Early Start: Your little one: six to eight years old

CEBU, Philippines - The growth and learning between birth and eight years old help lay the foundation for a person’s future development. The ways infants and young children think, interact, and explore are unique to their development and children depend on their parents and caregivers to meet their specific needs. Today’s article highlights characteristics of children six to eight years old. It gives tips and suggestions that will enable adult caregivers and parents to understand and support their little one’s development.

Middle childhood brings many changes in a child’s life. By this time, a child’s physical, social, and mental skills are developing quickly. Children have better control of their body; gross and fine motor skills have become more sophisticated. They will now have the ability to coordinate movements from both their upper and lower extremities into a synchronized motion.

What you can do: Provide opportunities for active play, sports, and art. This allows them to use their bodies and minds in different ways. Give your child an open space and different materials (boxes, paper, glue, empty bottles, and pieces of cloth). This will challenge your child to use his imagination to come up with their own games and activities.

While family is still extremely important to your six-year-old, as children get older, they begin to show a desire for more independence. They pay attention to friendships and teamwork and are becoming increasingly aware of their peers’ opinions. They also have many best friends.

What you can do: Have constant conversations with your child and take an interest in his friendships and how he feels about them. Help your child set his own achievable goals—he’ll learn to take pride in himself and rely less on approval or reward from others. Support your child in taking new challenges and encourage him to solve problems, such as disagreements with another child, on his own.

At this stage, children understand that there are rules. The world is opening up to them quickly and rules stop the world from being too confusing. They also begin to understand the concept of fairness and of values. They notice that families value different things. They are starting to take responsibility for things. They have a strong desire to please and do well.

What you can do: Show affection for your child. Give your child some small tasks around the house. Praise your child for good behavior and if he does something wrong, focus more on explaining the consequences of his actions and what he should do next time. Use discipline to guide and protect your child, rather than punishment to make him feel bad about himself. Make sure the consequence follows logically from the infraction. If a child takes something that is not his, have him return it and apologize rather than ground him for a week.

At this stage, children are developing a sense of cause and effect—they are more interested in the process than in the product of the activity. They are very curious about the world and start to have strong interests in subjects in school.

What you can do: Plan activities that give them opportunities to use their senses. Engage them in science activities to help them understand processes and predict results. Give them books that contain facts. Talk to them about what they are learning in school. Rather than always watching television and going on the internet, plan activities so they can experience the outside world and how things work. Cebu offers access to the mountains, the beach, and cultural heritage sites. It may take a little bit of research and effort, but these activities will enhance your child’s development and enrich his lives.

Source: CDC Child Development—Middle Childhood

The FREEMAN and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. is running weekly features on Early Childhood Care and Development to emphasize the importance of Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) and to increase public support for ECCD.