Researchers say they have discovered a simple, five-minute game that can predict end-of-year kindergarten achievement in math, literacy and vocabulary.  

Claire Ponitz from the University of Virginia and Megan McClelland of Oregon State University assessed the effectiveness of a game called the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) task, which proved effective at predicting academic skills among preschool age children. Their results were published in the newest issue of the journal, Developmental Psychology.

The researchers assessed a group of 343 kindergarteners from Oregon and Michigan. Their self-regulation, or ability to control behavior, was measured with the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task, a structured observation requiring children to perform the opposite of a response to four different oral commands. For example, children were instructed to touch their toes if told to touch their head, and vice versa.

They found that students who performed well on his behavior task in the fall achieved strong scores in reading, vocabulary and math in the spring, compared to students who had low performance on the task. In addition, the research showed that the children who performed well on the task scored 3.4 months ahead of peers who performed at average levels on mathematics learning.

“It’s amazing that this game works as well as it does,” McClelland said. “It is simple to administer, fun for the kids, and predicts children’s academic achievement.”

She said she has made a simple DVD that demonstrates the task, and in response has received requests from around the world from researchers who want to use the task with young children.

I’m tempted to ask for a copy, so I can test my own little one…