1. Chapter 26 Growth and Development of the School-Aged Child: 6 to 10 Years

2. Growth and Development of the School-Aged Child
Areas of dramatic change between 6 and 10 years
First day of school
Thinking process
Social skills
Activities
Attitudes
Use of language
Industry versus inferiority

3. Growth and Development of the School-Aged Child (cont.)
Health becomes community concern
Starting school
Physical examination
Immunizations
Usually healthy time of child’s life
Accidents still pose serious hazard

4. Physical Development Weight and height Growth is slow and steady
Gains 5 to 6 lb annually
Annual height increase about 2.5 in (6 cm)
Period ends in the preadolescent growth spurt
Changes in dentition
Starts to lose baby teeth at about 6 years
Eruption of permanent teeth

5. Physical Development (cont.)
Changes in skeletal growth (by 10 years of age)
Spine is straighter
Abdomen is flatter
Body is generally more slender and long-legged
Bone growth in long bones

6. Question Tell whether the following statement is true or false.
Erikson’s developmental task for this age group is industry versus inferiority.

7. Answer
True
Rationale: Erikson’s developmental task for this age group is industry versus inferiority.

8. Psychosocial Development
Displays a sense of duty and accomplishment
Engages in meaningful projects and sees them through to completion
Applies the energies earlier put into play to accomplishing tasks
Refines motor, cognitive, and social skills
Develops a positive sense of self

9. Psychosocial Development (cont.)
Not all children ready for this stage due to environmental deprivation
Unrealistic goals can cause problems later in life
When environmental support is adequate child should complete several personality development tasks at this age:
Developing coping mechanisms
Developing a sense of right and wrong
Accomplishing a feeling of self-esteem
Displaying ability to care for oneself

10. Psychosocial Development (cont.)
School age thought processes
7 years: Piaget’s concrete operational stage begins
Skills of conservation are significant
Each child is product of
Personal heredity
Environment
Cognitive ability
Physical health

11. Psychosocial Development (cont.)
Factors affecting self-confidence
Consistent rules
Positive attention
Clear expectations

12. Psychosocial Development (cont.)
Development from ages 6 to 7
Still employ magical thinking
Can sit still for short periods of time
Understands taking turns
Enjoys group activities
Begins to enjoy participating in real-life activities

13. Psychosocial Development (cont.)
Development from ages 7 to 10
Questions parental standards as ultimate authority
Becomes more impressed by behavior of peers
Increasingly interested in group activities
Moves from preoperational, egocentric thinking to concrete, operational, decentered thought

14. Psychosocial Development (cont.)
Development from ages 7 to 10 (cont.)
Concepts displayed by the 7- to 10-year-old child
Decentration
Being able to see several aspects of a problem at the same time and to understand the relation of various parts to the whole situation
Cause-and-effect relations become clear
Magical thinking begins to disappear

15. Psychosocial Development (cont.)
Development from ages 7 to 10 (cont.)
Concepts displayed by the 7- to 10-year-old child (cont.)
Reversibility
Conservation of continuous quantity
The ability to think in either direction
Classification
Ability to group objects into a hierarchical arrangement
Collections

16. Question
A school-age child aged 7 to 10 years moves from preoperational, egocentric thinking to what?
a. Concrete, operational, centered thought
b. Concrete, operational, decentered thought
c. Cognitive, operational, centered thought
d. Cognitive, operational, decentered thought

17. b. Concrete, operational, decentered thought
Answer
b. Concrete, operational, decentered thought
Rationale: Important changes occur in a child’s thinking processes at about age 7 when there is movement from preoperational, egocentric thinking to concrete, operational, decentered thought.

18. Nutrition
As coordination improves, the child becomes increasingly active
Requires more food to supply necessary energy
Nutritional needs of school-aged children should be met by choosing foods from all food groups
Increased appetite and a tendency to go on food “jags” are typical
Offer choices
Supervise snacking habits

19. Nutrition (cont.) Obesity can be a concern Causes
Genetic, environmental, or sedentary lifestyle factors
Interventions
Appropriate physical activity
Limiting fat intake
Positive caregiver support

20. Nutrition (cont.) Health teaching at school Reinforce proper diet
Old enough to be partially responsible for packing own lunch

21. Health Promotion and Maintenance
Routine checkups
Annual physicals
Booster of tetanus–diphtheria vaccine every 10 years throughout life
Visit to the dentist at least twice a year
10 to 11 years: First examination for scoliosis
Vision and hearing screening

22. Health Promotion and Maintenance (cont.)
Family teaching
Proper dental hygiene
Exercise and sufficient rest
Health education
Caregivers should teach child about
Basic hygiene
Sexual functioning
Substance abuse
Accident prevention
School should include same topics in curriculum

23. Health Promotion and Maintenance (cont.)
Health education (cont.)
Sex education
Includes
Helping children develop positive attitudes about their own bodies
Their own sex
Their own sexual role to achieve optimum satisfaction in being a boy or a girl

24. Health Promotion and Maintenance (cont.)
Health education (cont.)
Sex education (cont.)
At various places in curriculum
Covers different topics in different school systems
Caregivers may want to use printed materials
Teach about HIV

25. Health Promotion and Maintenance (cont.)
Health education (cont.)
Substance abuse education
“Just say no” programs
Teach unhealthy aspects of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use
Children may experiment with inhalants
May contain deliriants
Can cause death

26. Health Promotion and Maintenance (cont.)
Health education (cont.)
Substance abuse education (cont.)
Family caregivers should
Teach family’s values
Teach difference between right and wrong
Set and enforce rules for acceptable behavior
Learn facts about drugs and alcohol
Actively listen to the children in the family

27. Health Promotion and Maintenance (cont.)
Accident prevention
Children must learn safety rules and practice them until they are routine
Children should know
Their full name
Caregivers’ names
Home address
Telephone number
How to call 911

28. Question
Health promotion and maintenance is important in this age group. What is one topic that is important for the caregiver to teach the child?
a. Positive body image
b. How to use the stove
c. How to call the health care provider
d. Basic hygiene

29. Answer
d. Basic hygiene
Rationale: Caregivers have a responsibility to teach the child about basic hygiene, sexual functioning, substance abuse, and accident prevention.

30. The School-Aged Child in the Health Care Facility
More accepting of experience than younger children
These children have changing concepts of
Birth
Death
The human body
Health and illness

31. The School-Aged Child in the Health Care Facility (cont.)
Anxious about looking different than others in their age
May be uncomfortable with nurse of the opposite sex
Inform families and children of rules as part of admission process

32. Nursing Care for the School-Aged Child in a Health Care Facility
Explain all procedures to children and their families
Show equipment and material to be used
Outline realistic expectations of procedures and treatments
Answer children’s questions truthfully
Give children an opportunity to verbalize anxieties
Respect desire for privacy