Self-regulation?or the ability to control your own emotions and behaviour?is an essential life skill for kids: It helps with everything from social relationships to self-care to learning how to read and write. If a kid can handle their feelings and choose to act in ways that help them achieve specific goals (such as ignoring distractions to focus on reading, or not melting down after losing at a game so other kids will want to keep playing with them), they are off to a great start in life.
A recent Michigan State University study backs this up. Researchers used a variation of the game ?Simon Says,? which requires kids both to follow instructions (touch your nose) and do the opposite of what the instruction says (don?t touch your nose). For the study, the researchers had kids play this game to determine how well they self-regulate, and they also had them periodically take tests in reading comprehension, phonological awareness and vocabulary to track their literacy skills. Their findings showed that ?children who demonstrated self-regulation earlier had higher language and literacy skills throughout preschool to second grade.?
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