We have been writing a lot about school readiness lately, and now it turns out playing simple games can help children develop one of the key skills needed to start school: self-regulation, a new study reports.

Researchers found that children who played games based on the idea of Simon Says recorded better scores on math and literacy tests, according to a summary of a study from Oregon State University. Their study involved 800 students between ages three and six years old.

(The) study showed that preschool and kindergarten-age children who scored higher on the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulder task were more than three months ahead of their peers in early literacy. Likewise, their peers in Taiwan, China and South Korea showed similar results, with the most dramatic result showing Chinese youngsters who did well on the self-regulation task performing more than four months ahead of their classmates on math. – “Preschool-age kids in different countries improve academically using self-regulation game.” Eureka public release. 7/18/11. (Researchers) wanted to find out if the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulder task would predict academic gains in countries already known to have stronger self-regulation than the U.S.

It turns out one of the researchers Megan McClelland is a leader in the study of self-regulation and school readiness. Check out more of her work on her Oregon State website.

She does a good job quickly explaining why self-regulation skills matter.

"Although many children enter kindergarten ready to learn, a large number of children start school already behind their peers," McClelland said. "As early as kindergarten, they've become the problem child who can't pay attention, can't focus and doesn't follow instructions. This can lead to becoming a problem in the classroom, which then leads to negative attention. And by the end of their kindergarten year, they are more likely to disengage and say they don't like school."

Early Arithmetic: Over at Early Ed Watch there is an interesting story on the importance of early math instruction, “In Early Childhood, 'Number Sense' Matters.” Check it out.