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Kim Walker

Pediatric Development

September 9, 2011

School Age 6 to 12 years

Normal Development of School Age 6 to 12 years

Physical Development
The school age child is now bigger and more coordinated. Changes tend to be more gradual and steady with varying times of growth spurts followed by periods in which they grow slowly. During this stage, the legs grow longer in pro-portion to his body as body fat stays relatively stable giving a slimmer appearance. Growth and height will be influenced by heredity, with differences among children in a classroom ranging from four to five inches. On average, the height steadily increases a little over two inches a year in both boys and girls. Weight gain averages about six to seven pounds a year. Fluctuating eating habits may be due to normal slowgrowth periods, times of rapid growth and the picky-eater phase. Nutrition and a well-balanced diet is important for the normal growth process. Baby teeth will come out and permanent ones will come in often before the mouth has fully grown, causing dental crowding. Eyes reach maturity in both size and function. Children become stronger as muscle mass increases. Motor skills both strength and coordination improve. By age six, a child can bounce a ball four to six times, skate, ride a bicycle, skip with both feet, and dress self completely without help. While a seven-year-old may not be able to catch a fly ball, a ten-year-old probably can. A nine-year-old can build a model or learn to sew, most six-year-olds cannot. The childish appearance of face begins to disappear and hair may become a little darker. Breasts budding, the first sign of puberty in girls, starts at age ten on average, with some girls starting as early as eight and others not starting until thirteen. Boys enter puberty about one year later than girls. The first sign is

enlargement of the testes and a thinning and reddening of the scrotum, which happens at an average age of eleven but may occur anytime between nine to fourteen years.

Motor Development
Childrens motor skills become smoother and more coordinated than in early childhood, for example, they are able to master running, skipping, bicycle riding, and skating. Gross motor skills involve mastery of large muscle movements. Fine motor skills are those dealing with dexterity. Boys will usually outperform girls in gross motor skills, whereas girls typically perform better than boys in fine motor skills. As children get older they become more aware of their bodies, and more able to control their physical movements. Children are able to keep their attention longer, and have less distracting body movement.

Cognitive Development
Children enjoy having the opportunity to solve problems independently. Reading skills develope and improve. The child can name numbers and letters easily. As early as six years of age, children may be able to read single words and understand what they are reading. Later, they are able to read fluently and pronounce words correctly. Children now begin to think logically. They can make sense of what is happening around them. The ability to understand ideas and remember things improve. They can place objects in order, or sort and group them. They are able to follow more complex directions and rules, and solve some problems better.

Emotional Development
Self-esteem is a key factor in development throughout life. Children are self-conscious and feel as if everyone notices even small differences like a new haircut, facial hair, a hug from a parent in public. To win, lead, or to be first is valued. They try to be the boss and are unhappy if they lose. Childrens feelings get hurt easily. They have mood swings, and often, they dont know how to deal with failure. Common fears include the unknown, failure, death, family problems, and rejection. Around age six to eight, children may still be afraid of monsters and the dark. These are replaced later by fears of school or disaster and confusion over social relationships. Later, there are fewer angry outbursts and more ability to endure frustration while accepting delays in getting things they want.

Social Development
School age children are trying to find themselves and their place, in terms of gender, social status, and ethnic background. Morals have a great effect on a child becoming an individual. They are being taught morals from their families, school, and religious backgrounds. Children are trying to make sense of all the beliefs and make them their own. Children define themselves in terms of their appearance, possessions, and activities. There are signs of growing independence. Children are becoming more worldly, that they typically test their growing knowledge with back talk and rebellion. Friends may live in the same neighborhood and are most commonly the same sex. Children average five best friends and at least one enemy, who often changes from day to day. Children often resolve conflict through peer judges who accept

or reject their actions. Tattling is a common way to attract adult attention in the early years of middle childhood. Children often are attached to adults, a teacher, club leader, caregiver, someone other than their parents and will quote their new hero or try to please him or her to gain attention. Early in middle childhood, good and bad days are defined by a child as what is approved or disapproved by the family.

Observed Child Development of School Age 8 years

Physical Development
My child weighs 45 pounds and 52 inches tall. He is average height in his 3rd grade class. He is losing his baby features and looks very much like a young boy. His hair has started to darken. He has lost a total of four teeth thus far. His top two front teeth feel out first and then his bottom two middle teeth feel out. He has one loose tooth on the top and the four teeth that feel out have nearly grown in the entire way. His teeth are large for his mouth but crowding has not yet developed. He has 20/20 eye sight. He has not shown any signs of puberty.

Motor Development
My child is very active. He runs well, enjoys climbing trees, and going fishing. He can ride a dirt bike as well as jump the jumps on it with out crashing. My child can do flips on the trampoline. He is able to catch a football with ease and throw it far. His printing is not neat and hard to read. He is starting to learn to cursive write and that too is messy. He is not very good at drawing pictures and does not take much interest in crafts and art.

Cognitive Development
My child can use correct grammar and express his feelings by saying I am mad or happy. He can read fluently but has very little interest in reading. He gets good grades in school but has a low attention span and needs to put much effort in his school work. He likes to learn how to do new things with his dad. He is interested in the environment and sea animals. He concepts that not every child is the same and knows that people are different.

Emotional Development
My child gets his feelings hurt easy. He enjoys playing practical jokes on his brother and family but does not like them played on him. He gets frustrated angry and cries when he has to sit and do homework. He will say that he cant do it before he even tries. My child will try to point out what he can do better than his seven year old brother can do. He becomes very proud of himself with things such as, fishing, hunting, football, and dirt bike riding. He has developed a lot of confidence in being good at his hobbies and has very little confidence in his learning ability and can be very critical of his self. He still enjoys spending time with his mom and dad and brother. He enjoys family time and playing together with the family. My child thinks his dad is one of the greatest guy alive and wants to grow up to be just like him. My child is also still very protective of his seven year old brother and does not like other children being mean to him. He has a very close bond with his brother but also enjoys his time without his brother. He tends to try to decide when he wants to play and when he doesnt. Often he makes decisions based on whats most convenient and pleasing to his self.

Social Development
He does not have a strong preference to play with the same sex. He is more interested in playing things that he enjoys doing. My child doesnt care if a boy or girl plays with him as long as they play what he is interested in. He is very social and gets along well with others. He likes to be the boss of his brother and younger children. My child likes to do group things and enjoys being a part of a football team. He enjoys being competitive and tries hard to win. My child does not seem to have any secret clubs or codes. My child enjoys talking with adults and is very open about his opinions thoughts and feelings. He tries very hard to impress older children and adults.

Compare and Contrast Development Normal School Age and Observed Child 8 years
Every child's development is unique. Children develop through a sequence of steps differently and at different times. The widely-held expectations for what an average child might achieve within a given year greatly varies and is influenced by environment factors, experiences in their lives, their family values, as well as who they are raised around, siblings and many other factors. My child's unique development is average in comparison with a normal eight year olds. He is more advanced in areas such as his athletic abilities. He does not seem as advanced or interested as some children in his intellectual abilities. I feel my child seems more mature and understanding of others feelings and cause and effect of many situations. He is a loving understanding eight year old and compares to other eight year olds normally.

8 Conclusion
My child is very proud to help with this observation project. When I told him I was going to do a report on him for my nursing class he smiled with joy. He felt very important to help me with my school work and very interested in knowing how a normal eight year old grows and develops. He was very interested in spending time with me as well as expressing his understanding of how everyone is different and know two people really think completely the same. He also impressed me with his knowledge and understanding that what some people are good at, others may not be. He told me that he liked doing the report with me and that just because some people are better at some things than others, that does not make them better.