Physical Development: Pre-school children These children are developing their gross motor skills (their ability to use their large muscles). They are also developing their fine motor skills, such as learning how to tie their shoes. They need materials that help them develop these critical skills—large paper, large crayons, building blocks, etc.

A word on “handedness” About 90% of children prefer to use their right hand for writing and other high level skills. About 10% of children prefer their left hand for fine motor tasks. “Handedness” is genetic, not something that people choose. It is important to respect the child’s preference. Do not try to change a child’s “handedness.” Handedness develops during the pre-school years…

Physical Development: the elementary school years Children continue to develop their gross and fine motor skills during the elementary years. Girls will tend to be larger and more mature than boys at this age. There may be very large differences in the rate of maturation among children of this age.

Adolescence Puberty—the beginning of sexual maturity. Girls go through puberty, in general, earlier than boys. The changes that adolescents go through affect their whole identity. There are large differences in maturational rates of adolescents, yet this can strongly affect students: early maturing boys and late maturing girls face fewer social problems. Late maturing boys and early maturing girls have more potential difficulties. Adolescents tend to focus on body image. In today’s culture, this can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia (self- starvation) and bulimia (binge eating).

The Adolescent Brain Adolescents look like adults, but inside, they really are not. Their brains are in the process of maturing, so they are able to do more than younger children, particularly when they are not in a stressful situation. They tend to be emotionally intense and to need emotionally intense responses. They may have difficulty curbing their impulses (which can lead to risky behavior).

Adolescents and sleep Adolescents need about 9 hours of sleep a night but often have a hard time falling asleep early in the evening. This is especially a problem in districts where the high school day begins at 7:30 a.m.

Social Development Social development: the advances people make in their ability to interact and get along with others.

Peer relationships Number of friends Quality of friendships Balance & harmony in peer interactions Functioning in learning group Suggesting different group roles Accepting group roles offered by others Contributing ideas effectively Providing productive feedback to others in group Social Problem Solving Identifying factors that impeded group progress Offering alternative plans of action Accepting suggestions of others Perspective Taking Recognizing that people have different perspectives on issues Accepting different points of view Assessing Social Development:

Promoting Social Development: Instructional Strategies Model & instruct: Practice what you preach! Establish rules: Be consistent! Help students understand the rules! Practice & give feedback

Vocabulary Autono- mous morality Collective self-esteem Crisis Empathy External morality Identity Internalization Inter- personal harmony stage Law and order stage Market exchange stage Moral dilemma Personal develop- ment Perspective taking Proactive aggression Punish- ment- obedience stage Self-concept Self-esteem Self-worth Social conventions Social contract stage Social develop- ment Social problem solving Universal principles stage Puberty Anorexia nervosa BulimiaPsychosocial Develop- mental crisis Autonomy Initiative Industry Identity achievement Moratorium Identity foreclosure Identity diffusion Integrity Generativity Bioecological model Blended families Parenting styles Relational aggression Overt aggression Hostile aggression Instrumental aggression Nigrescence Racial and ethnic pride Theory of mind Morality of cooperation Moral realism Distributive justice Moral reasoning