A growing body of research indicates that many children start school not ready to learn not because they do not know their letters or numbers but because they lack one critical ability: the ability to regulate their social, emotional, and cognitive behaviors. Current research shows that self-regulation – often called executive function -- has a stronger association with academic achievement than IQ or entry-level reading or math skills.
Today’s children come to school with lower levels of self-regulation and early childhood teachers report that they are ill equipped to deal with these problems. More….. Research indicates that interventions at the early childhood level can have a positive influence on self-regulation and the development of executive function in the early years and beyond. More…
Tools of the Mind is a research-based early childhood program that builds strong foundations for school success in preschool and kindergarten children by promoting their intentional and self-regulated learning. In a series of rigorous experimental trials, Tools of the Mind has been shown to have a significant impact on self-regulation of preschool children. The study also found these gains in self-regulation to be related to scores in child achievement in early literacy and mathematics.
In a Tools Of Mind classroom
Teachers systematically scaffold children’s moving along the continuum of self-regulation from being regulated by others to engaging in “shared” regulation to eventually becoming “masters of their own behavior.”
Children gain control of their social, emotional, and cognitive behaviors by learning how to use a variety of “mental tools.”
Teaching of early literacy and mathematics emphasizes building underlying cognitive competencies such as reflective thinking and metacognition.
Children practice self-regulated learning throughout the day by engaging in a variety of specifically designed developmentally appropriate self-regulation activities.
Children learn to regulate their own behaviors as well as the behaviors of their friends as they enact increasingly more complex scenarios in their imaginary play in preschool and in learning activities in kindergarten.
Source: Metropolitan State College of Denver