are educator teams repeating, rethinking and removing to support children's self-regulation? What does self-regulation look like and sound like?”

Domains of self-regulation

Dr. Shanker discusses the development of self-regulation in five domains: biological, emotional, cognitive, social, and prosocial. footnote 1 The following overview is adapted from Shanker's Calm, Alert and Learning: Classroom Strategies for Self-Regulation (2013b, pp. xii-xvi) and his “The Development of Self-Regulation” (2010).

Biological: Biological (or physiological) self-regulation refers to the ability to manage responses that are governed by the nervous system and affect level of energy or stage of arousal, on a continuum from sleep or drowsiness, through being calmly focused and alert, to being overstimulated or flooded. Self-regulation in this domain can be described as the ability to attain, maintain and change one's level of energy to match the demands of a task or situation (Shanker, 2013b, p. xiii, citing Baumeister & Vohs, 2011). Responses that affect level of energy vary widely from person to person and from situation to situation. For example, some children may be overwhelmed by a level of sensory input, be it auditory, visual, or related to touch or the proximity of others, that would not disturb most other children. Some children may be extremely sensitive to noise (e.g., buzzers or bells); others may find it difficult to sit for longer than a few minutes. Behaviours such as humming or chewing things, fidgeting (e.g., tapping, jiggling), or constantly moving may indicate that the child is trying to remain or become calm, alert, and focused – in other words, that the child is attempting to self-regulate.

Emotional: “Emotional self-regulation” refers to the ability to monitor and modify intense emotional responses, feelings, and moods. For example, children self-regulate when they are able to recover from feelings of embarrassment, disappointment, hurt, anger, or frustration and carry on with confidence and a positive disposition.

Cognitive: “Cognitive self-regulation” refers to the ability to monitor and modify behaviour related to mental processes such as memory, attention, the acquisition and retention of information, and problem solving. For example, children self-regulate when they are able to focus, sustain, and then switch their attention; sequence their thoughts; and ignore distractions.

Social: “Social self-regulation” refers to the ability to recognize, understand, assess, and act on social cues – in other words, to engage in and sustain social interactions. For example, children demonstrate social self-regulation when they respond appropriately to cues communicated through facial expression or tone of voice and when they play cooperatively with others.

Prosocial: Prosocial self-regulation refers to the ability to empathize with others and to demonstrate behaviours that lead toward positive social activities (Bronson, 2000, p. 86), including making friends and helping others. Prosocial self-regulation involves an ability to self-regulate in the other four domains. For example, a child who attends to another child who has fallen and hurt himself demonstrates cognitive self-regulation (in recognizing the urgency of, and shifting attention to, an external event); biological and emotional self-regulation (in remaining calm enough to attend to the hurt child); and social self-regulation (in recognizing and understanding that a friend needs help and comfort), in addition to prosocial self-regulation (in acting on feelings of empathy and the desire to help a friend).

Biological, emotional, cognitive, social, and prosocial self-regulation and the ability to communicate with others are foundational to all forms of learning and have been shown to be best developed in play-based environments.

Supporting the development of self-regulation

It has been shown that children's ability to self-regulate is not enhanced by “compliance with external authorities”. According to researchers in the field,

It is about establishing one's own internal motivation for adapting to, and understanding, emotional and social demands. In fact, for many children, requiring compliance undermines their own abilities to self-regulate. (Pascal, 2009a, p. 4)
Self-regulation is a deep, internal mechanism that enables children as well as adults to engage in mindful, intentional, and thoughtful behaviours. (Bodrova & Leong, 2008, p. 1)

View: Video clip – “Self-regulation is not about compliance with external authority”

Every child responds to incoming sensory stimulation and various challenges in his or her own way, and learns to manage these responses on an individual timetable. Being attuned to individual differences in children's development of self-regulation – in the way each child manages sensory stimulation and responds to challenges – enables educators to establish the kind of nurturing relationships that strengthen children's capacity for learning (see Chapter 2.1, “Thinking about Belonging and Contributing”).

