1. An Overview of the Areas of Child Development
Seven to Sixteen Years

2. Five Areas Of Development
Physical
Cognitive
Language
Emotional / Social

3. Aged 7 – 11 years AGE 7 to 11 years PHYSICAL COGNITIVE LANGUAGE
SOCIAL / EMOTIONAL
Ability to run, jump, catch and throw will improve
Be able to tell the time
Will know the different tenses (past, present and future) and be able to use correct tenses in sentences
Likes rituals, rules, secrets, codes, and made-up languages
Skating, skipping and bike riding are typical skills gained
Have some understanding of money
Will like to tell jokes and riddles
Enjoys being a member of a club
Increased skills allow for team sports and similar activities
Read to themselves
Enjoy reading a book on their own
May form more complex friendships
Girls are generally as much as 2 years ahead of boys in physical maturity
Start to plan ahead
Comprehension and use of language becomes more sophisticated
May have increased interests in competitive sports
Boys may show greater strength and muscle development than girls.
Increased logical reasoning using concrete examples
May share his/her opinions often
Has better control of anger
Flexibility, balance, agility and force will all improve during these years as gross motor skills further develop
Increased awareness of memory and learning strategies
May pick up on words that peers use. Could begin to learn new language without understanding the meaning
Prefers spending more time with friends than with parents
Increased muscle strength and developments in the brain contribute to better fine motor skills.
Achievement and consolidation of academic skills, such as reading, writing, and computing
May experience more peer pressure
May face more academic challenges at school

4. Aged 11 – 16 years AGE 5 to 7 years PHYSICAL COGNITIVE LANGUAGE
SOCIAL / EMOTIONAL
A time of rapid growth in height and weight
Ability to make decisions based on knowledge of options and their consequences
30,000 words in vocabulary
Increased concern about body image, looks, and clothes
Complete puberty and the physical transition from childhood to adulthood
Continue to be influenced by peers (the power of peer pressure lessens after early adolescence)
Word meanings are abstract
Can be self absorbed
Reach nearly their adult height, especially females (Males continue to grow taller into their early twenties)
Build skills to become self-sufficient
Use very complex grammatical structures
More interested in and influenced by peer group
Growth in body parts may occur out of sync with each other. For example, the nose, arms, and legs may grow faster than the rest of the body.
Respond to media messages but develop increasing ability to analyse those messages
Able to clarify opinions in conversations
Less affectionate, sometimes moody, rude or short-tempered
Develop increasingly mature relationships with friends and family
Anxiety from more challenging school work
Seek increased power over their own lives
May experiment with risky behaviors and adult roles
May start to learn to drive, increasing their independence
Conflict is common as they begin to reject adult values and ideas