Developmental Summary Assignment

Julia Hughes
EDUC 88 S02
Cheryl Herder
4 years to 6 years
At this age children are usually starting to go into kindergarten. While in
school and life they will learn and reach many milestones and new skills.
They will make friends, show self-esteem, start enjoying literacy, ask more
questions as well as improve with their gross motor skills. An example of
development at this age is counting. They will, count in meaningful ways in
play and daily living. (ELECT, 2207, pg.49) They will always be counting
wherever they are. While counting at this age they will be, demonstrating
an understanding of the counting concepts of stable order. (Kindergarten
Program, 2016, pg.219). They will also, subitize quantities to 5 without
having to count, using a variety of materials and strategies. (Kindergarten
Program, 2016, pg.221)
Domains Milestone
Social One milestone that children reach at this age is making
friends. They might, seek out others to play with, invite
others to play, play co-operatively, or exchange ideas.
(ELECT, 2007, pg.37). They will make friendships with
other children which is, a voluntary relationship between
two people who like each other. (Kail and Zolner, 2015,
pg.379). By the time children enter kindergarten, most
claim to have a best friend, which is typically a child
they play with who is nice to them. Friends seem to be
alike in age, gender, and race. (Kail and Zolner, 2015,
pg.379). My virtual child, Jesse, had no problem making
friends when he started school and the teacher said
Jesse, usually played cooperatively with them. (Virtual
Child, 2016) Children at this age are also able to, act and
talk with peers and adults by expressing and accepting
positive messages. (Kindergarten Program, 2016,
pg.129). An example of a child demonstrating that they
are making friends is engaging in play with others or
offering toys to others as well
Emotional At this age children start to show self-esteem. Self-
esteem is highest in preschoolers. (Kail and Zolner,
2015, pg.374). Children will start to show pride in work
and achievements. (ELECT, 2007, pg.56). At this age
children can, demonstrate an awareness of their own
well-being. (Kindergarten Program, pg. 154). An example
of a child showing self-esteem could be if they were
proud of a drawing on how well they wrote their name
they might run up to a parent and show them and that is
showing confidence which is a big part of positive self-
esteem.
Communicati For communication at this age children are starting to
on enjoy literacy. They might love when you read them a
book, or enjoy reading on their own. They will even,
choose to spend time with books. (ELECT, 2007, pg.43)
They might look through a book and look and point out
words that they know if they cant read that book. Some
children at this age also love rhyming books. As you can
imagine, beginning readers rely more heavily on
sounding out because they know fewer words. As they
gain more reading experience, they are more likely to be
able to retrieve a word directly from long-term memory.
(Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.356) Jesse started to read
some easy rhyming books toward the end of
kindergarten. In first grade, he really seems to be taking
off, and is reading first and even second grade books.
(Virtual Child, 2016) Children can, use reading
behaviours to make sense of familiar and unfamiliar texts
in print. (Kindergarten Program, 2016, pg.195). An
example of communication could be a child sitting down
and trying to read a book.
Cognitive At this age children are starting to ask more questions.
They might be asking why. They are, asking questions
to solve problem, asking questions to clarify their
understanding. (ELECT, 2007, pg.47) When talking with
children they always seem to have questions but at this
age there seems to be even more questions. Jesse my
virtual child was always asking questions whenever we
went somewhere or he saw something. An example of the
questioning could be those why questions the child is
asking about different things.
Physical For physical development of a 4-6 year old can be
throwing. Their gross motor skills are improving and
children are better able to throw with increased co-
ordination (ELECT, 2007, pg. 53) By 5 or 6 years,
children run easily, quickly changing directions and
speed. 6-year-olds step into a throw, rotating their upper
body to help propel the ball. By age 6, children use their
legs to move to the ball and then adjust their upper body
and forearms to absorb the force of the ball. (Kail and
Zolner, 2015, pg.216)
As an early childhood educator, supporting the development of 4 to 6 years
olds I would play a game that involved throwing balls for everyone to join in.
A game such as maybe with a partner practice throwing the ball back and
forth. This will foster their social skills (Excerpts; pg.37, Social 1.1 Making
Friends) as well as their physical skills (Excerpts; pg.53, Physical 5.2 Gross
Motor Skills, Throwing) By being with a partner the children are able to
connect one-on-one and make friends and by throwing the ball they are
working on their physical skills. You could possibly link this to cognitive skills
(Excepts; pg.46, Cognition 4.1 Self-Regulation) The children will have to take
turns throwing it back and forth which will help foster the self-regulation in
them as well as they will have to throw it to their partner so they cant just
throw it wherever they want.

