69ý

Early Childhood The State of Teaching

Young Kids Are Struggling With Skills Like Listening, Sharing, and Using Scissors

By Madeline Will — June 03, 2024 5 min read
Young girl using scissors in classroom.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Young students are struggling with fine motor skills, like using scissors and pencils, and social-emotional capabilities, such as following instructions and sharing, teachers report.

Strong majorities of preK-3 teachers said these tasks and skills were more, or much more, challenging for children this school year than they were for kids of the same age five years ago, according to the Education Week State of Teaching survey. Experts say this is likely in part a function of the upheaval caused by the pandemic—and that even students who weren’t in grade school during the height of school closures are still experiencing the lingering effects.

“These fundamental skills that seem so basic are actually really important to [children’s] overall development and growth,” said Amanda Fellner, a lecturer in the early childhood education program at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a faculty co-director of the Rita Gold Early Childhood Center there. “How are we supporting teachers on this? How are we ensuring that they are able to focus on the things that are important and making sure those fundamental skills are being built?”

sot visual stamp words only words only for inline promo

New national data on the teaching profession, vivid reporting from classrooms, and resources to help support this essential profession.
Explore the Exclusive Report.

The State of Teaching survey polled a nationally representative sample of 1,500 teachers in the fall, but only teachers who teach grades pre-K-3 answered this question.

Social-emotional skills—listening and following directions and sharing, cooperating with others, and taking turns—topped the list of the tasks that children today are having more trouble with than their peers five years ago.

Most teachers also identified students’ ability to use scissors, crayons, pencils, and pens and tie their shoes as skills that are more challenging now than they used to be.

The results align with some of what the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University has found in parent surveys on their young children’s learning and development. The organization has surveyed a national sample of parents to children ages 3 to 5 who are not yet in kindergarten six times since spring 2020, with the last survey conducted in December.

While some social and emotional problems have declined slightly since the height of the pandemic, the share of parents who reported that problems with pro-social behaviors—which include skills like learning how to make friends, sharing, and getting along with peers—has increased. Twenty-eight percent of parents indicated those skills were an issue in .

There are several potential reasons why young students’ social and fine motor skills are lagging, said Steven Barnett, the senior co-director of NIEER.

The disruption of the pandemic on schools is one, he said. and kindergarten enrollment declined during the height of the pandemic. And even if children were enrolled in preschool or kindergarten during 2020 or 2021, they might have experienced remote learning instead due to school closures.

That means that students who are in early elementary grades now might have missed out on learning how to interact with their peers in a classroom setting. 69ý with disabilities also might not have gotten early intervention services, Barnett said.

Another possible reason is that young children’s screen time has increased in recent years. Research has shown that and leads to difficulty focusing. Children’s reliance on screens might mean they’re going on fewer play dates or spending less time using crayons or scissors, Barnett added.

“When you see kids trying to swipe books,” like they’re interacting on a tablet or a cellphone, “you get a sense that maybe some of the traditional tools aren’t as familiar,” he said.

An equity concern

Children of color and those from low-income households are more likely to struggle with some motor skills than their white or more affluent peers, the survey results show.

“There is a concern that low-income kids did not come back to preschool as quickly as other kids,” Barnett said.

Among teachers who work in schools where more than three-quarters of students receive free and reduced-price lunch, 79 percent said tying shoes was more or much more challenging this year. Among teachers who work in schools where less than a quarter of students receive free and reduced-price lunch, 40 percent said the same.

Differences by school racial demographics also appeared. Teachers who worked in schools with a majority of Black students were more likely to say that tying shoes was a more challenging skill this year than teachers in schools with a majority of Hispanic students or with a majority of white students—89 percent compared to 75 percent and 61 percent, respectively.

The trend was similar for using scissors, crayons, pencils, or pens, but larger shares of teacher across the board said this was a more challenging skill for students to master.

Among teachers who work in schools where more than three-quarters of students receive free and reduced-price lunch, 83 percent said using those classroom supplies was more or much more challenging this year. Among teachers who work in schools where less than a quarter of students receive free and reduced-price lunch, 68 percent said the same.

Nine in 10 teachers who work in schools with a majority of Black students said using scissors, crayons, pencils, or pens was a more challenging skill this year, compared to 83 percent of teachers who work in schools with a majority of Hispanic students and 72 percent of teachers who work in schools with a majority of white students.

The impact on teachers

Barnett said he’s less concerned about students’ fine motor skills.

“While it’s a hurdle for kindergarten, kids will learn to do this—it’s just practice,” he said. “Once you get the basics of what you need, then you’re good.”

But delays in social-emotional capabilities—as well as academic skills, like language abilities—can have longer-term impacts, he said. And students who are not listening, following directions, and taking turns can also be disruptive to the classroom environment.

“As a teacher, if I feel that none of the children are listening, I can imagine that that would be a very draining experience on a daily basis in the classroom,” said Sarah Duer, the director of the Hollingworth Preschool at Teachers College.

School leaders need to make sure teachers have the support they need to catch students up on the norms and expectations of the classroom, she said.

“A teacher with a lot of emotional bandwidth to support children with these very foundational, very essential skills is going to need a lot of time to develop that resilience and a lot of support,” Duer said.

This is also work that should be done in connection with students’ caretakers, she said.

“Families’ needs are always changing. And they’re certainly different than they were five years ago,” she said. “We have to be flexible, responsive, and adaptive to the changing needs.”

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Early Childhood Head Start Teachers Will Earn More—But Programs Might Have to Serve Fewer Kids
A new federal rule will raise wages for Head Start employees—but providers won't get any additional funding.
7 min read
Preschool teacher with kids sitting nearby while she reads a book.
iStock/Getty
Early Childhood EdReports Expands Curriculum Reviews to Pre-K
Non-profit EdReports will review pre-K curricula to gauge its alignment with research on early learning.
2 min read
Boy raises his hand to answer a question in a classroom; he is sitting on the floor with other kids and the teacher is sitting in front of the class.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Early Childhood Without New Money, Biden Admin. Urges States to Use Existing Funds to Expand Preschool
There's no new infusion of federal funds for preschool, so the Biden administration is pointing out funding sources that are already there.
4 min read
Close cropped photo of a young child putting silver coins in a pink piggy bank.
iStock/Getty
Early Childhood Preschool Studies Show Lagging Results. Why?
Researchers try to figure out why modern preschool programs are less effective than the landmark projects in the 1960s and 70s.
7 min read
Black female teacher and group of kids coloring during art class at preschool.
iStock / Getty Images Plus