Most parents of mature, intelligent kindergarten-aged children cannot help but think that their children are on the path to success and that they will eventually become successful young adults. A study published in the journal Pediatrics by a team of researchers from Université Sainte-Anne and Université de Montréal suggests that these thoughts are not far from the mark.
The study, entitled "Kindergarten Readiness, Later Health, and Social Costs", is the result of a collaboration between Caroline Fitzpatrick, a professor at Université Sainte-Anne, Elroy Boers, a postdoctoral researcher at the Sainte-Justine hospital research center in Montreal and Linda Pagani, a professor in the School of Psychoeducation at Université de Montréal.
"Our study suggests that readiness to learn in kindergarten can have very long-term consequences on children's life journey. More precisely, school readiness at age of 5 predicted better educational success and better mental and physical health at age 17," explains Professor Fitzpatrick.
To arrive at their conclusions, Caroline Fitzpatrick, the study's lead author, and the coauthors followed 966 children living in Quebec between the ages of 5 and 17.
The article will be published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics and will be accompanied by a video that visually summarizes the study.
The Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD) was funded by the Quebec Government 's Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Family Affairs, the Lucie and Andre Chagnon Foundation, the Robert-Sauve Research Institute of Health and Security at Work, and the Quebec Statistics Institute (ISQ). Additional funding was received by SSHRC and Nova Scotia Research.
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