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Evie's Desk: Plays Well With Others = Better Student

January 12, 2009
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Last month I came across an interesting article suggesting that children who play well together also do better in school. Psychologists at Penn State University led a study comparing a group of Head Start participants who received an enriched curriculum and those that received a standard curriculum.

The enriched curriculum included weekly "visits" from Tommy the Turtle, a hand puppet that worked through various social situations with other puppets. Tommy's behavior was presented as a model for the children, who would later reference Tommy when presented with social challenges in the classroom.

When tested at the end of the year, the students who received visits from Tommy scored better on tests. This suggests that students with more social tools also learn better. The lead researcher in the study, Karen Bierman also made a few suggestions for parents to help with their children's social skills, including these:

  • Ages 3 to 7 are a key window for learning self-control. Talk to youngsters daily about their feelings and how to work through problems. Who did they play with? What made them happy? What made them sad?
  • Get a misbehaving child to take a deep breath and calmly explain his or her feelings. That doesn't mean give in. But saying, "I see you're sad but it's still bedtime," helps children learn they can feel upset but still meet obligations.
  • Parents should calm down, too. "It doesn't help to use your words if you're just yelling," Bierman notes.

Evelyn V. Martinez
Executive Director
First 5 LA

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