PRESCHOOLER,PRIMARY & INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLERS

PRESCHOOLERS,PRIMARY AND INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLERS

PHYSICAL,COGNITIVE AND PSYCHO-SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Marcelo

Early Childhood

The Preschooler

PYHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of this Module, you should be able to: 1. describe preschool children's physical growth. 2. identify the different gross and fine motor skills. 3. draw implications of these concepts on physical development on teaching preschoolers.

Big Ideas about the Physical Development of Preschoolers

1. There are significant changes in physical growth of preschoolers. 2. The preschoolers' physical development is marked by the acquisition of gross and fine motor skills. 3. Preschoolers can express themselves artistically at a very early age. 4. Proper nutrition and the right amount of sleep are very important for the preschoolers. 5. Caregivers and teachers can do a lot in maximizing the growth and development of preschoolers. 6. Preschoolers with special needs in inclusive classrooms can thrive well with the appropriate adaptations made in the classroom, materials and activities.

Significant Changes in Physical Growth

• Physical growth increases in the preschool years, although it is much slower in pace than in infancy and toddlerhood. At around 3 years of age, preschoolers move, from the remaining baby-like features of the toddler, toward a more slender appearance of a child

.

• . The preschooler moves from the unsteady stance of toddlerhood to a more steady bearing. They no longer "toddle," that wobbly way that toddlers walk. This also allows the preschooler to move more "successfully" than the toddler

Gross and Fine Motor Development

Gross motor development refers to acquiring skills that involve the large muscles.These gross motor skills are categorized into three: locomotor, non-locomotor, and manipulative skills.

Non-locomotor

Locomotor

Manipulative skills

1. walking
2. running
3. climbing
4. skipping
5. hopping
6. creeping
7. galloping
8. dodging

1. ,bending
2. stretching
3. turning,
4. swaying

1. throwing
2. striking
3. bouncing
4. catching
5. dribbling.

Fine motor development

refers to acquiring the ability to use the smaller muscles in the arm, hands, and fingers purposefully. Some of the skills included here are picking, squeezing, pounding, and opening things, holding, and using a writing implement. It also involves self-help skills like using the spoon and fork when eating, buttoning, zipping, combing and brushing.

Preschoolers' Artistic Development

Viktor Lowenfeld studied this and came up with the stages of drawing in early childhood:

Stage 1. Scribbling stage

Stage 2. Preschematic stage

Stage 3. Schematic stage

A Quick Look at What Preschoolers Can Do: (physical skills)

1. Gross Motor: 36-48 months • Hops 1 to 3 steps on preferred foot

3. Personal Care and Hygiene (Self-Help Skills) 36-48 months & 49-60 months • Pours from pitcher without spillage

2. Fine-motor Skills: 36-48 Months 49-60 months • Purposefully copies diagonal lines

The Role of Caregivers in the Growth and Development of the Preschooler

For all preschoolers:a. Engage preschool children in simple games that involve running and walking. b. Provide them with toys for catching and throwing such as soft large balls and bean bags. c. Have balancing activities for preschoolers. Use low balance beams and lines on the classroom floor or playground. Montessori schools have blue or red lines on their preschool classroom floors. d. Allow opportunities for rough and tumble play like in a grassy area or soft mats. Keen observation and monitoring is, of course expected to keep them safe from injury. e. Ensure that preschoolers get enough rest and sleep. Setting a routine for bedtime is ideal. f. Model good eating habits to preschoolers. Encourage more fruits, vegetables, water and fresh juices, rather than processed foods, sugary snacks and sodas.

For four-year-olds

For three-year-old

g. Encourage development of hand-eye coordination by providing large buttons or old beads to string on a shoelace. h. Play ball. i. Show children how to hop like a rabbit, tiptoe like a bird, waddle like a duck, slither like a snake, and run like a deer. j. Encourage free expression in art projects. k. Provide a variety of art experiences.

l. Encourage physical development. Play follow the leader. Pretend to walk like various animals. m. Set up an obstacle course indoors with challenges such as crawling, climbing, leaping, balancing, and running across stepping stones. n. Encourage walking with a beanbag on the head.

