A 4-year-old’s relationship with a teacher and a positive preschool climate can be as—or more—important to cognitive development than the amount of time spent learning numbers and letters, finds a new study in School Psychology Quarterly.
Vanderbilt University researchers tracked 803 diverse prekindergarten students in their classrooms. After controlling for students’ demographic differences, the researchers found that students developed more sustained focus, working memory, and self-control in classes where teachers more often praised their positive actions and less often pointed out misbehavior and where teachers spent more time listening to students.
