Q: Our elementary school principal emailed parents about a new program that teaches "self-regulation." He wants to give the kids grades on it. Why spend school time teaching behavior, when that's the parents' job?

A: Schools have long reinforced parental efforts to teach good behavior, comportment, social graces, manners -- whatever you want to call it.

What's new is an effort to add "noncognitive skills" to the 3 R's. These include setting and achieving goals, showing empathy, establishing positive relationships, making responsible decisions, and self-regulation: being able to exercise self-control, make good choices and exhibit social competence.

Why spend school time on them? Research shows that self-control in childhood is a strong predictor of adult success. It plays a big role in academic achievement, health and happiness.

Professor Daniel Willingham, a cognitive scientist and professor at the University of Virginia, says a recent report from Transforming Education makes the case for administrators to include these noncognitive skills in the school day. The findings should also interest parents who want their children to make a successful transition to adulthood.

Students who learn self-regulation early:

-- have greater K-12 and college academic achievement.

-- are less likely to commit a crime and be incarcerated as adults.

-- are less likely to be a single or unplanned teenage parent.


-- enjoy higher adult earning and greater financial stability.

-- have lower rates of obesity, smoking, substance abuse and mental health disorders.

For more information, go to transformingeducation.org.


How early can parents teach these skills? Research shows that fostering them as early as preschool has both immediate and long-term impacts.

If these skills are so important, why are so many American children struggling? "Parents are investing more time and money in their children compared with 30 years ago, yet the outcomes are worse," says Dr. Leonard Sax, a physician and psychologist.

For example, students in the U.S. are 14 times more likely to be on medicine for ADHD compared with kids in the United Kingdom. Childhood obesity jumped from 4 percent in 1971 to 18 percent today. The global rankings of U.S. students in math, science and reading continue to slide.

Sax, author of "The Collapse of Parenting," thinks parents today are afraid of seeming dictatorial. Too many "treat kids like grown-ups and end up abdicating their authority rather than taking a stand with their children."

In his medical practice, Sax shows parents how to positively influence what he calls their child's "conscientiousness" -- self-control, discipline, honesty, responsibility and industriousness -- in a matter of weeks. How? "By setting a clear example and sticking with a simple set of rules. If you're going to change the rules, tell your child what you're doing and why."

Want to help a teen build self-control? "You say, 'No Internet or video games until after you've done your homework,' and mean it," says Sax.

It's never too late to get results, Sax believes. "Parents who one day explicitly announce, 'Things are changing, as of today!' and then consistently enforce the new rules -- and are not cowed when their teen yells, 'You're totally ruining my life!' -- are surprised by how dramatic the change is."

It doesn't happen overnight, Sax warns, "but after six weeks of consistent enforcement, your child will be more pleasant, more respectful" -- more in control.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: I coach the elementary robotics team with my son's fifth-grade teacher. She says that I don't give kids enough time after asking questions and suggests I allow for a long pause so students can "cogitate." It seems like forever when she does it. Don't we want kids to be nimble thinkers who answer quickly?

A: Don't wait to take her advice. She's using an effective teaching strategy called "wait time." In a fast-paced, hurry-up, multitasking world, it benefits young learners to slow down and have extra seconds to formulate a response.

University of Florida educator Dr. Mary Budd Rowe pioneered wait time research in the '80s with her discovery that regardless of grade level, students were typically given less than one second to respond to a teacher's question. That meant that eager students were always called on; others not so much. Teachers filled short silences by cold calling on students, or providing answers and moving on.

Rowe showed that when teachers purposely waited a minimum of five or more seconds after a question, students gave higher quality and more substantive answers, their self-confidence increased, and they interacted with one another to advance discussion.

What's more, students reluctant to raise their hands began to participate. Waiting allowed students to better remember the information and articulate a good answer. It increased their ability to grasp and process information. As Rowe explained, "Slowing down speeded up learning."

Dr. Mary Laverty Bigelow, a Pennsylvania-based science educator, says, "Knowing about 'wait time' is useful for parent-child interactions, too."