For five-year-olds

o. Encourage body coordination and sense of balance by playing "Follow the Leader" with skipping, galloping, and hopping. Skip or jump rope to music, teach folk dances and games, provide a balance beam, a tree for climbing, and a knotted rope suspended from a sturdy frame.p. Teach sack-walking and "twist-em," "statue," or "freeze" to provide an outlet for their drive for physical activity. q. Play games that can teach right and left directions, like "Hokey. Pokey," "Looby-Loo," and "Simon Says."r. Help children learn to use a pair of scissors by letting them cut out coupons.

Cognitive Development of the Preschoolers

Preschoolers' Symbolic and Intuitive Thinking

Two substages of Piaget's preoperational thought

symbolic substage

intuitive substage

preschool children show progress in their cognitive abilities by being able to draw objects that are not present, by their dramatic increase in their language and make-believe play

preschool children begin to use primitive reasoning and ask a litany of questions. The development in their language ability facilitates their endless asking of questions.

Brain Connections in the Preschool Years

From science lessons you had in high school or even in elementary, you will remember that our brain is composed of numerous cells called neurons that connect to each other to function. Cell connections are what we call synapses, sometimes also referred to as synaptic connections. Did you know that:

• the human brain contains some 50 billion neurons at birth?
• by age 2, children have developed half of the brain cell connections that, will be made during one's lifetime?
• around 6 years of age the brain develops for more sophisticated thinking patterns?

Language Development

Symbolic thinking involves language, literacy and dramatic play. Children rapidly conclude that sounds link together to make words and words represent ideas, people, and things. Throughout the pre- school years, children's language development becomes increasingly complex in the four main areas: 1.Phonology (speech sounds) 2.Semantics (word meaning) 3.Syntax (sentence construction)4.Pragmatics (conversation or social uses of language).

Language and Social Interaction

Vygotsky believed that young children use language both to communicate socially and to plan, guide, and monitor their behavior self-regulatory fashion - called inner speech or private speech (Santrock, 2002).For Piaget, private speech is egocentric and immature, but for Vygotsky it is an important tool of thought during early childhood. Full cognitive development requires social interaction and language. Children must use language to communicate with others before they can focus on their own thoughts.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

to refer to tasks too difficult for a child to master alone but can be mastered with the guidance and assistance of adults or more skilled children. Closely linked to the idea of ZPD in cognitive and language development is the concept of scaffolding, a term that refers to the "changing support over the course of a teaching session, with the more skilled person adjusting guidance to fit the child's current performance level". The more skilled person is also called More Knowledgeable Other (MKO).

Information Processing Theory-Attention and Memory

The Information Processing model. This model conceptualizes children's mental processes through the metaphor of a computer processing, encoding, storing, and decoding data. The preschoolers' attention span lasts longer than that of toddlers. The child's ability to pay attention changes significantly during the preschool years Rehearsal and organizing information are deliberate mental activities that can be employed to improve the processing of information. Young children typically, however, do not use rehearsal and organization.

The Young Children's Theory of Mind

As their representation of the world and ability to remember and solve problems improve, children start to reflect on their own thought processes. They begin to construct or a theory of mind or a set of ideas about mental activities . This develops markedly between the ages of three and five. It includes

• awareness of one's own thought processes
• social cognition
• understanding that people can hold false beliefs, ability to deceive
• ability to distinguish appearance from reality and
• ability to distinguish fantasy from reality

Receptive Language

Standards 1: The child is able to understand both verbal and nor verbal forms of communication. 31-36 months: 3-4 years old • Speaks in simple sentences • Talks about an event and is understood   37-48 months • Uses some prepositions • Uses plurals • Uses past tense • Uses newly learned words appropriately in sentences • Uses newly learned words appropriately when in group conversations 49-60 months: 4-5 years old • Draws and tells a story about his drawing

Pre-Reading and Pre-Math (Matching)

