Child Development in the School Years: Physical, Cognitive, and Emotional Growth
Child Development in the School Years
Physical Development
During the school years, children experience a period of steady physical growth. This is a relatively calm period before the rapid growth spurt of adolescence. Body proportions change, with adjustments in head diameter, waist circumference, and lower leg length relative to overall height. Between the ages of 10 and 11, most children develop the physical skills necessary to participate in activities like tennis, running, climbing, swimming, biking, and skating. Ample daily physical activity is crucial for skill development. Fine motor skills also improve due to increased neuronal myelination.
Milestones
- 6 years: Hammering, fastening, tying shoelaces.
- 7 years: Smaller handwriting, preference for thin pencils.
- 8-10 years: Writing with small, regular, and interconnected letters. Using hands independently.
- 10-12 years: Controlling complex, intricate, and rapid movements, such as playing a musical instrument.
Cognitive Development
Children enter the stage of concrete operational thinking. They can now perform mental actions that were previously carried out physically. These mental actions are reversible. Key principles include:
- Conservation of matter: Understanding that matter remains the same despite changes in its physical appearance.
- Serialization: Arranging objects according to a quantitative dimension.
- Transitivity: Logically combining relationships to draw conclusions (e.g., relationships between A, B, and C).
Information Processing
Knowledge of a topic enhances memory activation and organization. Mental imagery and information processing are trainable strategies for improving memorization. Critical thinking, which involves evaluating evidence and considering new ideas, can also be developed. Metacognition, the awareness of one’s own cognitive processes, emerges during this stage.
Moral Development (Kohlberg)
- Pre-conventional Level:
- Stage 1: Heteronomous morality.
- Stage 2: Individualism, instrumental purpose.
- Conventional Level (Stage 2 begins during the school years): Individuals pursue their own interests but also consider the interests of others (reciprocity).
Children demonstrate increased awareness of details and improved selective attention. They utilize memory strategies such as organization, categorization, and rehearsal. Metamemory, the understanding of how memory strategies work, also develops.
Language Development
By age 7, children inhibit simple associative responses and can group items into categories. They understand and use comparative and subjunctive tenses, complex grammatical structures, and create definitions. They engage in descriptive, narrative, and explanatory discourse. Ideally, children should learn to read using both global and phonetic methods.
Emotional Development
The self-concept develops, encompassing internal states and personal characteristics. Self-esteem, the evaluation of these characteristics, also emerges. According to Erikson, children face the psychosocial crisis of industry vs. inferiority. Parental and social influences play a significant role in whether children develop a sense of productivity or inferiority. Freud describes this period as the latency stage, a time of relative calm in psychosexual development. Children develop a more nuanced understanding of complex emotions like pride and shame, and they become better at regulating their emotions.
As children spend more time outside the home, the influence of peers becomes increasingly important. Family remains the primary source of affection and support, but children gradually transition towards greater autonomy. Friendships provide companionship, activity stimulation, social comparison, intimacy, and affection. Birth order and sibling relationships also contribute to individual development.