The abilities of children to regulate their own emotions, behaviours, and attention increase over time with maturation, experience, and responsive relationships. Supporting self-regulation is a central focus of early development because self-regulation skills lead to physical, social, emotional, behavioural, and cognitive competence. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014b, p. 2; emphasis added)

Some children will have begun to develop self-regulation skills before coming to Kindergarten, but many will not. Through their interactions with peers and adults in connection-building relationships in the classroom, however, children will begin – or will continue – to develop self-awareness and a stronger sense of self. As part of this process, they will monitor and adapt their own emotions and behaviour, and become aware of and accommodate the thinking and feelings of others. In order to effectively support the development of self-regulation, it is important for educators to observe each child's development and to encourage and support the child in individualized ways. To do this, educators need to understand what self-regulation looks and sounds like. For example, children may look away in the midst of an interaction, or they may become distracted from what they are doing, but they will often return their attention to the interaction at hand in a short time. Intervening too soon to draw the child back into the moment may interfere with, rather than support, the child's progress towards self-regulation. Educators who understand this are able to give the child a little time.

In an inquiry stance, the educator observes and listens, and supports the child's development by noticing and naming when the child is demonstrating self-regulation – for example, by saying, I noticed that you refocused. How did that help you? Educators report the benefits of waiting before they intervene to help children manage behaviour and emotions – they have seen that stepping back makes room for the gradual emergence and consolidation of children's ability to self-regulate. When educators notice that a child's inability to focus or to manage emotions persists over time, they consult the parents and, where appropriate, the school's special education support team, to determine whether a physical issue, such as an auditory processing problem, may be involved.

Educator team reflections

Previously, we spent much of our day regulating and managing the children's behaviour. We felt that some learning was happening, but it wasn't rich. The children were not revealing their ideas or wonderings. We didn't have a chance to talk with them or get to know what they were thinking. It was a situation where the educator owned the choices and the learning. Now, we provide the children with choice, and they are so much more engaged – we are not managing their behaviours. Choice is so important to their self-regulation, and we can see that their learning is much richer now.


In our classroom today, we hear the children's voices much more than our own. We are using more open-ended activities that spark children's thinking. More of our discussions and questions are led by the children. At first, it is scary to let go and step back. When you do step back, though, you can see how engaged the children are in what they are doing. When you see how much authentic learning is going on, it gives you the confidence to step back more often.

Misconceptions about self-regulation

  • That children are able to self-regulate when they enter Kindergarten
  • That children are self-regulating when they are sitting still with their legs crossed
  • That when children look away, an adult needs to remind them to keep focused
  • That self-regulation is the same as compliance
  • That the role of the educator is to manage children's behaviour

The learning environment and self-regulation

A regimented classroom climate, in which all children are required to do the same thing at the same time in the same way, reduces feelings of control and discourages self-regulation. (Bronson, 2000, p. 234)

Providing children with choice in the learning environment is a key to supporting their emerging ability to self-regulate. When children have access to a variety of materials, tools, and spaces in the classroom, they gradually learn to select the ones that provide stimulation or a calming effect, as needed.

In addition, an environment of caring, kindness, and cooperation in the classroom supports the development of social and prosocial self-regulation in children. Initially modelled by the educators, practices such as making time for conversation, checking in with one another, helping out, and solving problems with friends become part of the culture of the classroom and of the accepted behaviour of the children.

Educator team reflection

We noticed that the children were getting to know the classroom and make it theirs. They were choosing what they needed when they needed it! We realized that this was happening regularly when we reviewed our notes over the last month and found these:

  • Devi was tired so she went to the quiet space to have a nap.
  • Michael wanted help to focus at circle time so he selected a squishy ball to bring with him.
  • Zheng felt overwhelmed so she put on noise-cancelling headphones and read a book.
  • Luca was upset so he got the pinwheel and blew on it until he felt better.
  • It was circle time, and Ahmed took a few deep breaths to ready himself.