Standards 1.1: The child is able to match identical objects, colors, shapes, symbols.31-36 months: 2-1/2 to 3 years old • Matches identical objects with 2 attributes (e.g., color & shape) • Matches identical upper case letters • Matches identical lower case letters 37-48 months: 3-4 years old • Copies simple patterns with 2 or more attributes (e.g, color, shape, sequence) and continues this without guidance • Recognizes familiar logos (e.g., McDonald's, Coke, etc.) • Recognizes signs (e.g., male & female restrooms; stop and go; danger/poison, etc.) • Matches identical 2-to 4-letter words • Matches identical single-digit numbers • Matches identical 2-digit numbers

Pre-Reading and Pre-Math (Copying Letters and Numbers)

Standards 1.2: The child is able to recite the alphabet and numbers in sequence. 37-48 months: 3-4 years old • Prints upper-case letters with a model with some reversals 49-60 months: 4-5 years old • Prints complete name without model • Prints upper case letters with a model with no reversals • Prints lower case letters with a model with some reversals • Prints numbers 1-5 with a model with some reversals 61-71 months: 5-6 years old • Prints upper case letters without a model and with no reversals • Prints lower case letters without a model and with no reversals • Prints numbers 1-5 without a model and with no reversals

Domain: Cognitive Development

Attention and Activity Level

Standards 1: The child is able to sustain attention and modulate his activity at age-expected levels. 31-36 months: 2-1/2 to 3 years old • Completes simple tasks without prodding 37-48 months: 3-4 years old • May be distracted but re-focuses on his/her own • Remains settled while leafing through a picture book for 5 minutes • Remains settled while listening to a story using picture books for 5 minutes • Sustains attention and concentration on a tabletop activity for 10 minutes • Can work on a school assignment with minimal supervision

Higher-Ordered Mental Abilities (Concept Formation)

Standards 1: The child develops basic concepts pertaining to object constancy, space, time, quantity, seriation, etc and uses these as the basis for understanding how materials are categorized in his/her environment. 31-36 months: 2-1/2 to 3 years old • Knows the difference between a recent event and one that happened a long time ago • Counts with one-to-one correspondence • Arranges objects by length • Arranges objects according to size • Can tell in what way 2 things are the same • Can tell in what way 2 things are different

Higher-Ordered Mental Abilities (Cause and Effect Relationships)

Standards 1: The child is able to understand the cause-effect relationships. 31-36 months: 2-1/2 to 3 years old • Can complete a simple pattern (e.g., beads, pictures, shapes) with occasional guidance 37-48 months: 3-4 years old • Understands reasons behind rules and practices in school • Understands reasons behind rules and practices in the community, like those pertaining to sanitation, environmental preservation, etc.

Memory: (Episodic Memory)

Standards 1: The child is able to recall people he has met, events, places he has been to 31-36 months: 2-1/2 to 3 years old • Talks about things that happened during a particular event that occurred some time back

Memory: (Memory for Concept-Based Knowledge-Semantic Memory)

Standards 1: The child is able to store verbal information in short and long-term memory. 37-48 months: 3-4 years old • Repeats 5- to 7-word sentences correctly • Memorizes the lyrics of a short song • Memorizes a short rhyme • Remembers the gist and many details of stories told or read

Higher-Ordered Mental Abilities (Logical Reasoning)

Standards 1: The child is able to follow the logic of events (i.e., reasons why these happen) and draw accurate conclusion by evaluating the facts presented to him. 31-36 months: 2-1/2 to 3 years old • Can complete a simple pattern (e.g., beads, pictures, shapes) with occasional guidance

Higher-Ordered Mental Abilities (Planning and Organizing)

Standards 1: The child is able to plan and organize a simple, familiar activity. 31-36 months: 2-1/2 to 3 years old • Can plan how he/she will carry out an activity with adult guidance (e.g., eating, household chores and putting structure in activities) • Has almost everything he/she needs before starting activity

Higher-Ordered Mental Abilities (Creative Thought)

Standards 1: The child is able to generate new ideas or concepts, or new associations between existing ideas or concepts. 31-36 months: 2-1/2 to 3 years old • Pretends to be engaged in "grown up" activities (e.g., playing office) • Pretends to be a character in a familiar story • Creates new words or names for people or objects

Higher-Ordered Mental Abilities (Cognitive Flexibility)

Standards 1: The child is able to shift to more adaptive cognitive processing strategies in order to effectively deal with new and unexpected conditions in his/her environment, including problem situations. 37-48 months: 2-1/2 to 3 years old • Modifies actions based on new experiences (e.g., change block structure that falls) • Explores alternative solutions to a problem and selects one option • Is able to shift activities without much fuss • Is able to know when the topic of conversation has changed and adjust accordingly

Socio-Emotional Development of the Preschooler

Banan

Learning Objectives• Explain Erikson’s “crisis” of early childhood, initiative versus guilt. • Explain the development of the preschoolers sense of self and self-esteem. • Discuss how children develop gender identity. • Describe the stages of play and how it impacts socio-emotional development. • Discuss the different caregiving styles and their effect on pre-schoolers. • Describe how significant relationships with parents, siblings and peers affect the prescholers.

Socio-emotional development

refers to a child’s ability to create and sustain meaningful relationships with adults and other children.

Big Ideas on Preschoolers’ Socio-emotional Development

1. The development of initiative is crucial to the preschooler. 2. A healthy self-concept is needed for preschoolers to interact with others. 3. Environmental factors influence gender identity in young children. 4. Preschoolers social development is shown through the stages of play. 5. The care-giving styles of parents and teachers affect the preschoolers socio emotional development. 6. Preschoolers are interested in building friendship.

Preschoolers Initiative

Preschoolers Initiative Erikson’s view of initiative aptly portrays the emotional and social changes that happen during the preschool years.

Judicious PermissivenessInvolves setting realistic boundaries, that keep preschoolers safe and respectful of self and others, while allowing them greater opportunity to explore, take risks and to engage in creative processes.

Initiative vs Guilt

Initiative leads to a sense of purpose and can help develop leadership skills; failure results in gulit.

Self-Concept and the Preschooler

Preschooler comes out with a clear sense that they are separate and distinct person. Self-Concept Refers to the way one sees himself, in a general view about one abilities, strengths and weaknesses.

Environmental Factors and Gender in the Preschoolers Socio-Emotional Development

The preschoolers ability in creating schemas develop, is they are capable in gender typing, in the process of forming gender roles, gender-based preferences and behaviors that accepted by society. • Gender Typing and Gender Identifying are influenced by environmental factors such as family,teachers, peers and the mass media.

Friendships in Preschool

Parten’s Stages of Play

According to Kostelnik (2010) Preschoolers should be encourage in developing friendship by providing stimulation, assistance, companionship, social comparison and affection.

Mildred Parten (1930) did a study on children’s play behavior that led to Parten’s Stage of Play. In her study the stages describe the play development of children and the gradual increase of social interaction as they go through in these stages.

Caregiving Styles

Caregiving Style affect the socio-emotional development of the children. • Baumrind made a model that describes the different type of caregiving styles. Baumrind identifies the varying degrees of demandingness and responsiveness as the determinants of four styles of caregiving. • Marlon (2007) expound the determining factors.

Responsiveness refers to caregiver behaviors that pertain to expression of affection and communication. Demandingness refers to the level of control and expectations.

Baumrind’s Caregiving Style

Permissive Low demandingness/ High responsiveness

Authoritative High demandingness/ High responsiveness

Negligent low demandingness/ low responsiveness

Authoritarian High demandingness/Low responsiveness

• AuthoritativeAuthoritative parents are nurturing, supportive and often in tune with their childrens needs. • Permissive Permissive parent are more likely to take on a friendship role, rather than a parenting role, with their kids. • Authoritarian describe as dictatorial and overbearing. • Negligent Refers to the uninvolved parenting.

The Role of Caregivers in the Socio-emotional Development of the Preschoolers

7. Help children understand and cope with strong feelings by giving them words that they can use to express how they feel. 8. Use dolls, puppets or pictures to demonstrate to children how to express feelings appropriately. 9. Acknowledge how the child feels. 10. Catch children doing good. 11. For teachers, develop routines that encourage working together and getting along.

1. Greet each child with his or her names each day. 2. Read storybooks that deal about friendship and different feelings. 3. Develop routines in the home or school that encourage working together and getting alone. 4. Help children learn to make rules and play simple games by providing opportunities for them to play in small groups. 5. Play games that involve social interaction and team work 6. Observe how a child plays with other children.

