As many parents prepare to register their little one for kindergarten, there is often pressure to make sure their child is actually kindergarten-ready. But their focus may not necessarily be on the things that ultimately prepare their child for future success.
Knowing their name, being able to tie their shoes and going to the bathroom by themselves are important for sure. But did you know that social competency skills such as being able to listen, share material with others, solve problems with their classmates, cooperate and be helpful are every bit as important, perhaps more so?
Researchers from Pennsylvania State University analyzed 753 children in Durham, North Carolina, Seattle, Nashville and rural Pennsylvania and found that children who were more likely to share or be helpful in kindergarten were also more likely to obtain higher education and hold full-time jobs nearly two decades later. Students who lacked these social competency skills were more likely to face negative outcomes by age 25, including substance abuse problems, challenges finding employment or run-ins with the law.
STATISTICS
The study controlled for the effects of poverty, race, having teen parents, family stress, neighborhood crime and for the children’s aggression and reading levels in kindergarten. Still, the researchers found that for every one-point increase in a student’s social competency score, he or she was: