Primary Age Children-1st Grade

By: Kelsey Arlt & Nohemi Calderon

Introduction 1st Grade1st grade is the next grade level after kindergarten. The ages are between 6-7 years of age. The following developmental milestones apply to most children in this age group. However, a child might reach these stages earlier or later than other children the same age.

Emotional and Social Development• For the first grader, oneself is extremely important. Students are competitive

and self-centered. First graders love having a “best friend” even though they may decide to “tattle tell” on their friend at any given moment.

• First graders may have some extreme behaviors that need to be understood, but not always tolerated: tantrums, teasing, bossing, complaining, and tattling.

• Extremely sensitive, a warm encouraging comment from a peer or more importantly a teacher can go a long way

• Criticism and/or failure is hard for child to handle • School replaces the students' home as most significant environmental influence. • Like to work with and look after younger children • Very interested in rules and rituals • Spending time with friends becomes increasingly important; enjoy working/playing with same sex

friends • First graders love to be first and are often loud, rash, active and verbal. • By the end of first grade, students should become better able to work with peers and function better as

a “social unit.”

Abnormal Emotional Signs

• Relationships • Separations• Involvement• Focusing• Affect (mood)• Self-image• Anxiety level• Impulse control• Transitions

Activities to support emotional development

• Play dates- give children of the same age a chance to practice social interaction.

• Role playing activities- simulate real-life situations that involve emotional or social development. Children are able to practice handling situations they might encounter, such as a peer who won't share a toy or a child who is bullying.

• Creative time play- Creative activities let young children express emotions they may have difficulty verbalizing. Painting a picture or playing with clay are two examples of art projects to facilitate social and emotional development.

Language Development

o Follow directions, retell stories, and explain visual information.o Describe people, places, things and events using complete sentences.o Start a conversation about a topic of interest and take turns in

conversation.o Express ideas with a variety of complete sentenceso Use most parts of speech (grammar) correctlyo Ask and respond to basic questions (who, what, where, when, why)o Give directionso Create rhyming wordso Identify all sounds in short wordso Have a sight vocabulary of 100 common wordso Express ideas through writingo Begin each sentence with capital letters and use ending punctuation

Abnormal Signs

o Rate of speech is extremely fast or slowo Cannot retell stories using specific details o Has a small vocabulary for her/his ageo Speech is difficult to understand compared with peerso Whole or part word repetitions (“I need to…to…to...to go

the bathroom”) (“D…d…d…do I need my p…p…p…pencil”)

o Prolongations of sounds (“Mmmmmmmy mommy’s at home”)

o Physical signs of struggle while speaking (hand clenching, face squishing, frustration)

Activities to support language development

o Acknowledge and encourage all attempts to speak. Show that you understand the word or phrase by fulfilling the request, if appropriate.

o Pause after speaking. This gives the child a chance to continue the conversation.

o Continue to build vocabulary. Introduce a new word and offer its definition, or use it in a context that is easily understood

o Encourage group conversations to take turns speaking, listening and responding to others.

o Play games with the child such as "house." Exchange roles in the family, with your pretending to be the child.

o Encourage the child to read books to you, both fiction and non-fiction. Help sound out difficult words.

o Read aloud to the child, choosing books that are above his/her own reading level.

o Read a story together then ask the child what happened first, next, and last.

Physical Development• First graders are alive with energy and with growing! The average first

grader grows rapidly with as much speed as their physical activity!

• Good visual pursuit for reading • More aware of fingers as tools; fine motor skills still developing • Sloppy; in a hurry; speed is a benchmark of first graders • Noisy in the classroom • Learning to distinguish left from right • Oral activity (teething)- chews pencils, fingernails and hair • Easily tires; frequent illnesses • Child “play” is ending and the role of reality is moving to the forefront both physically

and mentally. • Proportionately longer arms and legs give them an awkward appearance • Like to test muscle strength and skills • Have a good sense of balance

Abnormal Signs• Does not seem to recognize self as a separate person, or does not

refer to self as “I”• Has great difficulty separating from parent or separates too easily• Is anxious, tense, restless, compulsive, cannot get dirty or messy, has

many fears, engages in excessive self-stimulation• Seems preoccupied with own inner world; conversations do not make

sense• Shows little or no impulse control; hits or bites as first response;

cannot follow a classroom routine• Expresses emotions inappropriately (laughs when sad, denies

feelings); facial expressions do not match emotions• Cannot focus on activities (short attention span, cannot complete

anything, flits from toy to toy)

Activities to support physical development

• First graders are beginning to really develop their ability to move. Your child should be able to:

