Strategies to Build Self-Determination Skills

Transition, Early Childhood

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Choice Making

Ages 3-5  

  • Provide choices in food, materials, and activities
  • Use visuals to support choice-making
  • Model how to make choices by providing a variety of learning centers and activities 

Ages 6-8

  • Provide choices in learning activities
  • Incorporate choice into non-academic activities (ex., where to sit at lunch)
  • Allow students choice in how to  complete tasks

Problem Solving

Ages 3-5   

  • Model and role-play how to resolve conflicts
  • Model and role-play solutions to  solve problems
  • Give students opportunities to make independent decisions about which learning center or materials would be appropriate
  • Encourage students to solve problems and persist with challenging tasks 

Ages 6-8 

  • Model and role-play how to resolve conflicts 
  • Model and role-play solutions to solve problems
  • Assist students with brainstorming  solutions to potential problems
  • Encourage students to solve problems  and persist at challenging tasks

Decision Making

Ages 3-5   

  • Discuss how to make appropriate decisions when given options
  • Model and role-play how to ask for help
  • Discuss the positive and negative consequences of making decisions 

Ages 6-8

  • Model and role-play decision-making, including consequences
  • Explore and discuss potential career choices

Self-Management & Self-Regulation

Ages 3-5  

  •  Involve students in creating classroom rules and expectations 
  • Use signals to prepare for transitions between activities 
  • Model and role-play expressing different emotions and feelings 

Ages 6-8 

  • Provide visuals to help students monitor their own assignments and activities 
  • Provide supports to help students monitor their own behavior

Awareness & Knowledge

Ages 3-5  

  • Teach students to identify individual interests and strengths 
  • Teach students awareness of their own body and boundaries for personal space
  • Encourage students to create self-portraits and describe themselves 

Ages 6-8 

  • Encourage students to create lists of  likes and dislikes
  • Highlight strengths of each student and keep track of the skills they need to build

Self-Advocacy & Leadership

Ages 3-5  

  • Model and role-play how to seek help before becoming frustrated 
  • Discuss positive and negative  consequences of actions  

Ages 6-8 

  • Encourage participation in extracurricular activities 
  • Provide opportunities to participate  in collaborative activities
  • Model acceptance of different  perspectives 

Internal Locus of Control

Ages 3-5  

  • Use props and activities to discuss emotions (books, role-playing, puppets) 
  • Engage students in discussions about the difference between feelings and behavior
  • Role-play how to breathe and calm oneself when upset and provide a safe place in the classroom 

Ages 6-8  

  • Provide a safe place in the classroom  when students are upset
  • Reward hard work and effort and encourage pride in your students

Independence

Ages 3-5   

  • Support children in becoming independent with self-care activities at school and home
  • Provide visuals to encourage independently cleaning up after play 

Ages 6-8 

  • Allow students to vote on classroom activities
  • Encourage students to make choices throughout the day