Characteristics+of+Second+Graders

=Developmental Characteristics of Second Graders =

Every child’s development is unique. Although children develop through a generally predictable sequence of milestones, we cannot say exactly when a child will reach each and every stage. Every child has his or her own timetable. The characteristics below are offered only as a reference to give you a better understanding of your child. Feel free to contact your pediatrician and/or your child’s school if you have any questions.

==The Seven-Year-Old == ===Physical Development === ===Social and Emotional Development === ===Intellectual Development === ==The Eight-Year-Old ==
 * Great differences in the size and abilities of children may affect self-concept
 * <span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Large muscles in arms and legs are more developed than small muscles
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Learning to use small/fine muscles
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Long arms and legs may give gawky, awkward appearance
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">When tired, may not want to rest
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Sometimes tense
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Many physical hurts, real and imagined
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Touchy; may say or think, “Nobody likes me.”
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Love to talk, even exaggerate
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Work hard to please teachers, parents, and other adults
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Sensitive to adult evaluation
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">More independent, but still relies heavily on the teacher
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">More emphasis on fairness
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Likes structure; dislikes changes in school routines
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Compare self to others; can be self-critical
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Establishing friendships becomes very important, although they often lack the skills necessary to do so
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">View things as right or wrong, wonderful or terrible, with very little middle ground
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Seek a sense of security in groups, organized play, and clubs
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">More serious and less impulsive than first graders
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Realize that there are many things that need to be learned, sometimes leading to less confidence than in first grade
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Begin to reason logically and organize thoughts coherently
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Most thinking is done about actual physical objects; difficulty handling abstract reasoning
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Often makes decisions based on influence of others instead of by reasoning
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Develop more skill in reading
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Want to assume more responsibility
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">May reverse printed letters (b/d)
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Speaking and listening vocabulary expanding at a very rapid pace
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Like to collect, organize, and sort things
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Longer attention span
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Learn to evaluate what they do
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Need closure, want to complete assignments
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Like to work slowly
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Want work to be perfect; erase constantly
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Need manipulatives to learn effectively
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Like to know how things work
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Egocentric, but beginning to understand others’ perspectives

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #336699; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Physical Development
===<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #336699; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Social and Emotional Development === ===<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #336699; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Intellectual Development === <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Reference: "GCISD - Curriculum Guides and Developmental Characteristics." 2002. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. 7 Dec. 2007.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">High energy
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Enjoy rough and tumble games, as well as team sports
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">May be physically daring
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Fine motor skills showing increased speed and smoothness
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Some write with tiny letters and artwork becomes more detailed
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Large muscles in arms and legs are more developed than small muscles
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Seven to nine-year olds are learning to use their small muscles skills (printing with a pencil; using scissors and small tools) and their large muscle skills (throwing and catching a ball)
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Large differences in size and abilities of children; may affect the way they get along with others, how they feel about themselves, and what physical activities they do
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Enjoy testing muscle strength and skills
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Good sense of balance
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Begin to define self based on certain attributes or achievements, such as “I wear glasses,” etc
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Can become self-conscious based on how they believe they look in the eyes of others
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Establishing friendships is very important, although they may lack skills to do so
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Emergence of a sense of humor--telling jokes
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Less dependent on adults and more dependent on peers
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Begins to question authority and test limits
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Often overestimate abilities; “they bite off more than can chew”
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Interested in rules and rituals
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Generally girls tend to play more with girls; boys with boys
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">May have a best friend
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Strong desire to perform well, do things right
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Find criticism and failure difficult to handle
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">View things as right or wrong, wonderful or terrible, with little middle ground
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Need a sense of security in groups, organized play and clubs; friendship groups may be larger
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Generally enjoy caring for and playing with younger children
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Concrete Operations Stage of Thinking is solidifying for most children. They can reason logically about actual objects and organize thoughts coherently. They cannot handle abstract reasoning very well unless it relates to real experiences.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Learn best through active, concrete experiences, but are learning to see books as sources of information; reading may become a major interest
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Developing a longer attention span
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Enjoy collecting, organizing, and classifying objects and information
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Imaginative play in the form of skits, plays, and puppet shows
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Likes groups and group activities
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">May reverse printed letter (b/d) (until mid-third grade)
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Enjoy planning and building
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Speaking and listening vocabularies are expanding rapidly; talkative
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Increased problem-solving ability
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Interested in magic and tricks
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Learning to plan ahead and evaluate what they do
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">When something is suggested, they may say, “That’s dumb”or “I don’t want to do that.”
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Beginning to see and understand the perspectives of others.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Listen well, but they are so full of ideas that they cannot always recall what has been said
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Like to explain ideas--may exaggerate
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Engrossed in activity at hand; love to socialize at the same time
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Industrious; often work quickly
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Basic skills begin to be mastered; begin to feel a sense of competence with skills