What Are Specific Characteristics Of School-Age Children?

School-age children are young ones starting off their academic venture. At this stage, creating the optimal and/or conducive environment for the children to learn, comprehend and apply the teachings from school plays a critical role on the overall development of the child. Thus, it is necessary to provide the best learning centers down to the engaging learning activities possible. What are specific characteristics of school-age children? There are three general characteristics that school-age children have. The first characteristic is based on an intellectual standpoint wherein the mindset of the child develops more orderly, more organized, and more logical. On a social standpoint, the child learns to be with peers for support and reflection of their need to belong. The last social need is from a personality standpoint wherein children are to demonstrate their confidence, skills, talents, or any other abilities they can proudly call their own (Hughes, 2010). How do school-age children differ from preschool children and infants? Info: taken from Illinois.edu Infants, preschool and school-age children generally differ based on their ages, physical development, social and emotional development as well as intellectual development. Infants are categorized between birth up to twelve months old. Infants cannot voluntary control their movement, had only just began developing trust, explore as their learning capacity such as following objects with their eyes, cooing, gurgling and even babbling. Preschool-children on the other hand are categorized as children between three to four years old. Preschoolers tend to want to use their five senses to learn things. Preschoolers also use this time to develop and attempt to perfect their language, skills and control. At this stage, want to develop their identities clearly and usually have extreme yet short-lived emotions. Intellectually, this is a period wherein learning for them is best through experience. School-age children are ages between five to seven years old. At this age, children learn to take responsibilities such as setting a limit for themselves and expectations. Children at this stage tend to grow slow physically and develop a keen sense of balance and muscle control. Socially, children are self-centered (in most cases) before developing the tendency to think of others thereafter. Intellectually, they had developed common sense and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong as well as the ability to speak for themselves. What activities will be appropriate for school-age children? Note: This is regardless of the cultural diversity of the children. Several physical and academic activities had been used time and time again which were taught to be the most optimal in developing school-age children be it academically, physically and more. It had also been proven based on a study done by Mullender-Wunsma et. al., (2015) that physical activity intervened with learning activities was successful based on an increase in children’s on-task behavior ...