MIDDLE CHILDHOOD6 – 11 YEARS OLD

3

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

What gains in growth,brain development,

and motor developmentoccur in school-age children,

and what are their nutritional and sleep needs?

4

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

1. HEIGHT & WEIGHT less rapid than in earlier years

each year grows about 2 to 3 inches

lower portion of body growing

fastest

bones lengthen

muscles become flexible5

ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

6

2. NUTRITION & SLEEPessential for normal growth and health

2, 400 calories each day

5 years old – 11 hours

9 years old – 10 hours

13 years old – 9 hours

Nutrition Problems in Middle Childhood

Little focus on eating

Fewer meals with family

Too few fruits and vegetables

Too many fried foods and soft drinks

• Poverty - lack of nutritional food7

Nutrition Problems cont.• By middle childhood, the effects of prolonged

and serious malnutrition are apparent in: 1. retarded physical growth2. low intelligence test scores3. poor motor coordination4. inattention

• Malnutrition for many years - permanent damage

8

3. BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

The brain structure is complex. It is the product of the interaction

between genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors

9

BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

• As children acquire more complex abilities, stimulated neurons increase in synaptic connections and their neural fibers become more elaborate and myelinated

• Loss in the density of gray matter(closely –packed neural bodies)

–reflects pruning of unused dendrites.

• Balanced by a steady increase in white matter

–axons or nerve fibers that transmit information between neurons to distant regions of the brain

10

11

• Cortex of temporal lobes thickens, at the same time, thinning occurs in the rear portion of the frontal and parietal cortex in the brain’s left hemisphere.

• The corpus callosum thickens - leads to improved communication between the two cortical hemispheres.

• Lateralization of the cerebral hemispheres increases over the school years.

Brain Development

• Brain functioning may also change because of an increase in androgens (male sex hormones) that occurs in both boys and girls around age 7 to 8.

12

4. MOTOR DEVELOPMENTIN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

Gross Motor Skills Improvements

1. Flexibility2. Balance3. Agility4. Force

Fine Motor Skills Gains

1. Writing2. Drawing

13

Fine Motor Development – Writing tends to be large at first, and legibility

gradually increases.

– Drawings show gains in 1. organization2. detail3. representation of depth

– School-age children not only – (1) depict objects in considerable detail, they

also – (2) relate them to one another as part of an

organized whole.

14

Six-Year Old’s Drawing

15

Eight-Year Old’s Drawing

16

Ten-Year Old’s Drawing

17

Individual Differences in Motor Skills

Body build

Family encouragement, expectations

School & community lessons available

18

Rough and Tumble Play

Friendly chasing and play-fighting(wrestling, kicking, tumbling, grappling) accompanied by laughing and screaming

Boys play more physically active games

Girls favor games that include verbal expression

19

Physical Education

• Physical education classes – provide for exercise and play on a regular basis – this supports:

1. healthy bodies

2. a sense of self-worth as physically active and capable beings.

3. the cognitive and social skills necessary for getting along well with others.

20

Accidents in Middle Childhood Most common types:

Motor vehicle Bicycle Pedestrian

Prevention

Teach safety Model safe behavior Require helmets Watch high-risk children more

21

22

EVOLUTIONARY STANDPOINT:As the child gets older (11 years old), he hones

skeletal & muscle development that may channel aggression & competition, &becomes a way to establish dominance within the peer group.

ENDOF

PHYSICALDEVELOPMENT

23