School-Age Children Development

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Behavior

Frequent physical complaints (such as sore throats, tummy aches, arm/leg pain) may simply be due to a child's enhanced body awareness. Although frequently no physical evidence for such complaints can be found, the complaints need to be investigated, both to rule out substantial conditions and to assure the child that the parent is concerned about his or her well-being (maintaining trust).

Peer acceptance becomes increasingly important during the school-age years. Behaviors that are important to be part of the group need to be negotiated with parents to allow the child to have some conformity and group standing without crossing beyond the boundaries of acceptable behavior within the family's standards.

Friendships at this age tend to be primarily with members of the same sex. In fact, early school-age children typically denounce or talk about how "strange" or "awful" members of the opposite sex are. This lack of appreciation of the opposite sex steadily diminishes as the child approaches adolescence.

Lying, cheating, or stealing are all examples of behaviors that school-age children may "try on" in learning how to negotiate the many expectations and rules placed upon them by family, friends, the school, and society in general. Such behaviors challenge parents to deal with the misdeed privately (avoiding peer ridicule), applying a punishment that is meaningfully related to the behavior, and modeling reparation and forgiveness.

An ability to maintain attention is important for success both at school and at home. 6-year-olds should be able to focus upon an appropriate task for at least 15 minutes. By the age of 9, a child should be able to focus attention for about an hour.

It is important for the child to learn how to deal with failure or frustration without decreasing self-esteem or developing a sense of inferiority.