Physical Development of Primary Schoolers

Physical development Refers to the advancement and refinement of motor skills Bones and Muscles • Childhood years are the peak bone-producing years-bones grow longer and broader. • Replacement of primary teeth also know as baby teeth, with permanent teeth. • Large muscle control is bigger play over fine motor.

Motor Development Refers to the physical growth and strengthening of a child’s bones muscles and ability to move and touch his/her surroundings. • Young school aged children are gaining control over the major muscles of their bodies. Two types of hand movement • Unimanual use one hand to do a task • Bi-manual requiring the use of two hands to do a task

Motor development skills

• Coordination • Balance • Speed • Agility • Power

Coordination is a series of movements organized and timed to occur in a particular way to bring about a particular resultBalance is a child ability to maintain the equilibrium or stability of the body in different positions. Static Balance is the ability to maintain equilibrium in a fixed position. Dynamic Balance ability to maintain equilibrium while moving. Speed ability to cover a great distance in a shortest possible time. Agility abilty to quickly change the direction of the body. Power is the ability to perform a maximum effort in the shortest possible period.

Some Issues Affecting Physical Development

• Obesity is a complex disease that can occur when child is above a healthy weight for ther age and height. • Childhood Nutrition Malnutrition remains a major health issue in Philippines • Sleep Primary school age children need 9 to 11 hours of sleep every day. Sometimes due to their schedule in school,midday naps or siesta is not possible.

Implications to Child Care, Education and Parenting

Two Major ways to help primary school age children to be physically healthy 1. Provide them with good nutrition 2. Involve them in coordinated and age appropriate physical activities.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY SCHOOLERS

Reynales

Jean piaget is the foremost theorist piaget described the four main periods and according to piaget intellectual ability is not the same at different stages. Jean Piaget's Concrete Operational Stage - During this time they have a better understanding of their thinking skills

REVERSIBILITY

LOGIC

2 types of logic

• Inductive logic
• Dedictive logic

Awareness that action can be reversed

COGNITIVE MILESTONE

This stage when they leave behind egocentric thinkingand start mature way

INFORMATION PROCESSING SKILL

The human mind is a system that can process info.

SOCIO EMOTIONAL DEV OF PRIMARY SCHOOLERS:

Reynales

Erik eriksons fourth stage of psychosocial development

This stage of psychosocial crisis that children will have to resolve. *2 types of stage*

1. INDUSTRY AND
2. INFERIORITY

SELF CONTROL

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Begin to take pride in their ability to do things and their capacity to exert effort.

It is the knowledge about self

SCHOOL YEARS

Children tend to become increasingly self confident with social interaction

BUILDING FRIENDSHIP

Making friends is a crucial but very important part of childrens social and emotional growth.

ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Forming their own world views and other children may seem like curiosity that they need to explore.

Late childhood (the intermediate schooler)

TENORIO

Late childhood is generally defined as ages 9 through 12. Others may call this stages as preteens. Physical changes during this stage are fairly unpredictable among children in this age group.The study of gradual changes happening in children at this stage, especially with their increasing familiarity with schoolwork and other possible activities provide them with a greater opportunity to develop their motor skill functioning. Intermediate schoolers have more control over their bodies than they have when they were in primary school. Children in their late childhood stage always seem to be in a hurry. This may also be the stage when puberty may begin.

Early Puberty on the average, girls are generally as much as two (2) years ahead of boys in terms of physical maturity, although these developments may be determined by how close a child is to puberty. Puberty's changes start when the brain triggers the production of sex hormones.

Height, Weight and Muscle Development

During late childhood, a child's weight on average, may be 2.3 to 3.2 kilograms per year. Weight increase was mainly due to the increase in size of skeletal and muscular systems as well as several organs. An average of 2 1/2 inches in height and an average of an inch in head circumference each year. Children during this stage may experience growth spurts sudden boosts in height and weight, which are usually accompanied by increase in appetite a d food intake. Many of the bodily structures like the liver, muscles, skeletons, kidneys and face follow a normal curve of development for both girls and boys. Increase in body fats also occurs in preparation for the growth that occurs during adolescence. The body fat increase occurs earlier in girls and is greater in quantity. Girls appear to be "chubby" while boys tend to have more lean body mass per inch of height than girls.

