Regulate, Relate, then Reason: How to open up the cortex for student learning

Webinar Series: Getting to the Cortex: Helping Educators Understand Student Behavior and Performance

The Neurosequential Model - A Blueprint for Better Learning: By understanding how the brain develops and processes information from the bottom up, educators and parents can tailor their approaches to meet students' needs. This model emphasizes that kids need regulating first, followed by relational engagement, and finally, cognitive reasoning. Implementing inputs in this sequence can significantly improve behavior and learning outcomes for children.
“The Three Rs” - Regulate, Relate, Reason: Implementing the three Rs of the Neurosequential Model can start with activities like dance, music, and walking to help students self-regulate and access higher parts of the brain. This lays the foundation to build connections, and opens the cortex for effective reasoning and learning. These practices, whether at home or in the classroom, reduce stress reactivity and create an environment where kids and educators can thrive.
Creating Trauma-Informed Spaces for Learning: Understanding the impacts of stress and trauma on the brain and body allows educators to create supportive environments for all children, which are especially helpful to those dealing with additional stressors. Families can also help by fostering calm, predictable, and connected routines at home.
Practical Changes to School Structures: Starting the school day later and incorporating arts, physical activity, and more recess are proven strategies for boosting both academic performance and health. Parents and caregivers can advocate for these programs within their local schools to align with evidence-based practices.

The Neurosequential Model: A New Perspective on Education

At the core of this discussion was the Neurosequential Model, a research-based approach to understanding how the brain develops and processes information. Dr. Bruce Perry, renowned trauma expert and child psychiatrist, explained that the brain is organized to " act and feel before it thinks.” This principle underscores the need to achieve physiological regulation before introducing higher-level cognitive tasks like connection and reasoning. When students are dysregulated—whether due to stress, trauma, or overstimulation—their ability to access brain regions needed to connect, reason, and learn diminishes. Dr. Perry emphasized, " You learn best when you're regulated.” This insight shifts the focus of education from merely delivering information to creating environments that first ensure students are biologically ready to engage.

Regulate, Relate, Reason: The Three Pillars of Reaching Kids

The heart of the neurosequential model is captured by the three Rs: Regulate, Relate, and Reason. Dr. Bhushan and Dr. Perry underscored these elements as the sequence for effective engagement in the classroom.

Regulate: Help children reach a calm state through activities like breathing exercises or rhythmic movement.
Relate: Build emotional connections through storytelling, active listening, and empathy.
Reason: Once regulated and connected, the cortex is ready to engage in cognitive tasks like problem-solving and absorbing new material, thus helping students actively learn.

"If you want to reason with somebody, you need to help them take a deep breath," Dr. Perry said, underscoring that higher brain regions, such as those needed for connection and reasoning, are offline when the stress response is activated. Regulation is therefore the first step — normalizing the stress response systems through the lowest, most reactive brain areas — before engaging the emotional and rational regions.

Teachers can begin the day with a short regulating activity like clapping or dance, and incorporate such elements periodically throughout the lesson to best engage students and ensure the most mature brain areas (in the cortex) are available for learning. This lays the foundation to build connections, and opens the cortex for effective reasoning and learning.

This sequence can also be applied at home. For example, if a child is upset after school, parents might first use a rhythmic activity like a walk to help them calm down ( regulate), then talk about their day ( relate), before diving into homework or problem-solving ( reason).

Regulation First: Why Rhythm Matters

Dr. Perry highlighted the critical role of rhythmic, somatosensory activities—like walking, dancing, and bilateral tapping—in helping students and adults self-regulate. Rhythm is an essential cue for safety ever since our fetal days, when we come to associate the ever-present maternal heartbeat of 60-80 beats per minute with warmth, nourishment, and comfort. Repetitive, predictable actions powerfully engage the lower regions of the brain and normalize the body's stress response. As Dr. Perry emphasized, " You learn best when you’re regulated,” underscoring the critical role of incorporating breaks, rhythm, and proper pacing in creating optimal learning environments. "Music, dance, and rhythm are not luxury add-ons. They are essential elements of creating a fully receptive brain for cognitive content.

Transforming Educational Spaces to be Learning-Ready

Dr. Bruce Perry highlighted a success story from Finland, where significant academic improvements were achieved by structurally enabling both better regulation and more free play. Key changes included tripling recess time, drastically reducing standardized testing, and shortening the school day. These adjustments significantly enhanced learning and academic outcomes. Finland’s reforms propelled their literacy rates to the top tier among Western nations.

Parents and educators can advocate for similar changes in their communities. Starting the school day later to align with natural sleep rhythms, shortening the day overall, while integrating more creative activities and prioritizing breaks can significantly enhance both learning outcomes and student health. Activities such as music, arts, and sports not only support regulation of the stress response system, they also help kids develop cognitive and social skills (often referred to as ‘soft skills’) that are increasingly vital in workplace and civic life.

Furthermore, providing educators with tools and institutional supports to maintain their own well-being is key. " If they come into the classroom already dysregulated, it doesn't matter what techniques they've learned," Dr. Perry warned. By rethinking classroom ratios and providing educators with proper structural support like adequate rest time and opportunities to engage in community, school administrators can enhance both educator and student health and resilience.

Practical Applications for Parents

Families can also create resilience-promoting environments at home:

Incorporate Rhythm Daily: Whether through yoga, breathing, stretching, walking, choose enjoyable activities as a family to help everyone reset after a long day. Choose regulating activities before relating and reasoning.
Build Predictable Routines: Consistency in daily schedules fosters a sense of safety, especially for children who have experienced stress or trauma.
Limit Over-Scheduling: Dr. Perry cautioned against packing children's schedules too tightly, as downtime is critical for memory consolidation, optimal health, and recovery.

Why This Matters

Designing environments using insights from brain science isn’t just about improving grades—it’s about fostering resilience, emotional regulation, and overall health through the life course. Whether in the classroom or at home, prioritizing regulation, creating meaningful connections, and embracing innovative school structures can transform how children experience learning and connection — and can reset the trajectory of their lives.