All these behaviors required self-regulation. To take
conversational turns, children must recognize when their
turn has ended, then listen and wait until it is their turn
again. They must then
choose an appropriate
response from unlimited
possibilities. To
ask a playmate about
her play, a child must
inhibit talking about
her own play and
listen to someone
else. Asking to play
requires an anxious
child to regulate emotion,
inhibit passive
behavior, increase
arousal, and engage
despite potential
discomfort.
Of all the selfregulation
Melissa
modeled, perhaps the
most important scaffold
was calling attention
to the opportunity
for Lucy to join Tricia.
To actively engage in
learning opportunities,
children must attend
to and recognize that
a situation offers the
potential for interesting
interactions and
things to do. Adults
can help children
develop this regulatory
skill in a variety of
ways, beginning with
very young children. When adults hold infants or toddlers
on their laps and point to objects or letters in a book while
using their voices to indicate excitement, they help children
focus their attention on images that are most important
for learning. By getting the ball rolling, Melissa not only
helped Lucy actively participate, but allowed Tricia to talk
about her science activity and demonstrate to others how
to replicate her experiment.