Pen
Webinar 1
Tuesday 9th June 12:30-2pm
There the Dance Is: Supporting Children’s Attention Through Co-Regulation
Children’s attention is not fixed: it fluctuates from moment to moment, and is shaped by what the adults around them do. This webinar explores how early years practitioners can recognise when a child is ready to attend, when they are drifting, and when adult support may help them re-engage. We will look at attention as a shared, dynamic process: how adults adapt their voice, pace, movement and level of involvement depending on the child’s current state, and how these adult responses can either support or disrupt the child’s attention. The session will include examples of under-responsiveness, over-responsiveness and atypical development, with practical reflections on how to support children who find attention and engagement harder to sustain.
Webinar 2
Tuesday 16th June 12:30-2pm
There the Dance Is: Reading and Regulating Children’s Arousal States
Children move through different arousal states across the day: from low-energy withdrawal, through calm alertness, to high arousal, agitation or distress. This webinar explores how practitioners can read these changing states and adapt their own behaviour to help children return to a more settled, available state for learning and interaction. We will examine arousal co-regulation as a shared process, where adults do not simply “stay calm”, but adjust their proximity, movement, voice, timing and physical position in response to the child. The session will also consider over- and under-responsiveness, atypical development, and how adults can use one another within the space to co-regulate: stepping in, handing over, and returning differently when a child needs a new rhythm rather than more of the same.