2011 The Palm Beach County Family Study (Full Report)

cultural norms regarding what sorts of greetings are appropriate for children and when they are taught tosay their first and last names.Table 17. Social and Emotional Behaviors of Focal Children at Year 5 a % Mothers (N=310) bSocial-Emotional Indicator“Almost All the Time” “Sometimes”Positive behaviorsFocal child seems happy 95 5Focal child is eager to learn new things 92 7Focal child likes playing with other children close to his/her age 87 11Focal child is accepted and liked by other children 86 14Focal child likes to try new things 83 14Focal child helps or cooperates with adults 70 27Focal child adjusts easily to new situations 65 28Focal child pays attention well 61 33Focal child finishes what he/she is asked to do 45 45Negative behaviorsFocal child is overly active and unable to sit still 42 30Focal child gets upset easily 29 45Focal child worries about things 24 33Focal child does things without thinking 10 33Focal child is aggressive 8 25a Data were weighted to adjust for the oversampling of mothers in the Glades and mothers screened “at risk.”b Mothers used a 3-point scale to rate their child’s behaviors: “almost never,” “sometimes,” and “almost all the time.”Table 18. Communication Skills of Focal Children at Year 5 aCommunication IndicatorFocal child…% Mothers b (N=310)“Almost All the Time”“Sometimes”If asked, can say his or her first and last name 81 8Refers to him or herself as “I” 73 18Uses appropriate social greetings 73 15Speaks clearly so strangers understand 71 22Is a good listener 64 29Waits his or her turn to talk 20 49aData were weighted to adjust for the oversampling of mothers in the Glades and mothers screened “at risk.”bMothers used a 3-point scale to rate their children’s behaviors: “almost never,” “sometimes,” and “almost all the time.”When asked how the focal children communicate, 70 percent of mothers reported that their children weretalking in long, complicated sentences (see Table 19). About a quarter said that their children speak inshort sentences, and very few (5%) reported that their children typically talk in two- or three-wordphrases. Of potential concern is the fact that 2 percent of the children reportedly are still using one-wordphrases to communicate, although this is lower than the 8 percent reported the previous year. As shown inChapin Hall at the University of Chicago 37