First year of grade school sharpens kids’ attention skills

The first year of elementary school markedly boosts a child’s attentiveness, according to new research from UC Berkeley and the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

The study, led by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, shows that children who transition earlier to a formal school environment learn to be more focused and less impulsive than their peers at play-based preschools. The findings are published today in the online issue of the journal Psychological Science
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