Motor skills

During this stage, movements on the muscles and bones become more coordinated. At age of 10 or 11 years, most children will have learned to play sports like swimming, basketball, volleyball and running. Although a significant increase in physical activity may occur in this stage, children in their late hood is far from being physically mature. From the age of 8, children show greater coordination in writing. Their fine motor skills develop gradually which may be evidenced by the size of the letters and numbers.

Insecurities

At this stage, children may become very concerned about their physical appearance. Girls especially, may become concerned about their weight and decide to eat less. Boys become aware of their stature and muscle size and strength. Since this stage can bring about insecurities, parents and teachers must be very conscious about their dealings with these children. Appropriate activities must be designed so that children will be guided into the right direction. Children must be given opportunities to engage themselves in worthwhile activities that:

• promote healthy growth.
• give them a feeling of accomplishment, and
• reduce the risk of certain diseases.

Implications to child-care, education and parenting

During this stage, children are more physically active however, they still have a lot of physical maturity to undergo. Here are some points to consider for health-care providers, teachers and parents.

• Provide ample opportunities at home and in school for physical exercises and sports.
• Encourage children to participate in varied worthwhile activities until they are able to discover the ones, they are interested in.
• Develop a strong emotional attachment with your children to address any insecurities and social concern.
• Since children in this stage have more control over their eating habits, provide them with healthier food choices.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLERS

TONEZA

Initial Cognitive Characteristics

Intermediate school children greatly enjoy the cognitive abilities that during their primary years. Their school work are now more complicated, they can now utilize more effectively as compared to their thinking skills reading texts have become longer, problem solving has become an everyday part of their lives.

Reading Development

Children in this stage, is marked by a wide application of word attack. Because of the presence of previous knowledge, they now have a wide vocabulary which enables them to understand the meanings of unknown words through context clues this is the "Reading to Learn" Stage in reading development. They are no longer into the fairy tales and magic type of stories but are more interested in longer and more complex reading materials (e.g. fiction books and series books).

- Consider who the child is his or her personality traits and - Personal preferences when choosing a book. - Make a selection with the child in mind; choose an - Informational book or a novel in an area of specific interest. - Choose books that encourage discussion and insight-building.

Attention

Older children have longer and more flexible attention span compared children. Their span of attention is dependent on how much is required by the given task. In terms of school work, older children can concentrate and focus more for long periods of hours especially if they are highly interested in what they are doing.

"CREATIVITY is not the finding of a thing, but making something out of it after it is found." - James Russell Lowell

CREATIVITY

Children at this stage are open to explore new things. Creativity is innate in children, they just need a little guidance and support from parents, teachers and people around them. They are usually at their best when the work is done in small pieces. Creativity in children is encouraged when the activities: - encourage different responses from each child; - celebrate uniqueness; - break stereotypes; - value process over product; - reduce stress and anxiety in children; - support to share ideas, not only with the teacher / parent but also with other children; and - Minimize competition and external rewards.

"Television viewing is a highly complex, cognitive activity during which children are actively involved in learning." (Anderson and Collins, 1988)

THE IMPACT OF MEDIA

The dream of having a television unit in every classroom started in the 1950's. It was considered as one of the first technological advancements in schools. The impact of the use of television and other media like the computer has gained popularity because students are given more opportunity to: - communicate effectively in speech and in writing; - work collaboratively; - use technological tools; - analyze problems, set goals, and formulate strategies for - achieving those goals; and - seek out information or skills on their own, as needed, to - Meet their goals.

Media and Aggression

Violence and aggression are often dubbed as one of the results of media. According to the Public Health Summit in 2000, the following are some of the negative results of media:

• Children will increase anti-social and aggressive behavior.
• Children may become less sensitive to violence and those who suffer from violence.
• Children may view the world as violent and mean, becoming more fearful of being a victim of violence.
• Children will desire to see more violence in entertainment and real life.

• Children will view violence as an acceptable way to settle conflicts.

