Developmental Milestones: 6-8 Years Old

Middle childhood brings many changes to a child's life. By this time, children can dress themselves, catch a ball more easily with only their hands, and tie their shoes. Developing independence from family becomes more important now. Events such as starting school bring children this age into regular contact with the larger world. Friendships become more and more important. Physical, social, and mental skills develop rapidly at this time. This is a critical time for children to develop confidence in all areas of life, such as through friends, schoolwork, and sports.

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
-may have gawky awkward appearance from long arms and
legs

MENTAL/COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

-Rapid development of mental skills.
-Greater ability to describe experiences and talk about thoughts and feelings.
-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/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

Parenting Tips:

a. Provide opportunities for active play. Throwing at targets, running,jumping rope, tumbling, and aerobics may be of interest.

b. Provide opportunities to develop an understanding of rules by playing simple table games: cards, dominoes, tic-tac-toe.

c. Provide opportunities for your child to do non-competitive team activities such as working a jigsaw puzzle or planting a garden.

d. Encourage your child's sense of accomplishment by providing opportunities to build models, cook, make crafts, practice music, or work with wood.

e. Encourage collections by allowing your child to make special storage boxes or books.

f. 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.

g. Help your child explore the world by taking field trips to museums, work places, and other neighborhoods

Your child is unique! Each child's learning and growth rates differ from other children the same age.

The developmental information provided in this bulletin has been combined from a variety of professional resources to help you understand your child's overall growth. It is not a standardized measurement tool.

DLSZ Senior Prep-H 06-07

bondocwr@zobel.dlsu.edu.ph