Questions for reflection: How does the learning environment support the development of self-regulation?

  • In what ways can the learning environment foster the development of self-regulation?
  • What supporting materials (e.g., exercise balls, exercise mats, squishy balls, pinwheels, noise-cancelling headphones), strategies (e.g., visual schedule, yoga, breathing exercises), and options in terms of the physical environment (e.g., flexible lighting, a calming space or quiet space, a space for movement, a sensory space) are available to help children achieve and maintain a calm, alert, and focused state?
  • Are the children able to make choices about the materials they use? About the learning areas they will visit? About when they have their snack or whether or not they need to rest or, conversely, to be stimulated?
  • Is a visual schedule provided in the classroom to allow children to prepare themselves for what comes next in their day?
  • What do we observe in individual children that helps them stay calm and alert?
  • How do individual children regain a calm and alert state after experiencing a stressor or having an intense emotional response?
  • What kinds of experiences in the classroom tend to promote a state of calm, alertness, and focus in a child? What kinds of experiences tend to detract from this state?
  • How does the learning environment promote the development of empathy?

Well-being: What are we learning from research?

Research suggests that children who experience a greater sense of well-being are more able to learn and assimilate information in effective ways; more likely to engage in healthy and fulfilling social behaviours; more likely to invest in their own and others' well-being and in the sustainability of the planet as they take up their social, professional and leadership roles in adulthood. (Awartani, Whitman, & Gordon, 2008, p. 54)
Well-being addresses the importance of physical and mental health and wellness. It incorporates capacities such as self-care, sense of self, and self-regulation skills. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014c, p. 7)

Promoting the healthy development of all children, as well as enabling all children to reach their full potential, is a priority for educators across Ontario. Children's health and well-being contribute to their ability to learn, and their learning in turn contributes to their overall well-being.

Educators play an important role in promoting children's well-being by creating, fostering, and sustaining a learning environment that is healthy, caring, safe, inclusive, and accepting. A learning environment of this kind supports not only children's cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development but also their mental health, their resilience, and their overall state of well-being. All this helps children focus on learning and achieve their full potential in school and in life.

Determinants of health
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared in the preamble to its constitution, which came into force in 1948, that health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Today, Health Canada includes the following, among other factors, in its list of determinants of health – that is, factors and conditions that can have a significant influence on a person's health:footnote 2

  • family income and social status
  • education and literacy
  • physical and social environment
  • culture (customs and traditions) and beliefs
  • personal (family) health practices and coping skills
  • availability and quality of health services
  • gender

Together, such factors affect an individual's overall well-being. They influence not only whether a person stays healthy or becomes ill but also the extent to which the person possesses the physical, social, and personal resources needed to identify and achieve personal aspirations, satisfy needs, and cope with the environment. These factors also have an impact on learning at all ages, and particularly at early stages of development. Although children have little or no control over these factors, it is important to be aware of them as contributing elements in a child's development and ability to learn. It is also important to recognize the value of personal strategies that can be learned and practised, starting early in life, to foster well-being in the face of stressful and challenging life circumstances.

Developmental domains as components of overall well-being

An educator's awareness of and responsiveness to children's cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development is critical to children's overall well-being and ability to learn. A number of research-based frameworks, including those described in Early Learning for Every Child Today: A Framework for Ontario Early Childhood Settings (Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning, 2007) and Stepping Stones: A Resource on Youth Development (Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, 2012), identify developmental stages that are common to the majority of children from Kindergarten to Grade 12. At the same time, these frameworks recognize that individual differences, as well as differences in life experiences and exposure to opportunities, can affect development, and that developmental events are not specifically age-dependent.

