Zones of Regulation Curriculum

          The item of interest that I have chosen is the Zones of Regulation curriculum. As social workers in the school setting, we encounter many students that in some way struggle with regulating their emotions. Self-regulation is something that everyone, whether we are aware of it or not, are continually working on. Many of us have the ability to recognize when we may be feeling less regulated and are able to manage our own feelings to get to a calm state. For a lot of us, this comes naturally but for others such as many of our students, the skill of being able to manage our own emotions needs to be taught and practiced. Originally, the curriculum was created for students diagnosed with things such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), Tourette syndrome, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder, selective mutism, and anxiety disorders. These are all diagnoses that we encounter daily as school social workers. However, the curriculum is now said to be able to reach a much broader population, the zones can benefit everyone, not just students.

            The Zones help teach self-regulation by categorizing the various ways we feel by putting the emotions into four different colored zones. By categorizing our emotions into four colored zones, we help students become more aware of how they are feeling and by identifying how they are feeling they can learn more skills as to how to help manage these emotions. The red zone describes emotions such as anger or rage. The yellow zone describes emotions such as frustrated, anxiety, silliness, or nervousness. The green zone describes a calm state when a person may feel happy, focused, or content. Finally, the blue zone describes low alertness and feelings of sadness, boredom, or tiredness. Each zone contains emotions that are totally natural, but depending on the environment that the emotions are being experienced, they may need to be managed. This curriculum teaches students to use strategies to move zones, such as moving from red to green. The curriculum offers 18 complete lessons to work with the students on. My supervisor explained to me that although some of the lessons may seem repetitive and that we are saying the same thing over and over, that by the end of the curriculum that you will start to notice a difference with the students. Although the curriculum is fairly expensive my supervisor has told me that it is extremely worthwhile. 

Kuypers, L. M., & Winner, M. G. (2011). The zones of regulation: a curriculum designed to foster self-regulation and emotional control. Santa Clara, CA: Think Social Publishing,Inc.