Middle Childhood Cognitive Development
Writing Skills
Writing is very important throughout our society. It is used in different education systems such as elementary, middle school, high school, and even colleges. Writing skills are more enhanced in middle childhood. In middle school, children have more assignments or exercises to prepare them for the future. Working with your children and preparing them to obtain great writing skills is very important for parents. The goal is to transform different information into ideas. Not only does it help prepare for higher education but it also could promote creativity. It is important for children to express their thoughts and learning to write about their emotions could be an effective way.
Activity for parents:
During our program, we promote parents and children to exchange letters to one another. They are encouraged to pick a topic of interest given and expand their thoughts on the concept. Both the parents and children are instructed to use a freeform writing style. As children age, their concepts will progress into more advanced critical thinking.
Gifted Children
Giftedness in children is an awareness that certain children are identified as gifted or talented. It is important to acknowledge their high preformance in intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas. If parents and teachers acknowledge this concept within middle childhood, children can continue to transform that creativity. In order to promote the concept of giftedness, services need to be provided. School systems need to acknowledge this and challenge these children intellectualy.
Activity for Parents:
Outside of the school envrionment, parents can foster and encourage their childrens talents. They can provide a rich learning envrionment for their children that allows for exploration but also help create a balance between school work and fun activities. This way children can manage their stress effectively. Parents should also realize they should not have high expectations that they lose sight of the fact that gifted children are still children.
Learning Disorders
Children with a learning disorder have normal intelligence. Learnign disorders here refer to dyslexia, which is a reading disorder. Common characteristics of this disorder are having difficulty distinguishing or seperating sounds in spoken words. This creates a problem when they are learning to read and write. Trainign children on knowledge of letter sound correspondence and phoneme awareness are succesful attemplts to intervene. Children need to be aware that this is a common problem for many students and that they do not have low intelligence. It is common for the children to have low self esteem and to experience anxiety.
Activity for Parents:
To read and speak to your children. This will help them practice and understand better. Early identification and training can benefit the child greatly. Reading, writing, and listening to lectures are used in all education systems. It is important for your child to know that they are normal.
