School- Age

School-age - commonly refers to children between the ages of 6 and 12.

KEY TERMS:
 Accommodation - the ability to adapt thought processes to fit what is perceived such as understanding that there can be more than one reason for other people‟s
actions.
 Caries - are progressive, destructive lesions or decalcification of the tooth enamel and dentin.
 Class Inclusion - the ability to understand that objects can belong to more than one classification.
 Conservation - the ability to appreciate that a change in shape does not necessarily mean a change in size.
 Decentering - the ability to project oneself into other people‟s situations and see the world from their viewpoint rather than focusing only on their own view.
 Inclusion – is characterized by a feeling of belonging, not by mere proximity; is children of all abilities learning, playing, and working together.
 Latchkey Children - are schoolchildren who are without adult supervision for part of each weekday.
 Malocclusion - the eruption of permanent teeth and growth of the jaw do not correlate with final head growth.
 Nocturnal Emissions - as seminal fluid is produced, boys begin to notice ejaculation during sleep

DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES
 DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES

NURSING IMPLICATIONS
FREUD’S PSYCHOSEXUAL THEORY Help children have positive experiences with learning so their self- esteem continues to
Latent Stage: Child‟s personality development appears to be nonactive or dormant. grow and they can prepare for the conflicts of adolescence.

ERIKSON’S PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY Provide opportunities such as allowing child to assemble and complete a short project
Developmental task is to form a sense of Industry vs Inferiority. Child learns to do so that child feels rewarded for accomplishment.
things well.
PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
The period from 5 to 7 years of age is a transitional stage where children undergo a Concrete operations includes systematic reasoning. Uses memory to learn broad
shift from the preoperational thought they used as preschoolers to concrete operational concepts and subgroups of concepts. Child is aware of reversibility. Understands
thought or the ability to reason through any problem they can actually visualize (Piaget, conservation.
1969). Children can use concrete operational thought because they learn several new Good activity for this period: collecting and classifying natural objects such as native
concepts, such as: plants, sea shells, etc. Expose child to other viewpoints by asking questions such as,
 Decentering, the ability to project oneself into other people‟s situations and see the „‟How do you think you‟d feel if you were a nurse and had to tell a boy to stay in bed?‟‟
world from their viewpoint rather than focusing only on their own view.
 Accommodation, the ability to adapt thought processes to fit what is perceived
such as understanding that there can be more than one reason for other people‟s
actions.
 Conservation, the ability to appreciate that a change in shape does not necessarily
mean a change in size.
 Class inclusion, the ability to understand that objects can belong to more than one
classification.

KOHLBERG’S STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

School- age child enter a stage of moral development termed conventional
development, a level at which many adults continue to function.
 Young school-age children adhere to a phase of development termed the “nice
girl, nice boy” stage.
 Later in the school-age period, as children learn about community resources
they become aware of maintenance of social order, fixed rules, and
authority. Child finds following rules satisfying. Follows rules of authority figures
as well as parents in an effort to keep the „‟system‟‟ working.
 Child enjoys helping others because this is „‟nice‟‟ behaviour. Allow child to help
with bed making and other like activities. Praise for desired behaviour such as
sharing.
 Child often asks what are the rules and is something „‟right‟‟. May have difficulty
modifying a procedure because one method may not be „‟right‟‟. Follows self-
care measures only if someone is there to enforce them.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES:
SULLIVAN’S INTERPERSONAL MODEL OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
Juvenile (6-9 years) Child forms fulfilling peer relationships
FOWLER’S STAGES OF FAITH
Stage 2: Mythical-literal faith Accepts existence of deity; Religious and moral beliefs
are symbolized by stories; appreciates others‟
viewpoints; Accepts concept of reciprocal fairness
COMMON HEALTH PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL -AGE PERIOD
 Dental Caries
 Malocclusion
CONCERNS AND PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL -AGE PERIOD
One of the most important disorders of the school-age period is attention-
deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) because it interferes so dramatically with
school progress.
 Problems Associated With Language Development
The common speech problem of the preschool years is broken fluency; the
most common problem of a school-age child is articulation. The child
has difficulty pronouncing s, z, th, l, r, and w or substitutes w for r (“westroom”
instead of “restroom”) or r for l (“radies‟ room” instead of “ladies‟ room”).
 Common Fears and Anxieties of a School-Age Child
 Anxiety Related to Beginning School
 School Refusal or Phobia
School refusal is fear of attending school. It is a type of “social phobia”
similar to agoraphobia (fear of going outside the home).
 Home Schooling
 Latchkey Children
Latchkey children are schoolchildren who are without adult supervision for part of
each weekday. The term alludes to the fact they generally carry a key so they
can let themselves into their home after school.
 Sex Education
It is important that school-age children be educated about pubertal changes and
responsible sexual practices so they are well prepared for these.
 Stealing
Stealing occurs because, although a child is gaining an appreciation for money,
this appreciation is not yet balanced by strong moral principles.
 Violence or Terrorism
Children basically view their world as safe, so it is a shock when violence such as
a school shooting or reports of terrorists enter their lives.
 Bullying
A frequent reason school-age children cite for feeling so unhappy that they turn
guns on classmates is that they were ridiculed or bullied to the point they could
no longer take such abuse.
 Recreational Drug Use
Once considered a college or high school problem, illegal drugs such as
marijuana are now available to children as early as elementary school and
certainly by the time they reach the seventh and eighth grades
 Children of Alcoholic Parents
As many as one in five children live with an alcoholic parent. Such children are at
greater risk for having emotional problems than are others because of the
frequent disruption in their lives. Alcoholism may have a genetic cause, so
children of alcoholics may be more likely to become alcoholics. They also can
learn poor coping behavior.
 Obesity
As many as 50% of school-age children are obese by body mass index
guidelines for ideal weight. Some of these children have been overweight since
infancy; their prepubertal natural weight gain makes them obese. Children with
an endomorphic build (a natural tendency to accumulate body fat) are more likely
to be obese at any time of life than those with a mesomorphic (normal) or
ectomorphic (slender) build.