Chapter 5: Middle Childhood Flashcards
Discuss the general physical development during middle childhood
Rapid growth of arms and legs in comparison to torso. The slower growth rate compared to preschool period and later adolescence where there’s more gradual growth.
Average annual growth in height is about 6cm and weight 2kg.
Bodily proportion change gradually .
List other physical changes not mentioned already
*the brain is almost it’s adult size and weight which refers only to volume and mass not the structure and interconnections.
Important during middle childhood is development of the frontal lobe located in the front of the brain just under the skull responsible for judgement impulse control planning reasoning emotions memory and problem solving.
*The respiratory system functions economically and elasticity of the lungs increases breathing become deeper and slower.
Circulatory system developes at a slower rate
- Milk teeth lost replaced by permanent teeth. Malocclusion ( condition where teeth aren’t aligned properly results in faulty contact between upper and lower teeth when jaw is closed)
- Vision is well developed but can develop problem like myopia or nearsightedness
How are motor skills developed during middle childhood
New skills develop because of an increase in strength co ordination and muscular control over the body. Balance and elegance of physical movement also improve
Gross motor activities like running usually develop quicker in boys due to boys having more muscle tissue and other factors like gender roles sexism and cultural values.
Motor development facilitates development of various parts of personality. On cognitive level acquisition of skills like writing drawing become possible.
Social development is enhanced by participating in individual and team activity like soccer
Explore sexuality in middle childhood
Freud believed that middle childhood is a period of sexual latency where children show no or little interest in sexuality.
By the end of middle childhood they usually have a firm established sense of gender identity and constancy where they recognise that gender doesn’t change because gender typed behavior may change. Sexual orientation: they learn that not all people are heterosexuals.
Elaborate on Piaget’s theory of the concrete operational stage
Spans from 7-11 and signifies stage in which children start using mental operations to solve problems and reason.
Mental operations are strategies or rules that make thinking systematic and powerful where some may apply to number like addition subtraction multiplication and division. Others apply to categorising of objects into shape size colour while others apply to spacial relations.
Reversibility: the understanding that both physical actions and mental operations may be reversed.
The ability to understand hierarchies of classes also rests on ability to move in both directions in thinking. Ability to perform conservation task.
Horizontal decalage is where children can’t readily transfer what they have learned about one type of conservation to another type even though principles are the same.
Decentring ( avoidance of centering on one aspect only) and that appearance can be deceptive.
Describe the development of information processing skills
¢Memory like working memory (STM) improves largely during childhood especially the phonological loop which stores sounds and verbal material playing an important role in tasks like learning to read understand language and acquiring vocabulary. the visual spatial sketch pad which stores visual information and involved in creation and use of mental images
Memory strategies like rehearsal (mental or vocal repetition) organisation ( categorisation grouping ideas object) elaboration ( embellishing info to make it more memorable)
¢processing speed: refers to rate at which individuals carry out cognitive processes.
¢Automatic processing: automaticity refers to cognitive activities that requires little or no effort.
¢Knowledge base: they acquire literacy and numeracy skills historical and geographical facts info about animals plants and planet. Info acquired through formal and informal means which has to be stored and organised to be used effectively.
¢control processes:the processes that pull memory processing speed and knowledge base together called executive functions which refer to variety of cognitive skills that enable individual to plan organise make decisions think abstractly and solve problems aid impulsive behavior. this is done by the prefrontal cortex.
Metacognition allows a person to evaluate cognitive tasks determine how to accomplish it monitor performance and make adjustments and related to it is metamemory ( informal understanding of memory) control processes develop in area like attention intention knowledge thinking and memory strategies.
¢theory of the mind: refers to individuals knowledge of the mind and it’s functions which includes knowledge of one’s own mental state and those of others and how these influence behavior.
¢higher order cognitive task: include reasoning decision making problem solving and thinking as well as academic skills like reading writing arithmetic where info is processed used reformatted manipulated by these processes.
Comment on language development during middle childhood
Length and complexity of sentences increase and certain grammatical forms like passive voice are mastered. Vocabulary also increases and they learn new words and meanings. They understand the abstract meaning of words. By 8/9 they can grasp sarcasm and understand metaphorical language. They understand irony
What is bilingualism and multilingualism
Bilingual is being able to speak mother tongue and another language while multilingual is ability to speak several languages. This is achieved through simultaneous learning of language or successive/ consecutive learning where they first learn one before the other.
What dimensions ensure children readiness for school
∆childrens readiness for school refers to certain level of physical cognitive social and emotional maturity to meet demand of formal schooling. Sensory and perceptual motor skills in addition to cognitive skills like language and verbal communication skills and school entry literacy and numeracy.
∆readiness of school for children: defined in terms of school environment that supports smooth transition for children into primary school and advances learning of children. Supply quality teaching and classroom time adequate supply of learning materials and good teacher competentence
∆readiness of the family: focus on attitudes of parents and caregivers and involvement in children early learning and development.
School readiness lays foundation for positive school performance and achievements. Increases self worth and is building blocks to escape poverty
What is achievement motivation and learning orientation
Achievement motivation refers to degree to which a person chooses to engage in and keep trying to accomplish challenging tasks which involves complex interactions between beliefs and values and psychological goals.