Implications to Child Care, Education and Parenting

Children have varying intelligence profiles. These profiles may be based on influences on learning and achievement. Parents, child-care providers and teachers should be able to recognize these through:

• being an eager participant in children's growth and development;
• understanding how to use the children's natural curiosity to help make the appropriate developmental leaps in their skills and abilities; and
• creating an atmosphere where risks can be taken and discoveries made while children remain safe.

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Understanding Self-Competence, Self-Identity and Self-Concept

One of the most widely recognized characteristics of this period of development is the acquisition of feelings of self-competence. This is what Erik Erikson referred to when he described the developmental task of Middle childhood - the social crisis industry versus inferiority. Industry refers to the drive to acquire new skills and do meaningful "work." The child should have a growing sense of competence. The child's definitions of self and accomplishment vary greatly according to interpretations in the surrounding environment. Varied opportunities must be provided in order for children to develop a sense of perseverance. They should be offered chances to both fail and succeed, along with sincere feedback and support.

During late childhood, children can now describe themselves with internal and psychological characteristics and traits. They most likely employ more social comparison - distinguishing themselves from others. In dealing with other children, they show increase in perspective taking. This ability increases with age. It enables them to (a) judge others' intentions, purposes and actions, (b) give importance to social attitudes and behaviors and (c) increase skepticism of others' claims.

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The same with other areas of development, children in this stage, show improved emotional understanding, increased understanding that more than one emotion can be experienced in a single experience. They may also show greater ability to show or conceal emotions, utilize ways to redirect feelings and a capacity for genuine empathy. Intelligence has four main areas: • Developing emotional self-awareness • Managing emotions (self-control) • Reading emotions (perspective taking) • Handling emotions (resolve problems)

Building Friendships

There are five types of peer status: • Popular - frequently nominated as the best friend and one who is rarely disliked by peers • Average - receive an average number of positive and negative nominations from peers • Neglected - very seldom nominated as best friend but is not really disliked • Rejected - infrequently nominated as a best friend but one who is also disliked by peers. • Controversial - frequently nominated as a best friend but at the same time is disliked by peers.

As children go through their late childhood, the time they spend in peer interaction increases. For them, good peer relationships are very important. The approval and belongingness they receive contributes to the stability and security of their emotional development. Peer size also increases and less supervision by adults is required. At this stage, children prefer to belong to same-sex peer groups.

Popular children have the following skills which peers find very positive and as a result they become the most favored in the group: 1. They give out reinforcement. 2. They act naturally. 3. They listen carefully and keep open communication. 4. They are happy and are in control of their negative emotions. 5. They show enthusiasm and concern for others.

• On the other hand, here are the characteristics of neglected children

and why the group or majority of the peers develop negative feelings toward them:1. They participate less in the classroom. 2. They have negative attitudes on school tardiness and attendance. 3. They are more often reported as being lonely. 4. They are aggressive. a. In boys: - They become impulsive, have problems in being attentive and disruptive. - They are emotionally reactive and slow to calm down. - They have fewer social skills to make and maintain friends

FAMILY

BIG IDEAS

• During late childhood, a wide variety of biological, psychological and social changes take place across the developmental domains. • As children progress through late childhood, the family environment remains extremely important, while the community environment - including the school - also becomes a significant factor in shaping the child's development. • During late childhood, peers have an increasingly strong impact on development; peer acceptance becomes very important to well-being.

Family support at this stage is crucial. If children do not find a supportive family when they find their interest (e.g. in hobbies like riding a bike or playing a musical instrument) they can easily get frustrated

Implications to Child Care, Education and Parenting

Primary school children's socio-emotional competency should be viewed in the context of the child's developmental age. Health-care providers, teachers and parents should be able to: • gain understanding of their child's socio-emotional strengths and weaknesses by • Encouraging children to talk about their feelings without doing it forcefully • provide opportunities for children to build relationships with teachers and fellow classmates; • remind children that friendships have their ups and downs and that occasional conflicts and arguments can be healthy; • Design activities that allow children to work on their own and discover activities and hobbies that they enjoy; and • Model healthy relationships.

Thanks!