Parents and Their School-Age Children Chapter 16 Parents and Their School-Age Children

Key Terms gender-role identification puberty classification seriation conservation reversibility creativity work ethic phobias self-care children conformity

Physical Development During the school-age years (between 6 and 12 years of age), children develop a more adultlike body structure and refine their gross- and fine-motor skills

Physical Growth Boys and girls grow about 2–3 inches taller and around 5–7 pounds heavier each year By the time they are 12 years old, children are about 5 feet tall, weighing about 80 pounds Boys begin their growth spurt about 2 years after girls, who begin the growth spurt (on average) at 10 ½ years of age

Gross-Motor Skills After about age 9, children’s coordination improves and their movements become smoother Children like sports, and by about 9 or 10 years of age, children begin narrowing their interests morgueFile Credit: tallesin

Fine-Motor Skills Fine motor skills greatly improve in the school years, especially if children have a supply of small construction toys, art, and craft or writing materials Boys’ fine-motor skills often lag behind those of same-age girls because of differences in brain maturity

Healthy Sexuality Development Because male and female roles are continually changing, children may experience some confusion with gender-role identification Children begin this process by imitating adults The gender roles parents portray at home greatly influence school-age children continued

Healthy Sexuality Development Children begin to think about how babies are made Parents of children in the early school years may give them simple responses Parents of children in the later school years may elaborate more and tie sex information into what children need to know about puberty

Eating Learning to make healthful food choices is a concern of parents of school-agers School breakfast/lunch programs meet up to one-half of children’s daily food needs Factors that contribute to obesity include family lifestyles, stress, eating out, too many “treats”

Sleeping School-age children need 9 ½–11 hours of sleep each night Sleep deprivation in these years may be primarily due to media, homework demands, and social activities morgueFile Credit: elinluna

In Your Opinion What are the pros and cons of children participating in competitive sports?

Intellectual Development School-age children face a variety of challenges in school They develop basic literacy skills in reading, writing, arithmetic, and computers As children develop these basic skills along with creativity, they “learn how to learn”

Piaget and School-Age Intellectual Development School-age children enter Piaget’s concrete operation stage The concepts children learn include classification, seriation, conservation, reversibility, and the fact that various perspectives exist

Learning How to Learn As school-age children become more logical, they “learn how to learn” or process information Learning how to learn involves forming a knowledge base or long-term memory A person’s short-term or working memory is not usually part of the knowledge base

The School Experience The school experience becomes the major force in the lives of children and their parents morgueFile Credit: lynette

Mastering Basic Skills A major challenge for school-agers is learning basic literacy skills, including reading, such as through a phonics or whole-word approach writing, such as manuscript writing or cursive arithmetic computer literacy

The Role of the Parent Parents can encourage learning by sharing children’s excitement about learning and helping them adjust to school taking children to the library, museums, and other places for enrichment activities getting involved with the children’s home projects or playing games that teach skills morgueFile Credit: Nesstor4u2 continued

The Role of the Parent Parents can also become school partners by providing a home environment that supports learning communicating with school personnel about educational decisions volunteering their services at school joining school organizations or boards

Language Development By age 12, most children have about 40,000 words in their vocabulary They add about 20 more words to their vocabulary each day Once children realize other people have viewpoints that differ from their own, they master persuasive communication in attempt to win others over

Social and Emotional Development The school-age years are important for learning how to handle frustration, anger, disappointment, and stress more easily Children may vent their frustrations at home because they are expected to maintain composure at school or with friends

Children’s Friendships During the school years, peer groups go from having limited influence (in the early years) to being most important (upper-elementary school grades) There are changes in peer interactions in the school-age years Peer groups serve many roles, such as friendships and transmitting knowledge

Siblings and Verbal Conflicts School-age children can better view the needs and wants of siblings because they are less egocentric Opposite-gender siblings compete less School-age children rarely have conflict between much younger siblings morgueFile Credit: CarolinaJG

Finding a Balanced View of Self By age 8, children can evaluate their skills and abilities Children can also blend positive and negative qualities and rate their overall feelings of self-worth morgueFile Credit: Irish_Eyes

Emotions: Anxiety and Frustration School-age children are trying to meet the expectations of parents, teachers, and peers This may make them feel anxious or frustrated at times About 5% of school-age children experience phobias, or extreme fears, that interfere with their normal functioning

Parenting Concerns and Tasks Parents of school-age children play a role in their children’s socialization with peers and the school must closely watch their child’s progress and respond with encouragement and needed help

Medical Checkups for School-Age Children It is recommended that school-age children have medical checkups at ages 6, 8, 10, and 12 Most schools require children to have certain immunizations and complete health exams before school starts and again if they participate in sports Regular dental visits are also important

Adjusting to School-Age Children’s Needs Parents play an important role in empowering their children to cope with experiences that lie beyond the parent’s direct control When parents have high expectations and are warm and nurturing, children tend to be more securely attached and respond positively to school challenges continued

Adjusting to School-Age Children’s Needs Parents will have concerns about their children and certain peer behaviors involving conformity and acceptance among peers Children who are accepted by peers are friendly, outgoing, and low in anxiety If they are not accepted by peers, parents need to consider this issue seriously

Handling Uncooperative Behavior School-age children often test family values against peer values morgueFile Credit: Gracey continued

Handling Uncooperative Behavior Parents can limit uncooperative behaviors by explaining the reasons for the family choice, such as safety or the child’s happiness encouraging participation in healthy activities with approved peers using fair discipline or having family-decision making sessions

Teaching Children to Deal with Stress Learning to deal with stress in the school-age years sets the stage for how children will handle stress as adults Children can experience positive and negative stress Parents should watch for signs of serious stress in their children and help their children to cope or get the help they need

Making Family-Life Adjustments Monitoring and guiding children from a distance can be difficult for parents Parents need to teach children to be safe All children need to be taught safety for walking to and from school and avoiding kidnapping and predator abuse Self-care children must be taught safety for being home alone after school

Special Family Times Special family times most reported by school-age children include family vacations Children state that when on vacation they talk and eat with their families more and argue less

Parenting in the School-Age Years Parents of school-age children enter the interpretive stage of parenting according to Ellen Galinsky Parents interpret authority figures, such as teachers or youth leaders, to their children As children make decisions, parents monitor them and offer feedback

Final Thought Every child, to be educationally successful, needs a language-rich environment, one in which adults speak well, listen attentively, and read aloud every day. ~ Ernest L. Boyer

Glossary of Key Terms Back classification. The process of putting a person, object, or event in a group or category according to one or more common characteristics. conformity. To be similar in manner, character, and conduct. conservation. The understanding that certain properties remain the same even if they change in appearance.

Glossary of Key Terms Back creativity. Producing a new or original idea, product, or process. gender-role identification. Behaving in ways consistent with gender and cultural rules. phobias. Extreme fears out of proportion to the threat. puberty. The process through which the body becomes capable of reproduction.

Glossary of Key Terms Back reversibility. The principle that any process done on an object can be undone—in actuality or through mental thought—to restore it to its original form. self-care children. Children who meet their own needs after school until their parents return home.

Glossary of Key Terms Back seriation. The ability to arrange items in a logical order, such as short to long, long to short, light to dark colors, or more to less. work ethic. Notions that involve standards for work conduct that guide responsibilities and careers.