Introducing ROOTS: Growing Emotional Wellbeing, Regulation and Resilience

At Entire, we believe that behaviour is often telling us something. A child who appears angry, withdrawn, silly or defiant may actually be feeling anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated, confused or unsafe. Understanding what sits underneath the behaviour can completely change the way we respond.

That thinking is at the heart of ROOTS – Growing Emotional Wellbeing, Regulation and Resilience, a practical framework developed to help adults better understand and support children’s emotional wellbeing.

What is ROOTS?

ROOTS gives parents, carers and professionals a simple framework to use when a child is struggling. It encourages us to recognise emotions and wellbeing needs, consider what might be driving a reaction, use appropriate strategies to support regulation and, over time, help children build resilience.

ROOTS stands for:

R – Reflect – What might this child be feeling?
O – Observe – What might be contributing to those feelings?
O – Open Up – How can I help this child feel calm and safe?
T – Tools – Which tool matches their needs in this moment?
S – Sustain – What can we learn from this experience for next time?

Importantly, ROOTS isn’t about finding a single technique that works for every child. The right support might be a quiet space, movement, sensory support, time outdoors, a change of environment or simply the presence of a trusted adult. The focus is on matching the support to the underlying need, rather than simply responding to the behaviour we can see.

Supporting children before things become overwhelming

ROOTS also encourages us to look at the bigger picture. Hunger, tiredness, friendships, sensory overload, change, expectations, home life and time pressure can all contribute to how a child is feeling. There is rarely one single explanation, which is why looking for patterns and connections can be so valuable.

Over time, this can help us understand what makes things harder for an individual child, what helps them feel calmer and whether changes to routines, transitions, demands or their environment could support their wellbeing earlier.

Ultimately, the aim is wonderfully simple: to help children feel safe, connected, understood and supported.

Get ROOTS on the Entire Community Hub

We want useful support like this to be easy for families to access.

That’s why ROOTS is available through the Entire Community Hub, so you can come back to it whenever you need it. Whether you’re a parent, carer or someone working with children, you can use ROOTS as a practical guide to help you pause, understand what might be happening and decide what support could help.

Head over to the Entire Community Hub to access ROOTS and explore more practical resources designed to support children, families and the people who work with them.

Because sometimes changing the question from “How do I stop this behaviour?” to “What might this child need right now?” can change everything.