Zones of Regulation and Coping Skills

In this episode I want to take a closer look at zones of regulation, coping skills and their relation to each other. When speaking in schools, I like to learn what strategies & techniques they use and I hear a lot about Second Step, Responsive Classroom, Open Circle and Restorative Justice, but I’ve also heard a lot of schools using something called ‘Zones of Regulation’ based on ‘The Zones Of Regulation’ book by Leah Kuypers. It’s a way to meet the social and emotional needs of their students. 

For reference during the podcast;

Blue rest area symbol = Sick or tired

Green circle symbol = Happy / calm / ready to learn

Yellow yield symbol = worried / frustrated / annoyed

Red stop symbol = Stop / angry / overwhelmed 

This system helps kids to label their emotions with shapes and color rather than calling them out at point blank. After a child can identify their feelings, we can start to look at coping skills to bring them back to green. We want to encourage them back to a green, calm, ready to learn space which may look different depending on what color / shape they’re coming from.