Middle Childhood(The Primary Schooler)

Middle childhood is the stage when children undergo so many different changes – physically, emotionally, socially and cognitively.

This is the stage between 6 to 12 years old. Children in this stage receive less attention than children in infancy or early childhood. The support of the family and friends of the child is very important during this phase of development.

Physical Development of the Primary Pupil

Physical development involves many different factors: height, weight, appearance, visual, hearing and motor abilities. Primary school children undergo many different changes as they go through this stage of development. This could be caused by different factors; both natural and environmental.

Physical growth during the primary school years is slow but steady. During this stage, physical developments involves :

1. Having good muscle control and coordination,2. developing eye-hand coordination,3. having good personal hygiene and4. being aware of safety habits.

HEIGHT and WEIGHT

In this development stage, children will have started their elementary grades, specifically their primary years – Grades 1 to 3.

This period of gradual and steady growth will give children time to get used of the changes in their bodies. An average increase in height of a little over 2 inches a year in both boys and girls will introduce them to many different activities that they can now do with greater accuracy.

Weight gain averages about 6.5 pounds a year. Most children will have slimmer appearance compared to their preschool years because of the shifts in accumulation and location of their body fats. A child’s legs are longer and more proportioned to the body than they were before.

A number of factors could indicate how much a child grows, or how much changes in the body will take place: genes, food, climate, exercise, medical conditions and diseases / illness.

BONES and MUSCLES

Childhood years are the peak bone-producing years. This is the best time to teach of good dietary and exercise habits to help them have strong, healthy bones throughout their lives. Many lifestyle factors, like nutrition and physical activities, can substantially influence the increase of bone mass during childhood.

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Young school-aged children are gaining control over the major muscles of their bodies. Most children have a good sense of balance. They like testing their muscle strength and skills.

Children in this stage love to move a lot – they run, skip, hop, jump, tumble, roll and dance. Because their gross motor skills are already developed, they can now perform activities like catching a ball with one hand, tying their shoelaces, they can manage zippers and buttons.

Performing unimanual (require the use of one hand) and bi-manual (require the use of two hands) activities becomes easier. Children’s graphic activities such as writing and drawing, are now more controlled but are still developing. They can print their names and copy simple designs, letters and shapes. They hold pencils, crayons, utensils correctly with supervision. Motor development skills include coordination, balance, speed, agility and power.

Coordination- is a series of movements organized and timed to occur in a particular way to bring about a particular result. Children develop eye-hand and eye-foot coordination when they play games and sports.

Balance- is the child’s ability to maintain the equilibrium or stability of his/her body in different positions.

Static balance- is the ability to maintain equilibrium in a fixed position, like balancing on one foot.

Dynamic balance- is the ability to maintain equilibrium while moving.

Speed- is the ability to cover a great distance in the shortest possible time.

Agility- is one’s ability to quickly change or shift the direction of the body.

Power- is the ability to perform a maximum effort in the shortest possible time.

All this skills are vital in performing different activities, games and sports. Development of these skills may spell the difference between success and failure in the future endeavor of a child.

Cognitive Development of Primary Schoolers

Jean Piaget is the foremost theorist when it comes to cognitive development. According to him, intelligence is the basic mechanism of ensuring balance in the relations between the person and the environment. Everything that a person experiences is a continuous process of assimilation and accommodations.

Jean Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage

Concrete Operation is the third stage of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. It spans from 7 to approximately 11 years, children have better understanding of their thinking skills.• Logic

Concrete operational thinkers, according to Piaget, can already make use of inductive logic. Inductive logic involves thinking from specific experience to a general principles. But at this age, children have great difficulties in using deductive logic or using a general principle to determine the outcome of specific event.

• ReversibilityOne of the most important developments in this stage is

an understanding of reversibility, or awareness that can action can be reversed.Example:

Teacher: Jacob, do you have a brother?Jacob: Yes.Teacher: What is his name?Jacob: Marjun.Teacher: Does Marjun have a brother?Jacob: Yes.

Cognitive MilestoneElementary-aged children encounter developmental

milestone. The skills they learn are in a sequential manner, meaning they need to understand numbers before they can perform a mathematical equation. Up until age 8, a child learn new skills at a rapid pace.

Specifically, young primary school-aged children can tell left from right. They are able to speak and express themselves develops rapidly. By six, most can read words or combinations of words.

Information Processing Skills

Several theorist argue that like a computer, a human mind is a system that can process information through the application of logical rules and strategies. They also believe that the mind receives information, performs operations to change its form and content, stores and locates it and generate responses from it.

Socio-emotional DevelopmentThe developmental theorist, Erik Erikson, formulated

eight stages of man’s psychological development . Each stage is regarded as a ‘’psychological crisis’’ which arise and demands resolution before the next stage could be achieved.

Preschool children belong to the fourth stage of Erikson’s psychological stage. Children have to resolve the issue on Industry vs. Inferiority.

Erik Erikson’s Fourth Stage of Psychosocial Development

Industry vs. inferiority is the psychosocial crisis that children will have to resolve in this stage. Industry refers to a child’s involvement in situations where long, patient work is demanded to them, while inferiority is the feeling created when a child gets a feeling of failure when they cannot finish or master their school work.

In this stage, children, will most likely, have begun going to school. School experiences become priority, with children so busy doing school work.

• Understanding the SelfOne’s self-concept is the knowledge about the self,

such us beliefs regarding personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities, values, goals and roles.

Having a self-concept does not mean that a child thinks he is better than others. It means that he like himself, feels accepted by his family and friends and believes that he can do well.

Primary school children’s self-concept is influenced not only by their parents, but also with the growing number of people they begin to interact with, including teachers and classmates. Children have a growing understanding of their place in the world.

• School YearsIn the transition from pre-elementary to primary

school, children tend to become increasingly self-confident and able to cope well with social interactions. The issues of fairness and equality become important to them as they learn to care for people who are not part of their families. Building Friendships

Making friends is a crucial but very important of children’s social and emotional growth.

Children, during this stage, most likely belong to a peer group.

Peer groups are characterized by children who belong approximately to the same age group and social economic status.

Primary school children prefer to belong to a peer groups of the same gender. Many children use their surroundings to observe and mingle with other children. Some will see this as an opportunity to make friends while others remain a bit of loner.

• Antisocial Behavior

When children poke, pull, hit or kick other children when they are first introduced, it is fairly normal. Children at this age are still forming their own world views and other children may seem like a curiosity that they need to explore. Parents and teachers can help children make friends. We can consider the following:

o Expose the children to kid rich environments (e.g. playgrounds, park)

o Create a play group in your class and let the children mingle with their classmates.

o When your children hit other children, remind them that their behavior hurts others.

o Coordinate with the parents and other teachers so that the children will have greater opportunity to interact with other children.

• Self-control

Once children reach school age, they begin to take pride in their ability to do things and capacity to exert effort. They like receiving positive feedback from their parents and teachers. This become a great opportunity for parents and teachers to encourage positive emotional responses from children by acknowledging their mature, compassionate behaviors.

ALMA BELLA AGUA