Middle Childhood“School Age Years”

Ages 6-12

Physical Development

• Not as rapid, but steady.

• Heredity and environment are factors.

• Gains in motor skills, agility, and physical strength.

Height• Boys are slightly taller at

the beginning, until age 9.• Growth spurts:

– Girls: 10 yrs.– Boys: 12 yrs.

• Average growth is 2-3 inches per year.

• By age 12, average 5 feet.– Boys: 80% adult height.– Girls: 90%

Weight

• Age 6, average child weighs approx. 47 pounds.

• By 12, this weight may double.• Gain about 5-7 pounds per year.• By age 12, girls usually weigh

about 3 pounds more than boys.

Large Motor Skills

• Gains in height and weight improve coordination.

• Greater speed and accuracy.

• Balance improves.

Large Motor Skills-boys

Boys usually outperform girls in • Jumping• Catching• Throwing• Batting

WHY?They have more muscle mass.

Large Motor Skills: Girls

Girls outperform boys in:• Hopscotch• Dancing• Skipping

WHY?They have better balance,

coordination, flexibility, and rhythmic movement.

Fine Motor Skills

Improvement in fine motor skills, including:

• Better finger dexterity• Better hand-eye coordination• Better control of motion and

speed.

Health Concerns

• One of the healthiest periods for children.WHY?

• Many develop chronic health conditions.– Acne– Vision or hearing problems– Obesity– Asthma– Tooth decay

Hearing

• Untreated hearing infections can cause permanent damage.

• Ear infections now less common.

Vision

• Many preschool children are farsighted; this improves during middle childhood.

• Nearsightedness is most common vision problem.– 25% of all children will need their

vision corrected by age 12.

Asthma

• Respiratory disorder that causes labored breathing, gasping, coughing, and wheezing.

• Often an allergic reaction.• Provoked by emotional stress,

exercise, or fatigue.What should the teacher do if a

student has an attack?

Teeth

• By 12, all 20 primary teeth will be replaced with permanent teeth.

• Between 4 and 8, more susceptible to tooth decay.

• Poor health and diets high in sugar.

What can a teacher do to help?

Obesity

• Weigh 20% more than others of same sex, age, and build.

• Become a common problem.• Research: overweight children

often become overweight adults.• Can impact emotional health.

Factors of Obesity

• Inherited• Environment• Physical inactivity:

– More t.v. watching– Video games– Computers

Language

• Vocabulary doubles between 6 and 12.

• Grammar skills improve.• Now use both oral and written

expression.• Cognitive development linked to

humor.

Reading

• Through a process of trial, feedback, and repetition, children begin to read simple words and sentences.

• The average child begins reading around 5-6.

• Most spend little time reading outside of school.

Parents influence their child’s reading ability in the following

ways:• Value they place on literacy• Emphasis placed on academic

achievement• Reading materials available at home.• Time spent reading with their children.• Opportunities they provide for verbal

interaction in the home.

Keep this in mind:

Children vary widely in their rate of

intellectual development.

Friendships

• Greater importance• Choosing friends is a more

selective process.• Qualities of a friend:

– shares important thoughts and feelings.

– Offers companionship and emotional support.

Self-Concept

• Begin to make social comparisons: the process of defining oneself in terms of qualities, skills, and attributes.

• Identify personal strengths and weaknesses.

• Formation of self-concept: view of self.

Self-Esteem

• Belief that you are worthwhile as a person.

• Need to believe in oneself to have a healthy self-esteem.

Self-Esteem is Based on:

• Academic competence• Athletic competence• Physical appearance• Behavior• Social acceptance

How can a teacher help build a child’s self-

esteem?• Be warm and nurturing• Avoid making comparisons.

Understanding Others

• Develop empathy: the ability to understand the feelings of others.

• Feel compassion: being aware of other’s distress and wanting to help them.

Peer Group Activities

• Play an important role in social development.

• Gender differences• Games with rules• Team sports

Benefits of Team Sports• Learn teamwork skills.• Learn to get along with peers.• Benefit from exercise.• Bring enjoyment.• Form friendships.• Helps to build self-esteem.• Develop pattern of healthy lifestyle,

Moral Development

• The process of acquiring the standards of behavior considered acceptable by society.

• Morality: understanding and using accepted rules and conduct when interacting with others.

• Learned by interacting with others.

Cognitive Development

• Begin to use logical thinking and symbols.

• No longer rely on just what they see or perceive.

• Memory improves.• Attention span is longer.• Academic abilities improve.

Factors of the Effectiveness of a Child’s Memory

• Age• Motivation

• Health• Attitude

How could each of these factors affect the child’s memory?

• Age

Memory becomes more controlled as the child gets older.

• Motivation & Attitude

Lack of motivation & bad attitude: Why

bother? Why do I need to learn this?

• Health?

Attention Improves

• Can now ignore unnecessary information.

• Able to focus attention on important aspects of a task.

• Can scan detailed tasks and decide what to do first.

Better Problem-Solvers

Example: Learn to use rehearsal to remember information.

What letter comes after G?

Mental Operations

There are significant changes in reasoning and thinking during middle childhood.

Remember Piaget’s cognitive development theory?

Sensorimotor Stage

Birth-2 yrs.

Learn through senses and manipulation of objects.

Preoperational StageAge 2-6 yrs.

• Begin to use symbols such as language to represent objects.

• Still learn from concrete evidence.• Unaware of another person’s

perspective.• Lacks important concepts learned

during next stage.

Concrete Operational Stage

Middle Childhood

• Begin to think logically.• Associations with personal

experiences.• Ability to learn new mental

concepts.

Operation: the manipulation of ideas based on logic rather than perception.

Concrete Operations: use logic based on what they have seen or experienced.

New Mental Concepts Learned

• Conservation• Seriation

• Classification

Conservation

• Understand that change in position or shape of a substance does not change the quantity.

• Includes properties of – Volume– Length– Weight/Mass

How could you test a child’s understanding of

conservation?• Volume:

– Two glasses of water

• Length:– Rows of pennies

• Mass:– Two balls of clay

Seriation

The ability to arrange items in an increasing or decreasing order

based on weight, volume, or size.

How could we test this?

Classification

• Ability to group objects by common attributes, such as size, color, shape, pattern, or function.

• Unlike preschool years, can now mentally handle two aspects at a time.

How could we test this?

Will all children reach the same stages at the same times?

Why is it important for teachers to know what level their students are in terms of their cognitive development?