Certainly, we want children to be able to recall some things fast. "They should master sight words so that they don't stop to decode each word, slowing down their comprehension," says Bigelow. "We want them to develop automaticity with basic arithmetic operations. I watched middle school students struggle with math problems because they had to take time to figure out six times seven."

But when it comes to developing thinking skills, "such as applying, analyzing, evaluating knowledge and creating new ideas, students need time to think," adds Bigelow.

If you ask your robotics team the best way to solve a problem, "you want them to reflect rather than offer up the first thing that comes to mind," Bigelow explains. "To extend the practice, after one student's response, good teachers call on other students, asking, 'Do you have anything to add?' or 'Your hand was up. What do you think?' or 'Do you agree?'"

While dead air may seem like forever to you, "it is beneficial processing time for students," notes Bigelow. "Research shows that when they take extra time, their answers are richer and more complex. These additional few seconds also encourage students to elaborate on another student's response, which is what teamwork is all about."

Whether you're coaching your daughter's team, or asking her to explain an answer to a math homework problem, "remember to slow things down, take a sip of water or mentally hum a few bars of the 'Jeopardy' theme song," advises Bigelow. "When it comes to questioning children, it's often what you don't say that counts."

For more on wait time, see Bigelow's blog at ascd.org/ascd-express/vol11/1101-bigelow.aspx.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: Our district's choice program offers four kindergarten enrollment options for our son. The classes I've visited seem too academic, with very little play. My son can't sit still, and he's a long way from reading. He'll turn 5 a few days from the cutoff date, so we're thinking of holding him back. What are the benefits and drawbacks?

A: More parents are exploring delaying kindergarten, especially when a child is a "young 5." Data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) show that two decades ago, 9 percent of parents held their children back. Today, according to a recent study from Stanford University, about 20 percent of children enter kindergarten at age 6 instead of age 5.

Some refer to this practice as "academic redshirting" -- a strategy borrowed from sports -- where parents delay a child's entrance into kindergarten in order to allow extra time for socio-emotional, intellectual or physical growth.

What explains the increase? "I think redshirting has taken a new turn because of the Common Core," says literacy expert Dr. Michael Milone. "The kindergarten experience has morphed into first or second grade, unfortunately. Many parents and teachers are expressing strong opinions about the loss of kindergarten. So I'm all for redshirting to ensure that kids get a decent childhood."

Research hasn't provided conclusive guidance about delaying enrollment in kindergarten. There is data showing that early maturity differences have long-lasting impacts: Children who are less mature at the start of kindergarten tend to have lower grades throughout their school careers than those who were more mature. Some studies show that the least mature members of each class were less likely to attend university.

One new study is worth paying attention to, says Milone. It suggests that kids who have a later start show significantly lower levels of inattention and hyperactivity.

"The benefits were found to persist even at age 11," he says. "This is significant."

The study, "The Gift of Time? School Starting Age and Mental Health," published in October 2015 by the National Bureau of Economic Research, provides strong evidence of mental health benefits in delaying kindergarten. (For more information, go to nber.org.)

Study co-author Thomas Dee of the Stanford Graduate School of Education says in a school press release that the findings show "that delaying kindergarten for one year reduced inattention and hyperactivity by 73 percent for an average child at age 11."

Dee adds, "It virtually eliminated the probability that an average child at that age would have an 'abnormal,' or higher-than-normal rating for the inattentive-hyperactive behavioral measure."

How is a parent to decide whether to hold a child back? "Consider your son's physical, emotional and academic readiness," says Milone. "Consult with his preschool teacher and discuss his kindergarten readiness screening with kindergarten teachers. Ask about class size and the skills each school expects of entering kindergarteners; is it formal or more informal with learning centers?"

If holding him back seems like the best option, decide what your son will do instead of kindergarten to keep him challenged. Ask if your district offers a bridge program between pre-K and kindergarten to keep your son on track academically and developmentally.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)