7 years to 8 years
At this age children are still developing a lot. Their motor development is
getting better and their hand-eye coordination is improving. They are also
learning the difference between right and wrong. They are, able to
understand reasoning and make the right decisions (Great Schools, 2016,
para 4). They have the cognitive abilities to think about what is right and
wrong and try to understand the differences.
Domains Milestone
Social An example of a social skills that children are doing at this
age would be helping others. A child may show this by,
increasing helping behaviours (ELECT, 2007, pg.55) For
example my virtual child Jesse, [was] very cooperative at
home and at school. (Virtual Child, 2016). He would also
help out with his younger sister Emily a lot. He was taking
on more responsibility by helping others. When children
see other people helping each other they model after them
and they will start to help others. They are starting to
understand perspective taking. For example, children are
more likely to donate toys to hospitalized children or to
help older adults with household chores when they see
other children doing so. (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.387).
An example of when you might see a child helping others
 is when you see a child helping the teacher in the
classroom or helping other children clean up their toys.
Emotional At this age children are exhibiting self-concept. They are
talking about personal characteristics, taking
responsibility for dressing, eating and hygiene routines.
(ELECT, 2007, pg.56) Children are usually more willing to
help themselves. They will pick their clothes, they will get
dressed, and they will get their breakfast. They have those
skills and cognitive abilities to do those things. Children
can, demonstrate self-reliance and a sense of
responsibility. (Kindergarten Program, 2016, pg.159) My
virtual child Jesse, at this age was becoming more
responsible for himself as well as others. He would do his
homework and chores without me asking and he would
even entertain his little sister. An example of a child doing
this would be that child taking initiative and getting
dressed by themselves in the morning on their own.
Communicat Children at this age are able to use vocabulary and talk in
ion full sentences to others. They, learn more words daily,
use synonyms, and use local slang. (ELECT, 2007, pg.57)
Children at this age typically have gained most of their
grammar knowledge and are using it in conversations. Full
and detailed stories are beginning to be the norm and the
way that children at this age interact socially. They are
much better at following directions and acquisition of
phonological awareness skills is complete. (Home Speech
Home, para 1&2) An example of a child doing this is when
the child is talking to you, you will notice that they are able
to communicate well and effectively with you. For the most
part they speak proper.
Cognitive At this age the child is learning more strategies for math.
They are completing number operations. They are, adding
and subtracting double digit numbers (ELECT, 2007,
pg.60) There are many strategies that children use when
doing math. Children are counting mentally. By age 8 or
9, children have learned the addition tables so well that
sums of the single-digit integers (0 to 9) are facts that are
simply retrieved from memory. (Kail and Zolner, 2015,
pg.361) My virtual child Jesse was, working in the fourth
grade math group in third grade and doing well. He
seem[ed] to learn math concepts quickly and to be quick
at computations as well. (Virtual Child, 2016) An example
of this could be a child counting money. The child could
count how much money they have and add together all
 that they have.
Physical At age 7 and 8 children there are a couple different things
that are happening. Weight gain speeds up, they sleep up
to 11 hours at night, begin riding a two-wheeler bicycle
without training wheels, can use a pair of scissors to cut
out complex shapes, permanent teeth begin to appear and
there is improved hand-eye coordination (can bounce and
catch a tennis ball. (About Kids Health, para 3) At this age
children will be using their hand-eye coordination when
throwing and catching (ELECT, 2007, pg.62) My virtual
child Jesse has also been participating more in soccer and
basketball and he loves it. An example of that could be
giving a child a ball and playing catch with them. They will
throw it to you and then they will have to catch it after.

