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Ages & Stages 6-8 years old Your school-ager is now ready for a steady pace of growing and
learning, one in which real life tasks and activities overtake pretend and
fantasy. Equipped with a longer attention span, your child also is ready to
delve into projects, solve problems, and resolve arguments!
Physical
development: • skilled at using scissors
and small tools • shows development of permanent teeth • enjoys testing muscle
strength and skills • has good sense of balance • can tie shoelaces • enjoys copying designs and shapes, letters and numbers
Mental
development • may reverse printed letters
(b/d) • enjoys planning and building • doubles speaking and
listening vocabularies • may show a stronger interest
in reading • increases problem-solving
ability • has longer attention span • enjoys creating elaborate
collections • shows ability to learn
difference between left and right • can begin to understand time and the days of the week Social
and emotional development •being with friends becomes increasingly important • shows interest in rules and rituals • wants to play more with
similar friends—girls with girls, boys with boys • may have a “best” friend and “enemy” • shows strong desire to
perform well, do things right • begins to see things from
another child’s point of view, but
still very self-centered • finds criticism or failure
difficult to handle • views things as black and
white, right or wrong, wonderful or terrible, with very little
middle ground • seeks a sense of security in groups, organized play, and clubs • generally enjoys caring for
and playing with younger children • may become upset when
behavior or schoolwork is ignored
Ideas for Parents • Provide opportunities for
active play. Throwing at targets, running, jumping rope, tumbling, and
aerobics may be of interest. • Provide opportunities to develop
an understanding of rules by playing simple table games: cards, dominoes, tic-tac-toe. • Provide opportunities for
your child to do noncompetitive team activities such as working a jigsaw
puzzle or planting a garden. • Encourage your child’s sense
of accomplishment by providing opportunities to build models, cook, make
crafts, practice music, or work with wood. • Encourage collections by
allowing your child to make special storage boxes or books. • Encourage reading and
writing by encouraging your child to produce stories with scripts, create
music for plays and puppet shows, produce a newspaper, record events, go on
field trips, or conduct experiments. • Help your child explore the
world by taking field trips to museums, work places, and other neighborhoods.
Books for parents Parent’s Guide for the Best Books for
Children, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen
So Kids Will Talk, Adele Faber and Elizabeth Mazlish Caring for Your School-age Child: Ages 5
to 12,
Books for children A Chair for My Mother, Vera Williams Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No
Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst Anna Banana and Me, Lenore Blegvard Everybody Needs A Rock, Byrd Baylor The The Kid Next Door and Other Headaches:
Stories About Adam Joshua, Janice Lee
Smith Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder Ramona, |
Ages & Stage 9-11 years old Friendships and accomplishments
are important to older children. Secret codes, made-up languages, and
passwords are used to strengthen the bonds of friendship. Be prepared to use
all your “patience” skills as your child may tend to think that he or she
does not need adult care or supervision. Physical
development: Girls: • are generally as much as 2
years ahead of boys in physical maturity • may begin to menstruate Boys and girls: • have increased body strength
and hand dexterity • show improved coordination
and reaction time • may begin to grow rapidly at
the end of this age period Mental
development • shows interest in reading
fictional stories, magazines, and how-to project books • may develop special interest
in collections or hobbies • fantasizes and daydreams
about the future • enjoys planning and
organizing tasks • becomes more product and
goal oriented • has great ideas and
intentions, but difficulty following
through • enjoys games with more complex rules Social and
emotional development • begins to see that parents
and authority figures can make mistakes and are not always right • often likes rituals, rules,
secret codes, and made-up languages • enjoys being a member of a
club • has increased interest in
competitive sports • has better control of anger • may belittle or defy adult
authority • shows interest in opposite sex by teasing, joking,
showing off • prefers spending more time
with friends than with parents • may sometimes be verbally
cruel to classmates with harsh “put downs” and snide remarks • tends to see things as right or wrong, with no room for
difference of opinion Ideas for
Parents • Provide opportunities for
older school-agers to help out with real skills.
Cooking, sewing, and designing dramatic play props are useful ways to use
their skills. • Provide time and space for
an older child to be alone. Time to read, daydream, or do school work
uninterrupted will be appreciated. • Encourage your child to make
a call to a school friend. • Encourage your child to
participate in an organized club or youth group. Many groups encourage skill
development with projects or activities that can be worked on at home. • Encourage your older child
to help with a younger one but avoid burdening older children with too many
adult responsibilities. Allow time for play and relaxation. • Provide opportunities for
older children to play games of strategy. Checkers, chess, and Monopoly are
favorites. • Remember to provide plenty
of food. Older children have larger appetites than younger children and will
need to eat more.
Books for parents Parent’s Guide for the
Best Books for Children, How to Talk So Kids Will
Listen and Listen So Kids Will
Talk, Adele Faber and Elizabeth Mazlish Caring for Your
School-age Child: Ages 5 to 12,
Books for children Are You There God? It’s
Me, Margaret, Judy Blume Chocolate Fever, Robert Kimmel Smith How It Feels to Be
Adopted, Jill Krementz How To Eat Fried The Indian in the
Cupboard, Lynn Banks Nothing’s Fair in Fifth
Grade, Barthe DeClements The Ramona’s World, Beverly Cleary Tales of a Fourth Grade
Nothing, Judy Blume |
