The Link Between Emotional Regulation and Academic Success

Let’s be honest: It’s hard to focus on long division when your brain is still replaying what your friend said at recess or how your morning started with your sock bunching up just wrong.

We talk a lot about grades, test scores, and study habits—but what if the key to academic success isn’t flashcards or tutoring, but… feelings?

Spoiler alert: Emotional regulation and academic success are deeply connected. And if your child is struggling in school, this might be the most important—and most overlooked—piece of the puzzle.

🧠 What Is Emotional Regulation, Anyway?

Emotional regulation is the ability to:

• Recognize emotions

• Understand what’s behind them

• Express them appropriately

• Return to a baseline after being upset or overstimulated

It’s not about being calm all the time—it’s about being able to come back from dysregulation without losing your mind (or your math homework).

🧩 How Emotions Impact Learning

You can’t access your prefrontal cortex (aka your brain’s “thinking” center) when your amygdala (your “alarm” system) is sounding off. In other words:

Big feelings hijack the brain.

When kids feel anxious, overwhelmed, embarrassed, frustrated, or shut down, their ability to:

• Focus

• Follow directions

• Retain information

• Problem-solve

• Handle academic pressure

…all goes out the window faster than a paper airplane in a fourth-grade science class.

📚 What the Research Says

• Students with strong emotional regulation skills have higher GPAs, better attendance, and fewer behavior issues.

• Emotional regulation is linked to better executive functioning—aka time management, organization, and task initiation.

• Children with ADHD or learning differences often struggle with both academics and emotion regulation—but improving one can support the other.

(Sources below if you’re into citations and science-y stuff.)

🛠️ How to Support Emotional Regulation (At Home and School)

1. Name It to Tame It

Kids who can label their emotions are more likely to manage them.

“Looks like you’re feeling frustrated—want to take a break before trying again?”

2. Teach Coping Tools

Calm-down corners, sensory tools, breathing strategies, and movement breaks aren’t just fluff—they’re brain resets.

Visual timers, glitter jars, and finger tracing breathing = legit neuroscience tools.

3. Model Regulation Yourself

If you lose it when the Wi-Fi cuts out, your kid’s gonna do the same when they forget their homework.

Try: “I’m feeling overwhelmed right now, so I’m going to take three deep breaths before I respond.”

4. Build in Predictable Routines

Kids with strong regulation thrive on structure. Morning checklists, homework rituals, and “what to expect” chats help reduce emotional overwhelm.

5. Collaborate With Teachers

Request accommodations that support regulation in class:

• Movement breaks

• Break passes

• Headphones

• Quiet workspaces

• SEL curriculum

❤️ The Takeaway

It’s not about avoiding big feelings—it’s about helping kids ride the waves without capsizing.

And when they learn how to do that? School becomes a little less scary. Focus becomes a little easier. Learning becomes possible again.

Support the emotions, and the academics will follow. 💚

Want help building an emotional regulation plan tailored to your child’s learning style?

📞 Call or text: 614-470-4466

📧 Email: admin@achievepsychology.org

🌐 Visit: www.achievepsychology.org

Works Cited:

1. Denham, S. A., et al. (2012). Emotional Competence and School Readiness in Preschool Children.

2. Blair, C. & Raver, C. C. (2015). School Readiness and Self-Regulation: A Developmental Psychobiological Approach.

3. CASEL. (2023). Social Emotional Learning Research Summary.

4. Zelazo, P. D., & Lyons, K. E. (2012). Neuroscience and Executive Function Development.

5. Graziano, P. A., Reavis, R. D., Keane, S. P., & Calkins, S. D. (2007). Emotion Regulation and Academic Achievement in Elementary School Children.