Susan Dwyer: The Engage Programme

Self regulation allows children to manage their emotions, behaviour and body movement when they are faced with a difficult situation. The Engage programme helps children learn to manage their emotions and behaviour in appropriate ways. It teaches children how to think of different solutions when a situation changes - to stop and reflect on the situation and come up with a solution that keeps them calm instead of going into sensory overload and giving into frustrating outbursts.

Self regulation skills develop gradually. Children need time to practise these skills and adults need to acknowledge that it is sometimes hard. Giving children choices throughout the day gives them opportunities to practise and develop decision making skills and it also gives them a sense of having a sense of mastery over their own life.

"Tired Flopsy Bunnies"

The best way to help children practise self regulation is to play games. Games are fun and present different challenges that are important. You need to follow rules, take turns, pay attention, shift your focus and inhibit impulses if you want to win.

I introduced the programme to my class using the breathing and relaxation exercises. Most children responded well. They listened to the instructions and were able to take big slow breathes to help them feel calm. Those who find it hard to keep calm during class found it hard to lie still but with practise and seeing others doing the exercises they realised it was important to try and keep calm to be like the others.

Games like "Musical Statues" and "Duck, Duck, Goose" were already favourites but by giving them information on why we were playing them it gave a different emphasis to the games. Other games such as "Think or Say" also helped in reinforcing the idea of kindness and the Point England Way of doing things.

Cognitive and thinking games requiring reminding that if they didn't succeed at first someone could always join in and help them. This form of cooperation helped overcome initial reluctance of some of the children to do puzzles. "Hot Potato" was one of the few games that the children found it difficult to remain calm. There were often arguments when someone passed the object on too quickly when the music stopped which resulted in discussions about how and why we were playing the game to try to calm the situation.

Behavioural and Doing activities were sometimes modified when the weather didn't permit us to get outside and use a bigger space. For example "Hide and Seek" was modified to a circle game of one person hiding a small object and getting someone to guess who had the object.

Curled up like a hedgehog

By the end of the term the children were adapting other games they knew. "Whispers" was used to give simple instructions and they thought of other animal poses to add to their yoga exercises. This came about after a trip to the zoo or from a story that suggested a way an animal behaved.

In 2020 I want to plan the exercises to be included in class activities, three times a day, but also allow for spontaneity so that if a different game would be more appropriate to be prepared to swap games. I would like to inquire into how useful the Engage programme is in helping children remember instructions, ignore distractions and work well with others.