Abstract
Research in educational and developmental psychology offers evidence that children are developing basic capacities (i.e., executive functions) for self-regulating long before they receive formal instruction in school. Importantly, the evidence indicates self-regulation is a strong predictor of outcomes in early childhood and across the lifespan. This comment considers contributions from four studies published in the special issue of Metacognition and Learning, titled “Self-Regulation and Co-Regulation in Early Childhood: Development, Assessment and Supporting Factors.” The studies reveal 2–3-year-old children’s spontaneous use of strategies to support success on delay tasks and individual differences in 5–7-year-old children’s ability beliefs and goal orientations. They also signal important differences in parents’ scaffolding/co-regulation of children’s self-regulation. All studies point to the particular importance of attending to developmental trajectories of children judged “at risk” in their development of self-regulation and supporting parents to develop strategies for co-regulating children in the context of challenging tasks. Considerations for future research are raised.
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Perry, N.E. Recognizing early childhood as a critical time for developing and supporting self-regulation. Metacognition Learning 14, 327–334 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-019-09213-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-019-09213-8