The framework described in Stepping Stones is based on a model that illustrates the complexity of human development. Its components – the cognitive, emotional, physical, and social domains – are interrelated and interdependent, and all are subject to the influence of a person's environment or context. At the centre is an enduring (yet changing) core – a sense of self, or spirit – that connects the different aspects of development and experience (p. 17).

A circle is outlined in green with the words “Environment/Context” at the top. In the centre of the circle is a smaller circle with the words “Self/Spirit” surrounded by four distinct quadrants with the words (moving clockwise through the quadrants): “Emotional, Physical, Social, Cognitive”.

Source: Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, 2012, p. 17

Educators who have an awareness of a child's development take each component into account as part of the whole, with an understanding of and focus on the following elements:

  • cognitive development – brain development, processing and reasoning skills, use of strategies for learning
  • emotional development – emotional regulation, empathy, motivation
  • social development – self-development (self-concept, self-efficacy, self-esteem); identity formation (social group identity, gender identity, spiritual identity); relationships (peer, family)
  • physical development – physical activity, sleep patterns, changes that come with growth, body image, nutritional requirements

Supporting development to enhance overall well-being

Developing child and student well-being means supporting the whole child – not only the child's academic achievement but also his or her cognitive, emotional, social, and physical well-being. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014a, p. 14)

In the knowledge that developmental domains are interrelated and interdependent and that overall well-being depends on healthy development in each one, educators recognize the importance of holistically supporting children's cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development in a variety of ways.

Cognitive development is enhanced when educators provide opportunities for children to:

  • co-construct their learning, based on their questions and needs and things that pique their interest;
  • contribute ideas and identify interests;
  • experiment to find answers to their questions, try new things, and take risks;
  • make their thinking and learning visible in a variety of ways.

View: Video clip – “How does listening inform learning and make it visible? How do children co-construct the learning?”

Educators support children's emotional development by providing them with opportunities to:

  • identify feelings and emotions in themselves and others, explain why they might be feeling that way, and use words to identify the meaning of their own and others' expressive  language (e.g., body language, facial expression);
  • practise kindness towards other people and all living things, show concern for their well-being, act with empathy and sympathy towards them, and practise including others;
  • use strategies to help them manage strong emotions and regulate the way in which they express those emotions;
  • develop a positive self-concept and sense of self-esteem;
  • develop a “growth mindset” about learning (e.g., believe that they can develop their abilities if they work hard and persevere).

Children's social development is supported when school boards, schools, and educators create and sustain a warm and supportive environment in which:

  • children's thinking and learning are valued;
  • cooperation with others is modelled and promoted;
  • open communication is modelled and encouraged;
  • thoughtful decisions and the use of respectful words are valued;
  • all children are given equal opportunities;
  • bullying, harassment, violence, and physical punishment are discouraged, and when instances do occur, they are addressed;
  • the diverse backgrounds and cultures of the children are respected (e.g., children's first languages are brought into the classroom);
  • strong and respectful relationships are nurtured and developed;
  • children have opportunities to collaborate with peers and educators in various ways and in various contexts throughout the day.

Read: Dr. Jean M. Clinton, The Power of Positive Adult-Child Relationships: Connection Is the Key (2013)

View: Video clips

  • “Quality of Interactions”
  • “Connecting vs. Directing”
  • “Growth Mindsets”
  • “Impact of Our View of the Child”

Physical development is promoted in children when they:

  • reap the benefits of healthy schools (i.e., schools that promote healthy choices related to physical activity, healthy eating, learning in the outdoors, and other aspects of everyday living); 
  • are encouraged to take increasing responsibility for their own health and physical well-being (knowing when to eat, rest, and increase or decrease their level of activity);
  • are given frequent opportunities to demonstrate and apply their knowledge and skills related to healthy eating and safety, and to share their learning about establishing and maintaining safe practices with their peers, family, and community;
  • are safe from harm in the school and classroom environments, including the school grounds  (e.g., when bullying-prevention strategies are in place; when materials and equipment used by children and educators are reliable and safe);
  • can get to and from school safely (e.g., when the community is engaged in helping to ensure their safety).

