LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT
• Peer groups play a big role in a child’s life,
influencing social development.
Coverage:
• Peer acceptance becomes important for
• Middle and Late Childhood emotional growth and self-perception.
• Physical Development Parent-Child Relationship:
• Sports • Changes in relationships with parents as peers
• Childhood Obesity start to take priority.
• Concrete Operational Thought • The way children interact with their parents may
• Information Processing shift as they seek more independence.
• Language Development
Physical Development
• Communication Disorders
• Theories of Intelligence Overall Physical Growth:
• Measuring Intelligence: • Growth slows down during these years.
Standardization and the • Typically, children gain 5-7 pounds and grow
2-3 inches per year.
Intelligence Quotient
• They become leaner, gain muscle strength,
• Extremes of Intelligence: and develop better lung capacity for physical
Intellectual Disability and activity.
Giftedness Growth Spurt:
• Education • The growth spurt begins earlier in females
• Cultural Differences in the than in males:
o Girls: Around age 9
Classroom o Boys: Around age 11
• Children with Disabilities Motor Skills:
• Children with Disabilities: • Gross Motor Skills (large muscle
Legislation movements) improve (e.g., riding a bike).
• Fine Motor Skills (small muscle movements)
• Erikson: Industry vs. Inferiority
also improve (e.g., cutting nails).
• Self-Understanding • Boys typically outperform girls in gross motor
• Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral skills, while girls outperform boys in fine motor
Development skills.
• Friends and Peers Brain Development
• Bullying • Brain Growth Spurts:
• Family Life o Two main growth spurts occur:
▪ Ages 6-8: Improvements in fine
motor skills and eye-hand
coordination.
Middle and Late Childhood (Ages 6-11) ▪ Ages 10-12: Development of the
frontal lobes, enhancing logic,
Physical Development: planning, and memory.
• Children gain better control over their body • Myelination:
movements. o Myelination is a key factor in brain
• Mastery of gross motor skills (larger body development during this period.
movements like running, jumping) and fine o From ages 6-12, the association areas
motor skills (smaller movements like writing, of the brain (connecting sensory, motor,
drawing). and intellectual functions) become
Brain Development: almost fully myelinated.
• Brain changes during this time help with o This leads to faster information
physical growth and better reasoning. processing and quicker reaction
• Greater flexibility of thought develops, times.
improving problem-solving and cognitive skills. • Memory and Learning:
School & Learning: o The hippocampus (responsible for
• School becomes a significant part of life, memory) becomes more myelinated,
expanding children’s world beyond their family. improving memory functioning.
Peer Relationships: • Improved Cognitive Abilities:
1|Hikamac chi
, LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT
o Children develop better abilities to plan • There is a trend of fewer children participating
and coordinate activities using both in traditional sports, with some focusing on
sides of the brain. specialization in one sport, which increases
o They also gain better control over injury risk.
emotions and improve their attention Physical Education:
span as the prefrontal cortex matures. • Physical education (PE) in schools introduces
children to sports.
Sports • After many years of cutbacks, there has been
a return to more PE due to concerns about
Introduction to Organized Sports: childhood obesity.
• Middle childhood is a great time to introduce • However, few states meet the recommended
children to organized sports, helping them PE guidelines (e.g., Oregon and District of
develop social skills, athletic abilities, and a Columbia are exceptions).
sense of competition.
• Soccer is a popular sport, with nearly 3 Childhood Obesity
million children playing in the U.S.
Positive Effects of Sports: BMI and Obesity:
• BMI (Body Mass Index) is used to measure if
• Participation in sports is linked to:
o Higher satisfaction with family life and
a child is overweight or obese:
o 85th percentile or higher =
overall quality of life.
o Improved physical and emotional
overweight.
o 95th percentile or higher = obese.
development.
• In 2015-2016:
o Better academic performance.
o 13.9% of 2-5 year-olds and 18.4% of
Concerns About Competition:
• Overemphasis on competition and skill can
6-11 year-olds were obese.
lead to children losing interest and quitting Health and Cognitive Risks:
• Obesity in children is linked to:
sports.
o Medical issues like high blood
• Coaches are now advised to reduce drilling
and allow children to play freely and choose pressure, insulin resistance, and
positions to help them maintain their love for inflammation.
o Cognitive problems like impaired
the game.
Barriers to Sports Participation: executive functioning, working
• Factors like gender, poverty, location,
memory, mental flexibility, and
ethnicity, and disability can limit children's decision-making.
o Poor diet (high in saturated fats) can
opportunities to participate in sports.
• Girls are more likely to have never
impair brain functioning, especially in
participated in sports and may receive less memory tasks.
o Lack of impulse control can make it
support from fathers compared to boys.
• Children in suburban areas have higher
harder for overweight children to avoid
sports participation rates compared to those in unhealthy foods.
• Childhood obesity increases the risk of
rural or urban areas.
• Caucasian children participate in sports more
cognitive decline and future health problems
than minority children. like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Dropout Rates in Sports: Parental Recognition and Misperception:
• Many parents do not recognize when their
• Fun is the number one reason why children
quit organized sports. child is overweight or obese. This is known as
• About 1 in 3 children drop out of organized
"oblivobesity".
• Studies found that:
sports.
o 75% of parents with overweight
• Proper coach training can lower dropout
rates (from 30% to 5%). children thought their child had a
Esports: normal weight.
o Parents of obese children were more
• Esports (competitive video gaming) is
becoming more popular, with many children likely to misperceive their child’s
watching or participating in video game weight as normal.
• As children's average weight increases,
competitions.
• 1 in 4 children between ages 5-16 consider
parents' perception of what is "normal" also
playing computer games with friends a form of rises.
exercise. Children’s Misperception:
2|Hikamac chi
• Peer groups play a big role in a child’s life,
influencing social development.
