THE SCHOOL YEARS

Although the school years extend right through to the mid to late teens, we will focus here on the period from around age five to twelve, turning to adolescence in chapter 10. Middle childhood is a period of relatively steady growth in physical terms, but great progress in cognitive and social development. It is also a period in which individual differences in the rate and extent of development become more evident.

PERCEPTUAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
By the early school years, children’s sensory capacities are generally well developed and, in many respects, functioning at adult levels. Physical development is well advanced, too, though of course the child is still growing and there are certainly many skills that undergo further development. Children are now capable of a wide range of physical activities, and development tends to consist of increasing control and integration of movements (Cleland & Gallahue, 1993; Gallahue, 1989; Krombholtz, 1997). Individual differences in physical growth and development are influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Some evidence indicates that some disadvantages can persist throughout middle childhood. For example, high proportions of children born prematurely exhibit perceptual–motor problems at age six ( Jongmans et al., 1998). Dowdney, Skuse, Morris and Pickles (1998) studied a sample of British children who were exceptionally short at age four. Very small stature tends to be associated with delayed cognitive development. These children also came from economically disadvantaged homes. At age 11, many of these children continued to fare poorly on tests of cognitive abilities compared to a normal comparison group.