View: Video clip – “Another FDELK team's visual flow. Thinking about self-regulation and a quiet time in the day”

Read:Healthy Schools: Foundations for a Healthy School

Children and students who have strong relationships and a positive sense of self – and who can understand and manage their own health and emotions – are in a better position to reach their full potential in the future. Their sense of well-being supports their learning because it makes them more resilient and better able to overcome challenges. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014a, p. 14)

What are the signs of well-being and a developing sense of self?

Overall health and well-being and a developing sense of self are evident in children who:

  • are physically active and feel confident in their growing abilities;
  • are increasingly aware of and able to make healthy choices to meet their basic needs (e.g., for food, sleep, physical activity, self-care);
  • experience a sense of competence, autonomy, and agency as they participate, at their own pace, in various experiences and interactions throughout the day;
  • are increasingly able to identify, monitor, and manage stress levels and engage in strategies for self-regulation (e.g., of emotions, attention, and behaviour);
  • are increasingly able to take initiative, tackle challenges with enthusiasm and persistence, and cope with and adapt to changes, frustrations, and the unexpected in everyday living;
  • are developing the ability to value their own unique identity;
  • are increasingly able to recognize, value, and respect the unique identity and perspectives of others.

(Adapted from Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014c, pp. 32–33)

The role of mental health

Mental health touches all components of development. Mental health is much more than the absence of mental illness. Well-being is influenced not only by the absence of problems and risks but by the presence of factors, at the individual, family, and community level, that contribute to healthy growth and development. Educators help promote positive mental health in the classroom by providing children with opportunities to learn adaptive, management, and coping skills; communication skills; and relationship and social skills – the personal and interpersonal skills they need to develop resilience, a secure identity, and a strong sense of self. In the process, educators may also be able to identify children who need additional support and connect them with the appropriate services.

What happens at school can have a significant influence on a child's well-being. With a broader awareness of mental health, educators can adopt instructional strategies that contribute to a supportive classroom climate for learning, build awareness of mental health, and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. When educators take children's well-being, including their mental health, into account when considering instructional approaches, they help to ensure a strong foundation for learning. For example, when educators allow children to self-regulate – to cope with stressors, and recover – they are enabling them to develop resilience, a powerful protective factor with respect to positive mental health and emotional well-being.

Educator team reflections

If we focus on living skills and interpersonal skills with the children now, they will have better coping skills later in life … We want them to be able to feel, and to know themselves. I think that's such a key piece in mental well-being.


Supporting the children as they develop coping skills – co-constructing the skills with them – is really important, because that way, they are using approaches that are authentic to them, that have meaning for them. And then, when they are feeling stressed, they will know what works for them, what they can do to help themselves.

View: Video clip – “Supportive Learning Environment”

Questions for reflection: In what ways do we support children and their families in furthering their own and others' well-being?

  • What are some of the characteristics and behaviours that indicate resilience in children (e.g., the ability to recover after experiencing difficulty or change)?
  • In what ways do we accommodate children's unique physical and emotional needs (e.g., the need for additional time and space for physical movement)? Are we providing a range of materials and using a range of strategies to meet children's needs?
  • Are we able to quickly access additional support within the school to respond to a child who is in need?
  • Are we drawing on community support, as needed, to ensure children's well-being?
  • Are we promoting a “growth mindset” in the classroom? In what ways do we communicate to children that they can succeed if they persevere?
  • In what ways are the children's cultures, languages, and traditions being brought into the classroom?
  • Are there certain aspects of well-being that call for enhanced attention because they are of particular relevance to the children in our class and/or to the students in the school community?
  • Are families being consulted about ways of supporting the children's sense of well-being and about ways of promoting their and their families' well-being at home?

Footnotes