Children make attributions about why they succeed or fail by ascribing a specific characteristic to oneself focusing on: ability effort luck task difficulty and strategy use some which are internal and others external. some are more stable and controllable than others
Successful children develop a mastery orientation which is the tendency to attribute success to internal and controllable factors like hardwork and failure to controllable factors like effort
They tend to hold an incremental view of ability which is the belief that they can improve their ability.
Focus on learning goals meaning aim is to learn new things to improve abilities.
Unsuccessful children tend to develop a helpless orientation which is the tendency to attribute external and stable factors like luck.
They hold an entity view of ability which is the belief that ability is fixed and unchangeable
Children focus on performance goals where they seek out tasks they sure they can do well.
What role does parent contribution play in academic performance
Extrinsic motivation like gifts for Good grades and punishment for bad ones.
Intrinsic motivation by cultivating pride in hard work.
Authoritative parents are warm and exert firm control who have curious and interested children who are higher achievers.
Authoritarian parents exert firm control but rejecting or unresponsive to children
Permissive parents are involved and don’t seem to care how their children perform.
What role does socio economic status play in academic performance
SES affect parents ability to provide an environment that enhances learning. Development may be hindered by poor prenatal care and inadequate nutrition and further hampered by poor schooling bad teaching and lack of resources like shortage of books and overcrowded classrooms prevalent in poor SES environment
Other problems like hunger tardiness listlessness and home conditions.
Social capital: family and community resources children can draw upon
What effect does the school contribution have on academic performance
Classroom climate reflect the attitudes social and emotional responses and perceptions of individuals in class where factors like characteristics of learners teacher characteristics and physical arrangement of classroom. A positive climate is associated with higher learner motivation and Achievements
School climate and structure: encouragement of setting performance goals instead of learning goals and many schoolmates are competitive and try out do others. It may be better to focus on process of learning
Class size that is small is more beneficial
Educational policy
Corporal punishment
What is the sociocultural context of academic performance
Mismatch between what is learnt inside and outside of school
Collectivism or individualism
Medium of instruction like language. Available resources
Home language not necessarily language of instruction
African languages aren’t standardized
What effect does electronic media have in academic performance
Cognitive socialisation refers to internalisation process by which cultural roots influence development of cognitive processing skills.
Spatial representational skills: including sub skills like ability to judge speed and distance ability to mentally rotate objects ability to visualise spatially and ability to deal with 2D objects in 3D space.
Iconic representational skills: refers to ability to read and interpret images
Attentional skills: refers to divided visual attention the skill of keeping track of events occurring simultaneously at diff places on the screen
What are the factors influencing intellectual disabilities
Organic or biomedical factors such as genetics malnutrition and traumatic brain injury
Social factors like poverty abuse and neglect
Educational factors like impaired parenting
Intellectual disability is a chronic condition that poses limitations across many areas of development
What are learning disabilities and their effects
A learning disability affects manner in which individuals with AVE to above ave intelligence take in retain or express info. Incoming or outgoing info is scrambled as it passes from senses to the brain causing limitations in speech reading writing or numeracy.
What is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD
It describes children who consistently and repeatedly show age inappropriate behaviour in categories of inattention and hyperactivity impulsivity.
Inattentive children find it hard to sustain mental effort during work or play and struggle to focus on one thing. Child doesn’t want to listen can’t concentrate doesn’t follow instructions is disorganised easily distracted forgetful daydreams leaves incompleted tasks and quickly loses interest in activities.
Hyperactivity impulsivity is regarded as a single dimension of ADHD which takes many forms. They are in constant motion and sitting still is almost impossible. Child’s activity is excessively energetic intense inappropriate and ungoal orientated. These children tend to act before thinking find it hard to regulate behavior. They find it hard to take turns and interrupt others and find it hard to resist temptation.
Some may be predominantly inattentive while others hyperactive impulsive. Others may exhibit both. In addition they may experience learning difficulty emotional difficulty. ADHD seems to be related to abnormalities in the frontal areas of the cortex associated with behavioural inhibition
Treatment includes medication parent management training and educational intervention family counseling and support groups may be added as well as child focused treatment like social skill training cognitive behavioural self control Training and individual counseling.
What is giftedness
It includes high achievement or exceptional talent in an assortment of areas like art drama which may be multiple or selected.
Characteristics include:
Special talents usually obvious from early age
Have inspiring and talented teachers/ parents who are committed to developing talent and they usually teach themselves with only minimal support and make discoveries in their own.
They show almost obsessive passion to understand better the domain in which they excel and devour info spending endless hours on favourite topic they are self motivated.
Explain concept of creativity
Creativity is the ability to think and produce in novel and unusual ways. This leads to original and meaningful products.
Creative children are divergent thinkers rather than convergent thinkers. Convergent thinkers seek single answers while divergent come up with many fresh original possibilities.
How to stimulate creativity in children
+Expose them to inconsistencies vagueness and uncertainty.
+Offer opportunities to share with others what they have learnt and achieved.
+Respect children questions
+Let them brainstorm ideas
+Provide environment that stimulates creativity
+Don’t over control or prescribe
+Encourage internal motivation
+Foster playful and flexible thinking
+introduce them to other creative people
How are special needs children educated
The inclusive educational system means that children with different learning needs such as physical mental sensory neurological and developmental impairments are included in mainstream education.
Staff and parent involvement is crucial.
