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Development of school-age children

Motor development

Gross and fine motor skills significantly and continuously improve throughout this period. The age range of 8 to 12 years is often described as the "golden age of motor learning." Movements become faster and more precise, muscle strength increases, and children show improved performance in writing, drawing, and sports activities.


At first, children's movements when performing practical tasks are concentrated in the shoulder and elbow joints. It is only with further practice that they achieve finer coordination of wrist and finger movements. At the age of eight, the motor performance of boys and girls is roughly the same, but by the age of ten, notable differences emerge. Motor performance does not depend solely on age, but also on external conditions. Children who are encouraged to be active by parents or other adults show faster improvement. On the other hand, children who are physically weaker or are restricted by their parents tend to show lower performance, lose interest in physical activities, and miss out on opportunities for development — creating a vicious cycle.


Children with persistent primitive reflexes may also appear less skilled. Studies have repeatedly shown that physical strength and agility play a significant role in a child's social standing within peer groups. Boys who are smaller or weaker are often lonelier, and some behavioral or emotional issues can be traced back to this. However, some children successfully compensate for physical shortcomings through achievements in academics, music, or other activities where they have natural talents.


Perception

Sensory perception also improves significantly during the school years. Perception is not merely a collection of elementary sensations but a complex psychological process influenced by all aspects of the child's personality — attitudes, expectations, concentration, perseverance, past experiences, interests, and existing abilities. As children grow, they become more focused and persistent. They examine objects thoroughly, not just as a whole but also by analyzing individual parts in great detail.


Speech

Speech, like motor skills, continues to improve during this period. Speech development is critical for academic success as it supports memory and learning. School-age children experience significant growth in vocabulary, sentence complexity, and grammatical accuracy. A seven-year-old child knows about 18,000 words, while an eleven-year-old knows more than 25,000. However, these figures are only rough estimates, as there are considerable individual differences in vocabulary development.


Socialization

The process of integrating a child into society accelerates significantly with the start of formal schooling. Parents remain important role models for children, but teachers and classmates also play an increasing role. By this age, children understand that emotions, desires, and motives can be hidden from others.


Moral development occurs gradually. For children up to around 6 or 7 years old, "good" and "bad" are determined by adult authority — if parents or teachers approve of something, it is good, and if they disapprove, it is bad.


Around the ages of 7 to 8, children begin to recognize certain behaviors as right or wrong independently of adult authority. However, this sense of morality is quite rigid at first. They apply rules equally to everyone, with no exceptions. For example, taking food without permission is always seen as bad.


It is not until around the ages of 11 to 12 that children begin to consider the motivations behind people's actions. For example, they might recognize that a woman who takes food without permission to feed her starving child is acting out of necessity and might even see this as a justifiable exception to the rule.


By the age of eight, children can engage in organized cooperation during play. Group games and team sports become popular.


During early school years, boys and girls play together naturally and without hesitation. However, at the same time, socialization begins to align with gender-based roles. Girls tend to engage more in household-related activities, often helping their mothers, while boys start assisting fathers in more "masculine" tasks (e.g., chopping wood). This distinction is also seen in children's drawings and their future aspirations. Boys often express the desire to be policemen, firefighters, or NHL hockey players — roles associated with power, physical strength, and success. Girls, on the other hand, are more likely to choose professions with social, caregiving, or communicative aspects.


Friendship and peer relationships

During middle childhood (9 to 12 years), the nature of friendships changes. Boys and girls no longer play together as freely as before. Instead, boys tend to form friendships with other boys, and girls with other girls. This separation likely serves to strengthen behavior associated with gender identity.


Boys begin to exhibit behaviors typical of "boyhood" — speaking loudly, boasting, using rough language, wrestling, and competing to show their bravery and strength (e.g., jumping from heights, engaging in nighttime adventures, or achieving sports milestones). During this period, boys may avoid talking to or interacting with girls. Sometimes, being locked in a classroom with girls is seen as a form of punishment.


Girls, in contrast, exhibit stereotypically "feminine" behaviors. They begin to style their hair more, wear jewelry, giggle, and shriek in groups. They may borrow makeup from their mothers and try it on. In groups, girls are bolder, often "flirting" with their male teachers to test their developing sense of femininity.


Later in this period, more intimate friendships emerge. Often, two girls become "best friends," sharing secrets and talking about everything. They may have sleepovers where they stay up late discussing their "secrets." Interestingly, these friendships often exist in pairs — when a third girl enters the picture, one of the original two may be "replaced," and a new best-friend pair is formed.


Boys, on the other hand, tend to form groups of three to four friends. Boys usually come together for a specific purpose, such as playing ball, riding bikes, or testing the limits of rules (like engaging in mildly forbidden activities).


Author of the article: PhDr. Marja Volemanová, PhD.


Main sources:

  • Edice dobrá škola (2012). Diagnostika, školní zralosti. Praha: Raabe. ISBN 978-80-87553-52-7

  • Langmeier, Josef; Krejčířová, Dana (2006). Vývojová psychologie. Praha: Grada. ISBN 978-80-247-1284-0

  • Velemínský, Miloš (2017). Dítě od početí do puberty, 1500 otázek a odpovědí. Praha: Triton. ISBN 978-80-7553-148-3

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