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Middle Childhood Development, Example, Middle children, spanning from 6 to…
Middle Childhood Development
Physical Development
Growth and Health
Importance of Good Health Habits
Children are old enough to understand the reasons for
eating well, brushing their teeth,
and visiting the
dentist and doctor.
They are not yet as influenced by the desire for independence that comes with puberty.
Lowest Death Rate
The date rate for 6-to-10-year-olds is the lowest of any age group.
In the United States, only
1 in 10,000
children in this age range dies.
This rate is one-third less than that of younger or older children.
Physical Activity
Benefits
The benefits of physical activity, especially games with rules, extend throughout a lifetime.
Need for Caution (Injury prevention).
Self-organized games among young children are less likely to cause serious injury.
Adults sometimes involve children in sports that require child-size protective equipment like helmets and mitts.
Organizations have developed guidelines to prevent concussions in sports like football for 7- and 8-years-olds and to limit full-body impact in ice hockey for children under 12.
Cooperation
Playing with other children teaches cooperation, self-control, and emotion regulation.
Concussions before age 25 are unlikely to show damage immediately but are a cause of neurocognitive disorders in late adulthood.
The Need for Movement
Cultural Influences
Netherlands (biking culture)
Some cities forbid for cars.
Most children walk or bike to school.
84% of the population over age 4 own bikes.
However, the longitudinal research in the Netherlands and 37 other nations find that children are less active than they were, probably because screen time undercuts for active play.
Physical Excersice in Japan
The opposite sentiment is evident in Japan, where people believe that physical activity promotes learning and character development.
Many Japanese public schools have
Swimming pools
Indoor gyms
Outdoor yards with structure for climbing, swinging, and so on.
Children are scheduled with over an hour of recess (in several segments) over a long day, in addition to gym classes.
Japanese culture emphasizes exercise for everyone lifelong. Japanese children score high on international tests of achievement, and Japanese people live longer than people in any other nation. Of course, there are many other cultural differences between Japan and the United States: Correlation is not causation, but every study commends families that are active together.
Parent-Child Interaction
Parents can have a major impact on children's activity, for good or ill, and children's exercise can affect their parents.
An important cohort change may be at work here
Because family size is smaller, parents may be more engaged in their children's sports activities than they were a few decades ago when families had more children.
Motor Skills
Gross Motor Skills (coordination, team games)
Child in this age group show remarkable imporovement in coordination, balance, and overall body control.
This development enables them to participate effectively in team games with rules, which becomes an important part of their physical and social development.
Games like soccer, basketball, and kickball require them to coordinate their movements with following rules and cooperating teammates.
Some key developments in gross skills during this period include
Improved balance and coordination
Better running, jumping, and throwing abilities.
Increased strength and endurance.
Ability to combine multiple movements smoothly.
Growing capacity to participate in organized sports.
Fine Motor Skills (writing, drawing)
Fine motor skills also develop significantly during middle childhood.
Children's handwriting becomes more controlled and legible, and they can draw with greater precision and detail.
These improvements are crucial for academic success, as writing becomes an increasingly important part of their school experience.
Fine motor development during these stage includes
Better handwriting abilities.
More precise drawing and coloring.
Improved ability to use tooks like scissors.
Enhanced hand eye-coordination.
Greater dexterity for activites like tying shoelaces.
During middle childhood (ages 6-10), children develop and refine both their gross and fine motor skills significantly.
Health Challenges
During middle childhood, certain chronic conditions can worsen, leading to unwanted attention for the affected child. Minor differences like wearing glasses, repeated cough, or birthmarks can affect a child's self-esteem. Teasing and ridicule are often initiated by popular children, intensifying the pain.
Childhood Obesity
Childhood obesity is defined as a BMI about the 95th percentile for children of a particular age, while overweight is defined as a BMI above the 85th percentile (based on data from 50 years ago).
Prevalence and Definition
Currently, over 20% of U.S. children in middle childhood are considered obese.
COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 led to increased rates of overweight across all age groups, with the largest increases in middle childhood.
Social Consequences
While the health consequences of childhood obesity may not be immediately apparent, the social problems often require immediate attention:
Fewer friendships.
Increased teasing and bullying.
Lower self-esteem.
Poorer school achievement.
As one individual recalled from their childhood experiences with obesity, they felt "the size of an ant" and described classmates as "pretty cruel."
Contributing Factors
Preterm birth.
Formula feeding infancy
Televisions in children's bedrooms
Soda consumption instead of water
Sleep difficulties
Lack of outdoor play and physical activity
The dramatic increase in childhood obesity across nations suggests environmental and lifestyle factors play a major role, rather than just genetics.
Asthma
"Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways that causes cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness."
Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease, affecting about 14% children worldwide.
Prevalence varies by nation and is more common among children in developed nations and those from low-income families.
Factors Contributing to Asthma
Pollution
Hygiene hypothesis
The hygiene hypothesis suggests that reduced exposure to infections early in life may contribute to the development of asthma.
"The immune system needs to tangle with microbes when we are young... despite what our mothers told us, cleanliness sometimes leads to sickness (Leslie, 2012, p. 1428)."
First-born children develop asthma more often than later-born ones.
Asthma and allergies are less common among farm-dwelling children.
Children born by cesarean delivery (very sterile) have high rates of asthma.
Genes
House pets
Airtight windows
Cockroaches
Dust mites
Less outdoor play
Asthma Management
Asthma is a leading cause of school absence.
