The Zones of Regulation- maybe this will help some of your children too...
Today was my son's last day of "Kamp Talkalot".
I saw some definite improvement in terms of his telling me something that happened that morning at camp or something funny another one of his fellow "campers" did that was silly.
It ran for 6 weeks, M-Th mornings. He started to not want to go just this past Tuesday. I think at this point he was just sort of "over it" lol.
Anyway, they taught this method of using "zones" associated with colors to get the children to understand and identify thier mood or feelings, and Donovan took to it really quickly and we use it all the time now at home. Perhaps some of you are familiar with it, but this was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing.
Just last night, he climbed up on my lap and said he was feeling "a little bit" in the "blue" zone, meaning he was sad or tired.
So, I will post the scanned handout here and maybe it will help someone else. :-)
I'm thinking they mean excited/wiggly as in "distracted" and not paying attention to what they are supposed to be paying attention to???
All I know is one afternoon I was really upset about something and Donovan asked me, "Mommy, are you in the red zone?" I looked at him said, "Donovan, what does that even mean?" Then he proceded to tell me what each zone was and a basic synopsis of what each of them meant. I was stunned. Apparently, he had learned about that morning at camp.
When he's upset, or getting upset, he will say, "I'm going into the red zone, Mommy!" LOL.
In the mornings he asks me all the time, "Mommy, are you in the green zone today?" I am SO NOT a morning person so I have to put on a smile (even if it's fake) and say "Yes, honey, I'm in the green zone."
I just thought I would share this in case it might be helpful to someone else...
Quoting kajira:
huh. I wouldn't put excited/wiggly in the yellow zone. that's a weird label to me... other than that, I think i'ts a super cool neat idea as a concept.
I would say that nervous would fall under yellow...that's a good one.
Quoting WildCat73:
how abount nervous? that looks good for it. But i do recognize those faces with my kids.
Quoting kajira:
huh. I wouldn't put excited/wiggly in the yellow zone. that's a weird label to me... other than that, I think i'ts a super cool neat idea as a concept.
i just took the yellow zone as a more negative emotional state, so with out them being verbal enough to be specific which part of the yellow zone, excited or wiggly seems like a happy/positive emotion to me, so to put it with a more negative zone just surprised me to see it that way. I would think nervous would fit under yellow... but i'd see wiggly/excited under green... but I guess if your using it to say distracted... I dunno... this is why i'm glad i'm not a kid anymore.
Quoting Leobaby2007:I would say that nervous would fall under yellow...that's a good one.
Quoting WildCat73:
how abount nervous? that looks good for it. But i do recognize those faces with my kids.
Quoting kajira:
huh. I wouldn't put excited/wiggly in the yellow zone. that's a weird label to me... other than that, I think i'ts a super cool neat idea as a concept.
Living with Autism - The quirky kitty.
Our autistic Family - A Dad's point of view on living with Autism
I agree. To me- excited is a "good thing", but maybe not if you are TOO excited that you cannot sit still and concentrate. Certainly, there are times when that behavior is totally appropriate, but in a "classroom" setting, apparently no one is supposed to have fun lol. I'm glad I am not a kid anymore either!
My son gets "goofy" and I can't get him to calm down and regulate sometimes and maybe that's what they mean by "excited". IDK...
I definitely think nervous should go under yellow.
Quoting kajira:
i just took the yellow zone as a more negative emotional state, so with out them being verbal enough to be specific which part of the yellow zone, excited or wiggly seems like a happy/positive emotion to me, so to put it with a more negative zone just surprised me to see it that way. I would think nervous would fit under yellow... but i'd see wiggly/excited under green... but I guess if your using it to say distracted... I dunno... this is why i'm glad i'm not a kid anymore.
Quoting Leobaby2007:
I would say that nervous would fall under yellow...that's a good one.
Quoting WildCat73:
how abount nervous? that looks good for it. But i do recognize those faces with my kids.
Quoting kajira:
huh. I wouldn't put excited/wiggly in the yellow zone. that's a weird label to me... other than that, I think i'ts a super cool neat idea as a concept.
http://www.zonesofregulation.com/blog.html
Mias favorite zone is always pink. Lol she is learning what it all means along with us. I find it very helpful. It has been very useful for myself as well. It makes you stop and think before you react.
I've been using this with my son for a bit with good results thanks to a recommendation from smarietjellee (I hope I have your screen name correct, and my apologies if I don't). He picked it up faster than I expected. As with many things, I think it helps to have a visual with a concept.
He's been telling me his color or asking if I'm blue if I say I'm tired (been realizing I'm blue and green a lot, my son is red and yellow a lot--maybe this is why we fail to understand each other at times)?
The yellow does sound negative, but I took it to mean silly, wiggly or very excited and unable to think about things other than the thing that is exciting you. Or worried--all of these states are common for my son.
Thanks for posting the chart--that I had not seen. I just told my son which feelings go under each color.
Cool! I didn't know about this before "Kamp". I agree. It's very useful!
Quoting smarieljlee:
http://www.zonesofregulation.com/
http://www.zonesofregulation.com/blog.html
Mias favorite zone is always pink. Lol she is learning what it all means along with us. I find it very helpful. It has been very useful for myself as well. It makes you stop and think before you react.
What made you smile today?
- Leobaby2007
on Jul. 19, 2012 at 7:13 PM