Respecting How Children Learn through Play illustrates how a play-based curriculum can improve cognitive control.  Findings from a study appearing in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), reinforce the concept and show that the play-based Tools of the Mind curriculum can improve cognitive control (executive function) in preschool-age children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Executive functions (EFs) are critical, but rarely taught. Tools of the Mind, though, improves these skills at minimal cost. More strongly associated with school readiness than intelligence quotient or entry-level math or reading skills, EFs are important for academic achievement throughout school years. However, not much teacher instruction is provided in how to improve EFs, and previous attempts to do so have been costly and the success limited.

Tools of the Mind Study

The Tools of the Mind curriculum is based on Vygotsky’s insights into EF. At the core of Tools of the Mind is 40 EF-promoting activities, among them dramatic play, memory and attention facilitation aids, and “self-regulatory private speech” (telling oneself out loud what to do). Twelve years of research in kindergartens and preschools has refined the Tools curriculum.

This study of Tools of the Mind initially included 18 classrooms and then added 3 the next year. Quality standards for the classrooms were set by the state, and all classrooms received the same resources, same teacher training, and same support.

The curriculum the school board developed contained thematic units and was based on balanced literacy. It did not address EF development, while Tools of the Mind did. Both programs covered the same academic content.

Data were reported on 147 preschoolers in their second year of preschool; preschoolers were randomly assigned to Tools or the Balanced Literacy program.

After just 1 year, educators at one school were so convinced that the Tools children were doing substantially better than the other children that they halted the experiment, which reduced the number of EF children.

Measures and Findings

Outcome measures (the tests used a Dots task and a Flanker task) were quite different from what any of the tested children had done before, and the measures were appropriate for ages 4 through adult and were designed to assess all there EF components.

Children were given over 5 times as long as preschoolers usually take to complete the tests, which tested memory and flexibility switching.

The study results support the idea that EFs can be improved in preschool in regular public school classrooms with regular teachers. The Tools curriculum accounted for more variance in EFs than did either age or gender. Superior scores were reported by children in the Tools program in objective, neurocognitive EF measures.

Tools of the Mind uses play to help improve EFs, but preschools are encouraged to limit play. However, if EFs are challenged and supported throughout the school day through play, benefits transfer to new activities. The more EF-demanding the task, the more highly it correlates with academic performance. The findings support the assertion that the play-based Tools of the Mind curriculum can improve EFs in preschoolers from disadvantaged backgrounds.