Physical Development

During Middle School

Children Ages 10 to 12
Move from elementary
to middle school
Fifth, sixth, and
seventh grade
Often called preadolescents or
preteens

Physical Development
During Middle School

May show early signs of puberty

Growth can be uneven
Girls develop ahead of boys
Can be a time of uncertainty or growing
self-confidence

Physical Development
During Middle School
Rate is roughly 2-3 inches in height and 5 lbs
per year
As girls approach 8-9 years, the rate of growth
increases relative to boys
Girls begin to develop additional fat cells
relative to muscle cells
Girls growth rate is faster than boys until
roughly 13 yearpossibly linked with puberty

Motor Skills Development

Muscle strength and reaction time
improve
May now participate in activities that
require complex skills
Fine-motor skills are improved enough to
complete complicated projects

Gross Motor Development

During middle childhood, running, jumping,
hopping, and ball skills become more refined.
Motor skills improve in the capacities of
flexibility, balance, agility, and force.
Steady improvements also occur in reaction
time11-year-olds can respond almost twice
as quickly to a stimulus as 5-year-olds.

Fine Motor Development

Fine motor development also improves
steadily over the school years.
Gains are especially evident in writing and
drawing.
Writing tends to be large at first, and legibility
gradually increases.
Drawings show gains in organization, detail,
and representation of depth.
School-age children not only depict objects in
considerable detail, they also relate them to
one another as part of an organized whole.

Individual and Group Differences in

Motor Development
Parents who encourage physical exercise
tend to have youngsters who enjoy it more
and who are also more skilled.
Family income affects childrens
opportunities to develop a variety of
physical abilities.
Girls remain ahead in the fine motor area
and skills which depend on balance and
agility.

Individual and Group

Differences in Motor
Development

School-age boys genetic advantage in

muscle mass is not great enough to
account for their superiority in many gross
motor skills; thus, environment plays a
large role in motor development.
Greater emphasis on skill training for girls
along with increased attention to their
athletic achievements in schools and
communities is likely to increase their
involvement.

Growth and Maturation of the Brain

The rapid decline in processing time over middle
childhood is thought to be due to
myelination
synaptic pruning

Growth spurts during middle childhood:

Frontal,
Temporal,
Occipital
Parietal, (Pribram, 1990)

Growth and Maturation of the

Brain
Brain growth spurts roughly correspond to
Piagets observed sequence of cognitive
development
By the end of middle childhood the mass of the
brain closely matches that of the adult brain
The later in childhood a neurological trauma
occurs, the more challenging the recovery and the
re-localization of the functions in the brain due to
a decrease in plasticity

PHYSICAL EDUCATION: The Context of Schoo

provide regularly scheduled opportunities for
exercise and play
ensure that all children have access to physical
activity that supports healthy bodies i.e. a sense
of self-worth as physically active and capable
beings and the cognitive and social skills
necessary for getting along well with others.

Physical Education: The Context of

School
The average school-age child gets only 20
minutes of physical education a week.
The growing fitness movement among adults has
not filtered down to children.
Emphasizing informal games and individual
exercisepursuits that are most likely to last into
later years.
Physically fit children become more active adults
who reap many benefits.