The school age child

• Age between 6 and 12 years • Focus on fact not fantasy• Major developmental task is forming positive self-esteem from

internal sources rather than from feedback form others• Changing from concrete thinking to abstract thinking• Developing sex characteristics• Accepting more responsibility

Biologic development

• Growth rate is slow until growth spurt of puberty• Average weight gain is 2.5-3.2kg per year• Average height gain is 5cm per year• At 6 years old average height is 116cm tall and 21 kg weight• At 12 years old average height is 150cm tall and 40 kg weight• Loss of primary teeth begins at about age 6; the lower central incisor

is normally the first to be lost/ 4 permanent teeth erupt per year

Maturation of systems

• Gastrointestinal tract is more mature and stomach capacity increases• Requires less caloric intake than the preschooler and the older child

snacks less• Preferences for specific foods develop• Risk for obesity especially with sedentary lifestyle.• BP increases between ages 6-12 years• More competent immune system• Bone ossification continues not complete? Care for posture and back

packs

Exercise and play

• Gross motor skills enhance ability to play independently as in bicycles, swimming, jump ropes, team play, musical instruments or dance.• Competitive play and use coping strategies to handle team

cooperation.• Need daily physical activity to build strength, endurance and

coordination, to slow risk for coronary risk factors and build the foundation of healthy lifestyle habits, build healthy body composition and bone mass and linked with academic achievement

Cognitive development

• Piaget:• Concrete thinkers• They think logically and understand rules, although they learn best when they

can see and handle objects, (Hands on learning most effective).

• Erikson: • Industry versus inferiority• A thirst for knowledge, skills, and emulate role models

• Decreased egocentricism, become more cooperative and begin to understand how their actions may affect other people (social cognition)

Moral development

• Development of moral reasoning: understand rules and determine if an action is right or wrong.• Kohlberg suggested that moral reasoning develops as cognitive

function matures (ability to think logically is related to moral behavior)

Cognitive styles

• A school age child has an attention span of 45 minutes to process information, encode it to memory and retrieve or remember it later.

Communication skills

• Can express themselves verbally, tell jokes that tease and express sarcasm

Psychosocial development

• Erikson and task of industry• Gain satisfaction from achieving even small goals• Praise is important• By age 11 children are usually able to maintain work and motivation

for a delayed reward

• Peer relationships: children begin to compare family values with the values of others• Friendship with same sex peers s important• Value their possessions, privacy and should be given responsibility of

managing chores and money.• Must form a socially acceptable group or they may find themselves

their own group - gangs

• Latchkey children:• Children left unsupervised after school

• Sexuality:• Freud: sexual latency, identify with the same sex parents