Treatments
Inhaled corticosteroids (daily use)
Albuterol inhalers (for attacks)
The microbiome also plays a role, as some microbes in the lungs affect asthma (Singanayagam et al., 2017). Accordingly, changing the microbiome—via diet, drugs, or exposure to animals—may treat asthma. However, asthma has multiple, varied causes and types; no single treatment will help everyone.
Social Development
Cognitive Foundations (Piagets).
Concrete Operational Thought
Definition
Piaget's stage of cognitive development (ages 7-11), where children begin to think logically about concrete events but struggle with abstract or hypothetical concepts. Thinking is grounded in reality during middle childhood, and personal experience enhances their thinking.
Key Achievements
Classification: The ability to organize things into group based on shared characteristics.
Example
Understanding that dogs and cats both belong to the category "animals."
Seriation: The ability to arrange items in a logical order (e.g., smallest to largest).
Example
Arranging sticks in order from shortest to longest.
Conversation: The understanding that the amount of substance remains the same even when its appearance changes.
Example
Knowing that the amount of water is the same even when poured into a taller, thinner glass.
Reversibility: The ability to mentally reverse actions or operations.
Example
Understanding that if you add 2 + 3 = 5, then you can reserve the operation and substract 3 from 5 to get 2.
Influence on Social Understanding
Understanding Social Categories
Classification skills help children understand social categories like gender, ethnicity, and roles within a community.
They begin to classify people into groups, but this can also lead to stereotypes if not tempered with broader understanding.
Perspective-Taking
While not fully developed, concrete operation thought allows children to better understand that others may have different perspectives or viewpoints than their own.
This is crucial for developing empathy and resolving conflicts.
Moral Reasoning
Children move from a morality of constraint (rules are absolute) to a morality of cooperation (rules are flexible and can be negotiated).
They begin to understand the intentions behind actions and that rules can be changed if everyone agrees.
Social Interactions
Engaging in group activities and games helps children apply their logical abilities in social contexts.
They learn to negotiate, compromise, and understand the consequences of their actions on others.
Friendships
Friendships become more selective and based on shared interests and characteristics rather than just proximity,
Children understand the importance of loyalty, trust, and reciprocity in friendships.
Examples
Playing games: Children can follow rules in complex board games because they can think logically about the steps involved and understand the consequences of their actions.
Resolving Conflicts: Children can negotiate and compromise with peers because they can understand different points of view and find fair solutions.
Understand Social Norms: Children can understand why certain behaviors are acceptable in some situations but not in others (e.g., talking loudly in the playground vs. talking quietly in the library.
Sociocultural Influences (Vygotsky)
Vygotsky's Sociocultural Perspective
Core Belief: Cognitive development is heavily influenced by social interaction, cultural context, and the guidance of mentors.
Emphasis on Culture: Vygotsky believed middle childhood was a prime time for learning, but that the specifics of what children learn depend on their family, school, and culture.
Role of Instruction: Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky emphasized direct instruction from teachers and mentors.
Mentors provide a "scaffold" between a child's potential and their actual knowledge.
Key Concepts
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Definition
The skills, knowledge, and concepts that a person is close the acquring but cannot yet master without help.
It is a metaphorical area surrounding a learner that includes all the skills, knowledge, and concepts that the person is close to acquiring but cannot yet master with help.
Example
A child might not be able to solve a complex math problem alone but can do so with guidance from a teacher.
Guided Participation
Definition
Learning through social interactions and mentoring.
Example
Play with peers, dinner with family, greeting neighbors—every experience teaches a child.
Mentors and Social Interaction
Social Interaction: Children with more social interactions within their ZPD tend to be benefit more.
Mentors' Role: Mentors engage children with thei ZPD, providing the necessary support for growth.
Following Instructions: A crucial aspect of learning within Vygotsky's framework. Children often learn by imitating adults and other mentors.
Cultural Context
Cultural Variation: Lessons a child learns vary by culture and school, not just maturation.
Cultural Tools: Cultures provide cognitive tools, such as language and symbols, that shape how children think.
Example
By the end of middle childhood, children can master logical arguments (even counterfactual ones) by age 11, especially when taught. For instance, some children understand that if birds can fly, and if elephants are birds, then elephants can fly.
Applications in Education
Individualized Instruction: Tailoring instruction to meet the needs of each child.
Finlands's education system requires teachers to instruct each child based on their needs.
Finland's Education
Collaboration and Active Learning: Encouraging students to work together and actively participate their learning process.
Finland's curriculum shifted to encourage collaboration and active learning instead of competitive, passive education.
Support Within the Classroom: Providing special help for children who need it, rather than seperating them into different groups.
Examples
Language Development: A child learns to code-switch (adjusting their language based on the audience) through interactions with family, friends, and teachers from different cultural backgrounds.
Problem-Solving: A child learns to solve a puzzle by working with a parent or older sibling who provides hints and strategies.
Cultural Norms: A child learns about their culture's history, values, and traditions through stories and lessons shared by elders.
Cognitive Development
Moral Development
Example
A study found that fathers' testosterone and cortisol rose when they watched their children in a soccer tournament. Effects were stronger for sons than daughters, especially if the men thought the referee was unfair.
Hormones were unaffected by winning or losing, as long as the fathers believed their own children and team played as well as they could.
Middle children, spanning from 6 to 10, are characterized by
slow and steady growth.
A Healthy Time
Nature and nurture combine to make these years the
healthiest
of life.
Children typically gain an average of
2 inches and 5 pounds
(5 centimeters and 2 kilograms) per year.
Nations and parents vary in the opportunities they provide for play. Parents may enroll children in after-school sports that vary by culture, such as tennis, karate, cricket, yoga, rugby, football, baseball, or soccer.
Some