Overview
We each develop at our own pace, so it's impossible to tell exactly when a particular student will reach a specific milestone or learn a given skill. The developmental milestones below will give you a general idea of the changes you can expect as each five and six-year-old gets older, but don't be alarmed as each student takes a slightly different course. Honor where they are and support them as they develop.
Nine
Physical Development
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- Like to push their physical limits, but tire easily
- Restless; can't sit still for long
- With better fine motor coordination and control, show more interest in producing detailed drawings and illustrations, scientific notation, comic strips, and graphic novels
- Benefit from practice with a variety of fine motor tools and tasks (weaving, knitting, carving, drawing, etc.) to increase manual dexterity
- May twist hair, bite nails, or purse lips to relieve tension
Social & Emotional Development
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- Impatient and easily frustrated; often say "I hate it" or "It's boring" when work is difficult or repetitious; adult encouragement helps them persevere
- Often feel worried or anxious; complain of and sometimes exaggerate physical hurts; needed adult lightheartedness and humor to relieve their anxiety and somberness
- very critical of self and others (including adults); often complain about fairness issues
- can be selling, moody, aloof, and negative 1 minute and goofy and fun-loving the next
- Like to work with a partner of their choice
- Have a sense of who is and who is out of certain groups in the lunchroom or on the playground; clicks may be problematic
- Very competitive; can work in groups but with lots of arguing
- Like to negotiate; this is the age of "Let's make a deal"
- Need adults to be patient and explain clearly, but concisely
Communication & Language
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- Sometimes revert to baby talk when feeling anxious or silly
- Enjoy exaggeration, inappropriate jokes, and graffiti; adults need to be vigilant about how students are talking about marginalized people and what students are learning from the adults in their lives or online that reinforces stereotypes
- Enjoy and use technology and a range of social media to express ideas and thoughts
Cognitive Development
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- Have trouble understanding abstractions, such as large numbers, long periods of time, or vast areas of space
- Beginning to be more aware, wondering about and exploring a bigger world of ideas, including issues of fairness and justice
- Able to manage more than one concept at a time (for example, when studying history, they can understand both "long ago" and "far away")
- Often ask, "Why do we have to do this?" and need homework related specifically to the next day's work
- Reading to learn instead of learning to read; most ready to read for information in books and newspapers and on websites
- Take pride in attention to detail and finished work, but may jump quickly between interests
- Able to copy from the board, recopy assignments, and produce visually attractive final drafts
Reading, Writing, & Across The Curriculum
Reading - Provide opportunities for children this age to:
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- Tackle assignments that involve beginning research tasks and use of related reading material
- Intensively develop dictionary skills introduced at earlier ages
- Volunteer to read orally during read-aloud
- Explore poetry seriously throughout the year as readers and writers
Writing - Expect from children this age:
- Writing: Readiness for emphasis on the first draft and revision process; ability to utilize teachings about descriptive writing, character development, plot, cohesiveness, and believability; frequent episodes of "writer's block"
- Spelling: Improving use of dictionary skills; improving first-draft spelling; fewer mistakes with spelling in journals and subject writing; readiness for weekly spelling tests; mastery of basic capitalization and punctuation
- Writing Themes: Moving away, divorce, death, disease, and other worries; world issues; poetry about feelings and darker themes
Across the Curriculum - Provide opportunities for children this age to:
- Use and practice fine motor skills through printing, drawing, and crafts that require fine motor coordination
- Work with a partner of their choice some of the time; balance this with structures that help them work and play with all classmates, not just best friends
- Use drama to play with language and practice new vocabulary (for example, they could present a biographical sketch of a famous person and dress up in costume)
Ten
Physical Development
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- Need a great deal of outdoor time with physical activity and challenge for large muscles; without adequate exercise, energy may spill over into acting out in the classroom
- Often write more sloppily than at nine because they are in a hurry
- As control of small muscles improves, they continue to enjoy precision tasks such as tracing, copying, making maps, and drawing cartoons
- Ready to start using tools such as compasses, protractors, rulers, and templates
- Frequent snacks and rest periods benefit rapidly growing bodies
Social & Emotional Development
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- Quick to anger and to forgive
- Usually truthful; developing a more mature sense of right and wrong; able to learn peer mediation or problem-solving
- Highly sensitive to and able to resolve friendship and fairness issues
- Basically cooperative and flexible; do well with group activities and games, collaborative learning, and building a sense of whole-class cohesion
- Benefit from class problem-solving meetings, committee work to plan a field trip, and conducting school surveys
- Eager to reach out to others, such as through community service or tutoring younger children
- Appreciate being noticed and rewarded for their efforts
Communication & Language
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- Read voraciously; important that their daily schedule has as much time for independent reading as for homework
Cognitive Development
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- Increasingly able to think abstractly
- Take great pleasure in collecting, classifying, and organizing
- Can concentrate for longer periods
- Take pride in schoolwork; pay close attention to form, structure, directions, and organization
- Usually conscientious with homework
- Very eager to learn
- Enjoy rules and logic; good at solving problems
- Can pay attention to spelling, dictation, and penmanship simultaneously, but work may be somewhat sloppy as they learn to integrate these skills
- Enjoy choral reading, singing, poetry, and plays
Reading, Writing, & Across The Curriculum
Reading - Provide opportunities for children this age to:
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- Read trade books centered on themes
- Read independently and indulge their desire to devour one book after another; read more and do fewer book projects
- Enjoy comic books and appropriate graphic novels
Writing - Expect from children this age:
- Writing: Readiness to write lengthy stories, longer poems, first research papers, and pieces about famous people -- usually filled with light and descriptive language; more frequent use of humor; more use of dialogue; realistic descriptions of interactions between characters
- Spelling: Memorizing the spelling of difficult words, and using the words, properly spelled, in day-to-day writing
- Writing Themes: Friends, friends, and more friends in many adventures; time travel; letters to request information; notes to friends; reports
Across the Curriculum - Provide opportunities for children this age to:
- Get plenty of exercise
- Do precision tasks, such as drawing maps and using protractors
- Take part in clubs, activities, group games, and team sports
- Participate in class problem-solving meetings and take part in planning for whole-class events
- Reach out to others in the community through service projects or assisting younger grades
- Memorize, classify, organize, and solve logic problems
Credit
This content on development comes from Yardsticks: Child & Adolescent Development by Chip Wood and has been lightly adapted to better reflect the language usage and practices of SFUSD.
This page was last updated on June 1, 2023