Help Your Child Monitor Their Behavior: Alert Program Learning

My son has had a very hard time adjusting to school, so I started looking for a program to help him be able to make better choices on how he responds to his emotions. Alert Program Learning has been an amazing tool for him. It helps him monitor his behavior in zones. I modified a chart that I found off of Pintrest “Alert Program Learning” to be more appropriate for my son. Here is a breakdown of the program, and what I did:

There are three zones on the chart: green “Go”, yellow “Slow”, and red “Stop”. The three zones have two columns. One that shows the emotions of that zone and the other that shows the reactions of the emotions in the zone.

Green GO- The green section shows positive feelings (happy, calm, loved, hopeful, proud, playful, sorry) and positive reactions (smile, hug, help, play ball, jump, swing, draw, sing, blow bubbles)

Yellow SLOW- The yellow shows emotions that can go green or easily turn red (excited, bored, afraid, embarrassed, tired, sad, shy) and positive reactions/ ways to regulate to green (take nap, get chewy, hug, pray, get weighted blanket, chew gum, count to ten, deep breathing, read book, watch tv).

Red STOP- The red shows emotions that can cause disruptive and destructive behavior (mad, jealous) and negative emotions that we do not do (bite, hit, steal, kick, ignore, say bad things, push, fit- cry/ scream, argue). If child sees that they are feeling red feelings or doing red behavior, they know it needs to stop, and they need to move back to yellow to try to get to green.

Having this visual has really helped my son learn appropriate ways to respond to his emotions. It has also taught him how to regulate himself when in yellow. The Alert Program has online courses to teach you all about their program. I plan on taking the courses in the future and learning other ways this program can help my children.