Boys and girls who have meaningful friendships in kindergarten behave better in school. Unlike children who do not have good friendships, these children work more effectively with others and do not misbehave as much.
Jennifer Engle, a researcher from the University of Illinois, analyzed “data from 567 children who had participated in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development."
For this study, mothers were asked if their kindergarteners had “at least one friend and on the quality of their child's friendships.”
Then the examiner monitored the growth of children without friends, “low-quality friendships, average-quality friendships, and high-quality friendships.”
The parents and teachers also offered feedback about the children’s behavioral troubles in kindergarten, first grade, and finally third grade.
In the end, the study proved that children with “high quality” friendships were more helpful, generous, self-controlled, and peaceful.
There was also another interesting result of this research. The investigation revealed that by first and third grade, boys who did not develop meaningful friendships in kindergarten exhibited more behavioral problems.
Some students have such a difficult time behaving themselves in school. Perhaps these children need some good quality friendships.
Help your child make friends in kindergarten
- Setup supervised play dates
- Teach children social skills
- Role play about how to start a friendship
- Sign children up for sports or other activities
The benefits of having friends
- Increased feeling of acceptance
- Enhanced happiness
- Reduction of stress