As an early childhood educator, supporting the development of 7 to 8 years

olds I would play a game called mailbox madness. It is whenever there in a
mail box and everyone in the class can write letters to their classmates. This
activity will foster the childs social skills (Excerpts; pg.54, Social 1.1
Friendships). The children will be socializing and making friends while sharing
and writing the letters to each other. It will also foster their communication,
language and literacy skills (Excerpts; pg.58, Communication, language and
literacy 3.7 Writing). The children will be working on their writing skills as
well as grammar and learning about proper punctuation while writing their
letters.

9 years to 10 years
Nine and ten year old generally have longer attentions spans. At this age
they are starting to focus on things for longer. Children will develop interests
and cultivate them with passion, and will love doing research to find out all
about their favorite topic. (Lee, 2016, para 4) If they are more focused then
that is when interests and passion comes into play. 9-year-old children will
generally work well in groups and will cooperate to work on a project or
activity. They will want to work on a subject, topic, or particular part of the
curriculum until they become skilled and master it. (Lee, 2016, para 5) They
will cooperate better with their peers.
Domains Milestone
Social At this age children become better at solving conflict. They
might, identify a solution for the conflict and make choices
based off right and wrong. When conflicts arise, children in
middle childhood are better able to resolve them because
of the greater cognitive and social skills. (Kail and Zolner,
2015, pg.378) Children at this age are starting to
understand perspective taking more and they are able to
understand how they can resolve the conflict between
them. They have those cognitive and social skills needed
to resolve it. The children are able to, use a variety of
strategies to solve problems, including problems arising in
social situations. (Kindergarten Program, 2016, pg.130)
An example of a child solving conflict could be when two
friends have a fight they are able to work it out and talk it
out because they have the skills needed to do that.
Emotional Many 9-year-old children will become more independent
from their families, and will be emotionally ready to do
more things on their own. (Lee, 2016, para 4). They tend
to start to hang out with their friends more without
supervision such as going to the mall or movies. Also at
this time children are gain[ing] a sense of responsibility
along with their growing independence. (CDC, para 1) At
this age my virtual child Jesse preferred to hang out with
his friends rather than hang out at home with his sister.
Communicat At this age childrens language is becoming more abstract
ion and complex. (Home Speech Home, para 2) Children will
be having more conversations, using more language, and
creating more difficult sentences. They will be able to read
more books. My virtual child Jesse was a strong reader.
(Virtual Child, 2016) While their vocabulary, writing and
reading gets better the children will be having more
conversations, they will become more abstract and they
will be communicating more with peers as well as adults.
Cognitive Childrens cognitive abilities such as reading and writing
has drastically improved. They can read and write skillfully.
They, will be able to express themselves using complex
and sophisticated vocabulary and ideas. (Lee, 2016, para
7) They might be reading bigger and more complex books.
They might be looking at poems, and fiction, non-fiction,
 possibly even biographies. It is at this time in school that
children are usually asked to write stories, reports, and
essays. They have those writing skills to be able to do that.
On my virtual childs, Jesses report card it said,
"Demonstrates strength" in all areas of reading, and in
spelling and "appropriate for grade level" in writing. He
enjoys reading and writing at home as well though.
(Virtual Child, 2016)
Physical At this age childrens fine motor skills improve. Childrens
greater dexterity is evident in a host of activities ranging
from, typing, writing, and drawing to working on puzzles,
and playing the piano. (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.320)
Girls tend to excel more in fine-motor than the boys. But
boys excel more in the gross-motor. Jesse and his friends
spend a lot of time playing sports (Virtual Child, 2016) At
this age it is usually the boys who tend to be more
involved in sports.

