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

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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
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6. 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

7. 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
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8. 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

9. 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”

10. 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
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11. In Your Opinion
What are the pros and cons of children participating in competitive sports?

12. 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”

13. 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

14. 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

15. The School Experience
The school experience becomes the major force in the lives of children and their parents
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16. 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

17. 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
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continued

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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
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23. 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
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24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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
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28. 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

29. Handling Uncooperative Behavior
School-age children often test family values against peer values
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30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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.

37. 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.

38. 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.

39. 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.