Coverage:
• Peer acceptance becomes important for
• Middle and Late Childhood emotional growth and self-perception.
• Physical Development Parent-Child Relationship:
• Sports • Changes in relationships with parents as peers
• Childhood Obesity start to take priority.
• Concrete Operational Thought • The way children interact with their parents may
• Information Processing shift as they seek more independence.
• Language Development
Physical Development
• Communication Disorders
• Theories of Intelligence Overall Physical Growth:
• Measuring Intelligence: • Growth slows down during these years.
Standardization and the • Typically, children gain 5-7 pounds and grow
2-3 inches per year.
Intelligence Quotient
• They become leaner, gain muscle strength,
• Extremes of Intelligence: and develop better lung capacity for physical
Intellectual Disability and activity.
Giftedness Growth Spurt:
• Education • The growth spurt begins earlier in females
• Cultural Differences in the than in males:
o Girls: Around age 9
Classroom o Boys: Around age 11
• Children with Disabilities Motor Skills:
• Children with Disabilities: • Gross Motor Skills (large muscle
Legislation movements) improve (e.g., riding a bike).
• Fine Motor Skills (small muscle movements)
• Erikson: Industry vs. Inferiority
also improve (e.g., cutting nails).
• Self-Understanding • Boys typically outperform girls in gross motor
• Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral skills, while girls outperform boys in fine motor
Development skills.
• Friends and Peers Brain Development
• Bullying • Brain Growth Spurts:
• Family Life o Two main growth spurts occur:
▪ Ages 6-8: Improvements in fine
motor skills and eye-hand
coordination.
Middle and Late Childhood (Ages 6-11) ▪ Ages 10-12: Development of the
frontal lobes, enhancing logic,
Physical Development: planning, and memory.
• Children gain better control over their body • Myelination:
movements. o Myelination is a key factor in brain
• Mastery of gross motor skills (larger body development during this period.
movements like running, jumping) and fine o From ages 6-12, the association areas
motor skills (smaller movements like writing, of the brain (connecting sensory, motor,
drawing). and intellectual functions) become
Brain Development: almost fully myelinated.
• Brain changes during this time help with o This leads to faster information
physical growth and better reasoning. processing and quicker reaction
• Greater flexibility of thought develops, times.
improving problem-solving and cognitive skills. • Memory and Learning:
School & Learning: o The hippocampus (responsible for
• School becomes a significant part of life, memory) becomes more myelinated,
expanding children’s world beyond their family. improving memory functioning.
Peer Relationships: • Improved Cognitive Abilities:
1|Hikamac chi
, LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT
o Children develop better abilities to plan • There is a trend of fewer children participating
and coordinate activities using both in traditional sports, with some focusing on
sides of the brain. specialization in one sport, which increases
o They also gain better control over injury risk.
emotions and improve their attention Physical Education:
span as the prefrontal cortex matures. • Physical education (PE) in schools introduces
children to sports.
Sports • After many years of cutbacks, there has been
a return to more PE due to concerns about
Introduction to Organized Sports: childhood obesity.
• Middle childhood is a great time to introduce • However, few states meet the recommended
children to organized sports, helping them PE guidelines (e.g., Oregon and District of
develop social skills, athletic abilities, and a Columbia are exceptions).
sense of competition.
• Soccer is a popular sport, with nearly 3 Childhood Obesity
million children playing in the U.S.
Positive Effects of Sports: BMI and Obesity:
• BMI (Body Mass Index) is used to measure if
• Participation in sports is linked to:
o Higher satisfaction with family life and
a child is overweight or obese:
o 85th percentile or higher =
overall quality of life.
o Improved physical and emotional
overweight.
o 95th percentile or higher = obese.
development.
• In 2015-2016:
o Better academic performance.
o 13.9% of 2-5 year-olds and 18.4% of
Concerns About Competition:
• Overemphasis on competition and skill can
6-11 year-olds were obese.
lead to children losing interest and quitting Health and Cognitive Risks:
• Obesity in children is linked to:
sports.
o Medical issues like high blood
• Coaches are now advised to reduce drilling
and allow children to play freely and choose pressure, insulin resistance, and
positions to help them maintain their love for inflammation.
o Cognitive problems like impaired
the game.
Barriers to Sports Participation: executive functioning, working
• Factors like gender, poverty, location,
memory, mental flexibility, and
ethnicity, and disability can limit children's decision-making.
o Poor diet (high in saturated fats) can
opportunities to participate in sports.
• Girls are more likely to have never
impair brain functioning, especially in
participated in sports and may receive less memory tasks.
o Lack of impulse control can make it
support from fathers compared to boys.
• Children in suburban areas have higher
harder for overweight children to avoid
sports participation rates compared to those in unhealthy foods.
• Childhood obesity increases the risk of
rural or urban areas.
• Caucasian children participate in sports more
cognitive decline and future health problems
than minority children. like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Dropout Rates in Sports: Parental Recognition and Misperception:
• Many parents do not recognize when their
• Fun is the number one reason why children
quit organized sports. child is overweight or obese. This is known as
• About 1 in 3 children drop out of organized
"oblivobesity".
• Studies found that:
sports.
o 75% of parents with overweight
• Proper coach training can lower dropout
rates (from 30% to 5%). children thought their child had a
Esports: normal weight.
o Parents of obese children were more
• Esports (competitive video gaming) is
becoming more popular, with many children likely to misperceive their child’s
watching or participating in video game weight as normal.
• As children's average weight increases,
competitions.
• 1 in 4 children between ages 5-16 consider
parents' perception of what is "normal" also
playing computer games with friends a form of rises.
exercise. Children’s Misperception:
2|Hikamac chi