As an early childhood educator, supporting the development of 9 to 10 years

olds I would do colour eruptions. All children love eruptions. It is a simple
activity by adding baking soda and vinegar. To add more onto that you could
add colours. This would foster their social skills because they could do it with
peers. It could foster their communication and cognitive skills by asking
them what was happening and having them explain why they think it
exploded.
11 years to 12 years
Your child at 11 will be embarking on a period of physical growth at a faster
rate than at any time in life except infancy. (WebMD, para 1) Their cognitive
skills will advance as well as their emotional maturity. At this age children are
more influenced by their peers and how others see them. But they will also
reach a point where they are able to better understand what it means to
see themselves in others eyes. (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.378)
Domains Milestone
Social A milestone that children at this age will reach is
perspective taking. Children will be able to start to
understand perspective taking when they start school but
it is not till the later years that they are able to see
themselves in others eyes. (Kail and Zolner, 2015,
pg.378) And truly understand what it means to take
another persons perspective. When they are taking
anothers point of view they are understanding the point of
view of others and using this to regulate their thinking.
They also are understanding that others may think, believe
or feel differently than them. Children at this age are,
demonstrating respect and considerations for individual
differences and alternative points. (Kindergarten Program,
2016, pg.132). An example of a child demonstrating
perspective taking could be when they ask others for their
opinion. A child already has their opinion so when they ask
for another they are considering another persons opinion.
Emotional Children at this stage have entered a highly emotional
space. They are just beginning to cope with hormonal
changes. Theyre also hitting a time when peers will have
the most influence on them. They want to be poised and
have self-control, but they are often clumsy and in
conflict. (Kid Central, para 1) They are learning more
about themselves and setting personal goals and values
for themselves. They are taking on more responsibility and
leadership. Because at this age children are more
influenced by their peers they can be more conflict
between them. Children at this age are resolving the
conflict and working out the problem. Jesse my virtual
 child was very influenced by his peers. He took everything
they said to heart. He even cared about what others said
about his clothes. Someone made some negative
comments about his clothing. He was upset about it for a
while (Virtual Child, 2016)
Communicat At this age their vocabulary has increased. Children are
ion able to detect and use sarcasm now. When talking with
friends they might use slang words to fit in with their
groups. By middle school, children use language
functionally, and adjust their choice of words or level of
sophistication to suit the context (e.g., lunchroom or
Facebook vs. essay or exam) (Scholastic, para 5) Jesse
has been putting comments on an internet application
where other students can respond with their own
comments but not reveal their identities. (Virtual Child,
2016) Now that the internet is becoming a thing for
younger children, the children are able to communicate
more on the internet as well because by this age they
usually have it all figure out.
Cognitive Around this age children learn to think about abstract
concepts. They completed the concrete operational period
and enter the formal operation period. The children are
able to display logical thinking and can seriate (arrange in
a series) without trial and error, are able to conserve
number, mass, and volume, and demonstrate a more
strategic and methodical approach to problems.
(Scholastic, para 6) Their cognitive abilities in all aspects
have increased and they are able to solve more complex
problems. They are able to Measure Length, Weight,
Capacity, Temperature, Time and Money [by] using
conventional units of measure. (ELECT, 2007, pg.60)
Physical During this period, children are growing fast, and
sometimes their bodies are changing faster than they can
adapt.(Kid Central, para 1) Children might soon be getting
growth spurts or possibly even puberty. Their bodies will
be changing and they might be wondering why. They are
also able to follow rules of the game and use their gross
motor and fine motor to play different games. I know my
virtual child Jess grew really fast at this age because they
are soon going to be entering adolescents.
As an educator supporting the development of 11 to 12 year old children I
would, with the children make positive mindset anchor charts. Such as the
topic could be, what can I say to myself? On the one side (Instead of) there
could be phrases such as, Im not good at this or I give up, then on the other
side (Try Thinking) what am I missing or Ill use some of the strategies we
learned. This will help foster the childrens social skills by doing this as a
group and sharing their ideas. It will help foster their emotional development
by thinking about themselves and how to positively talk to themselves.
http://fieldcrestfalcons.blogspot.ca/2014/01/growth-mindset-talk-it.html

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