Middle

childhood
(The primary schooler)

Name: Sudani Bhavika Narshibhai

 Middle childhood
• Middle childhood is the stage where children undergo so many
different changes – physically, emotionally, socially and
cognitively.
• This is the stage between 6-12 years old.
• Children in this stage receive less attention than children in
infancy or early childhood.
• The support of the family and friends of child is very important
during this phase of development.
 Physical development of the primary pupil
Physical developments involves many different factors:
• Heights ,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
4. Being aware of safety habits.
 Height and Weight
• In this developmental stage, children will have
started their elementary grades, specially 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.
• In 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 ponds 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 disease/ 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 having 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 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 schooles
• 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.
Reversibility :
• One 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 milestone :
• Elementary – 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.
 Social – emotional development
• The development 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 or 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 self
• One’s self – concept is the knowledge about the self, such us beliefs
regarding personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities,
values, goals and roles.
• Having 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 years
• In the transition from pre – elementary to primary school,
children tend to become increasingly self – confident and able
to cope well with social interactions. The tissue 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 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 surrounding 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 :
– Expose the children to kid rich environment (e.g. playgrounds,park)
– Create a play ground in your class and let the children mingle with
their classmates.
– When your children hit other children , remind them that their
behavior hurts others.
– 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 efforts.
• They like receiving positive feedback from their parents and
teachers.
• This become a greater opportunity for parents and teachers to
encourage positive emotional responses from children by
acknowledge their mature, compassionate behaviors.