Zones of Regulation

“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” – Charles Swindoll.

Zones of regulation is a curriculum designed to support self-regulation skills and the management of emotions. Students are taught to recognise their own emotions and what may trigger them. This leads to students knowing healthy coping and regulation strategies which help students to achieve the best state of alertness ready for learning.

Using the Zones also provides a common language that everyone can use to discuss emotions without judgement. There are four different Zones: Blue, Green, Yellow and Red.

The Blue zone refers to a state of under alertness. Here we may feel sad, sick, tired or bored. Our goal is increase our alertness level.

The Green zone refers to our best state of alertness. Here we may feel happy, calm, focused and ready to learn. Our goal here is maintaining this level of alertness.

The Yellow zone refers to a heightened state of alertness. Here we may feel worried, silly, frustrated or excited. Our goal when we are in the yellow zone is to decrease our alertness level.

The Red zone refers to a very heightened state of alertness. Here we may feel angry, terrified, out of control or trapped. Our goal here is an immediate decrease of alertness level.

 

Regulation strategies can include: sensory supports such as fiddle toys, movement breaks and Theraputty; calming techniques such as figure 8 breathing or yoga; and thinking strategies such as “The size of my problem’.  The regulation strategies taught to students are individualised to them.