• demonstrate loco-motor skills including: run, hop, jump, leap, slide, gallop, and skip

• combine two loco-motor movements to form a pattern (skip, skip, jump, jump, repeat)

• perform kicking, striking, throwing and catching patterns in a simple fluid environment (a throwing and catching game or a kicking game)

• put together simple tumbling patterns that involve weight shift, rolling, and flight (hop, hop, hop, somersault, run and leap)

• move to a simple rhythmic beat while recognizing the pattern

Cognitive Development

o Enjoy learning through discovery.o Ask many questions. o Organizes physical objects as a way to remember them.o Count, read and write to 120.o Add and subtract numbers up to 20.o Understand place value in two-digit numbers.o Measure lengths of objects by using a shorter object.o Develop skills with sorting, describing, comparing and recording

observations.o Find patterns in his/her observations and start to think about what

they mean.o Identify which animals belong in which habitats, and match

characteristics of animals with their physical environment.

Abnormal Signs

• Difficulty retaining information and learning simple routines

• Confusion and behavior problems in new situations or places

• Short attention span• Difficulties in concentration or attention

might be cause by learning disabilities• Some disabilities affect the child’s

ability to understand and communicate

Activities and materials to support cognitive development

o Take children on “field trips” and talk about what you saw and learned.

o Gently encourage creativity and independent thought

o Materials such as maps of the local areao Board gameso Puzzles of 100 to 500 pieceso Books about topics of interest to the child (fiction

and nonfiction)

Cultural and Ethnic Factors

• Children might…• Family and culture• • Tell friends or adults about a family or cultural

tradition.• • Bond with family and friends who share their

time and talents with• the child.• Self management• • Calm down own strong emotions and avoid

acting on impulse.• • Understand how the body and face show

different emotions.• • Describe ways to cope with and manage stress.

For example, if a• friend doesn’t want to play any more (stress), invite

someone else to• play with you (cope).• Learning to learn• • Focus attention on a task/topic and ignore

distractions.• • Start to be able to stay focused on tasks assigned

by others.• • Listen with attention.

• Adults Role:• Family and culture• • Include your child in family and cultural traditions, rituals,

routines• and activities.• • Involve your child in preparing meals, household chores,

gardening,• shopping and other daily tasks.• • Build community with other families through activities such as

coffees,• celebrations, fi eld trips, etc.• Self management• • Teach your child calming techniques: such as counting to 10,

taking• a walk or singing a favorite song. Remind your child of these

skills• when he or she is upset.• Learning to learn• • Together with your child, explore Web sites or books with

pictures• of animals, foods or things that interest the child. Talk about

what• you see.• • Turn off television and video games while doing homework or• chores to help the child stay focused.

Socio-economic and Environmental Factors

o Children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development can be considerably impacted by their environment

o Some factors affecting the child’s development are; nutrition, family and play

o Children need to eat the right amount of calories and nutrients for proper growth and development

o A child’s emotional and social development may be affected when he or she lives in an abusive home

o Children need a supportive and positive environment

o Relationships with parents, siblings and caregivers can also affect the development of cognitive and language skills

o Play is essential for child’s overall development- it allows the child to interact with others which helps the child’s emotional and social development

o Play also gives the child opportunities to increase physical activity and develop motor skills

Socio-economic and Environmental Factors

• The absence of resources such as nutrition, care, education, medical care and social services affect children’s overall development

• Children living in low income families may have stunted growth and poor motor skills

• They are more likely to show antisocial behaviors and suffer from depression

• Levels of poverty may also impact children’s cognitive skills like memory, letter recognition and reading

Sources• http://

www.ucsfchildcarehealth.org/pdfs/Curricula/CCHA/15_CCHA_SocialEmotional_0406_v2.pdf

• http://www.del.wa.gov/publications/development/docs/guidelines.pdf

• http://www.ltl.appstate.edu/436/student/grlevcase/firstgrddevstudy.html

• http://www.education.com/magazine/article/First_Grader_Able_To/

• http://www.livestrong.com/article/268217-activities-for-childrens-emotional-social-development/

• http://www.siskin.org/downloads/FactsonCognitiveImpairment.pdf

The End

http://www.education.com/reference/article/first-grade-milestones-your-child-track/?page=2

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http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/parent-stim-activities.htm

http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/pediatrics/learning_and_developmental_disorders/learning_disabilities.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/159854-sources-of-impact-on-early-childhood-development/

http://www.ehow.com/info_8048090_economic-factors-affecting-children.html