Toolkit

SHANKER SELF-REG® TOOLKIT

A digital resource for going deeper into the 5 Steps of Shanker Self-Reg®.
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Snapshot
• Format: Digital toolkit • Downloadable • Use at your own pace
• Length: 150+ pages across four journeys (Seeds • Sunrise • Quilt • Haven)
• Designed for: Anyone wanting practical, usable tools for their own Self-Reg—and for supporting children, adolescents, students, and adults
• Access: Includes one digital copy with print rights for one personal copy
• Support: Group licensing available via info@self-reg.ca

Team Access Available HERE

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Why This Toolkit

People love the Shanker Self-Reg® Framework. They understand the 5 Steps. They’re inspired by the science and the stories. But the most common request we hear is:

“I understand Self-Reg… I just need more how.”

This toolkit is for that exact moment.

It won’t replace courses or deeper learning in the neuroscience behind Self-Reg. Instead, it helps you work with the 5 Steps, explore your own patterns, and make the learning real.

It’s designed for anyone who wants to:
  • understand behaviour beneath the surface,
  • explore personal stress patterns with more clarity and less judgment,
  • support a child, teen, or adult through a Self-Reg lens,
  • coach, consult, or lead in ways that lower—not raise—stress,
  • or simply take their next step into the science, reflection, and lived practice of the 5 Steps.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to Self-Reg.
This toolkit honours that by giving you multiple ways in, and tools that flex with you over time.

Inside You’ll Find

A practical collection of ready-to-use tools to help you apply Self-Reg in everyday life, including:
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  • Behaviour reframing tools that help you distinguish stress behaviour from misbehaviour—complete with examples across ages and roles.
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  • Stress-mapping templates to identify stressors in all five domains, including hidden stressors that often go unnoticed.
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  • Checklists, rubrics, and reflection sheets that help you make sense of your own patterns and track change over time.
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  • 5-Practice Portraits for educators, parents, support staff, leaders, and communities—showing what each of the 5 Steps can look like in your context.
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  • Conversation guides for supporting children and teens through overwhelming moments without escalating your own stress.
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  • In-the-moment strategies for dialing down brain-body tension in ways that are adaptive and compassionate.
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  • Energy–tension awareness tools—body charts, stress-state cues, and Thayer-style matrices—to help you read your own (and others’) regulation in real time.
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  • Restoration tools that help you identify what actually restores energy for you—not generic “self-care tips,” but personalized options rooted in Self-Reg science.
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  • Co-regulation and team tools for classrooms, families, support teams, and coaching relationships—supporting smoother transitions, shared language, and collective calm.
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  • Stories, scenarios, and real examples that bring the tools to life and help the science make sense in the moments that matter.
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Everything is grounded in the 5 Steps—Reframe, Recognize, Reduce, Reflect, Restore—but extends far beyond them to offer rubrics, models, graphics, and applied examples you can use right away.

You’ll Walk Away With

  • Practical tools you can adapt to your own life, classroom, team, or family
  • A gentler, clearer way to understand behaviour—your own and others’
  • Insight into stress patterns and energy–tension cycles
  • Flexible strategies for reducing stress and co-regulating effectively
  • A more intuitive understanding of the 5 Steps as they play out in real life
  • Confidence in applying Self-Reg with children, teens, adults, and teams
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This toolkit won’t teach you everything about Self-Reg—but it will help you work with what you’re learning, deepen your insights, and take meaningful next steps.

Who This Toolkit Is For

This toolkit was created for anyone engaging with Self-Reg in real life, including:
   Educators across Early Years, K–12, and postsecondary
   Parents and caregivers
   Educational Assistants and support staff
   Leaders, school teams, and system professionals
   Allied health professionals supporting children, teens, or families
   Coaches, consultants, and mentors
   Individuals exploring their own Self-Reg journey
   Community and youth workers across diverse settings
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Whether you’re supporting one child, a classroom, a whole team—or yourself—this toolkit gives you ways to work with Self-Reg that are concrete, compassionate, and doable.