DEVELOPMENTAL PROFILE
FOR 4TH GRADE STUDENTS
AGE 9

Physical Development

• The child begins to look more mature and may be described as a “big boy” or “big girl.”
• Large muscle control (muscles that control things like running and jumping) and a sense of body ownership contribute to the physically active stance of this age child.
• Sexual awareness becomes more prominent and may be discussed with those of the opposite sex.
• There are frequent minor ills-- eyes hurt when reading, dizzy when running, wrists hurt during penmanship, etc.
• There is increased interest in the workings of the body.
• The child may turn to books to learn about sex, organs, menustration, etc.  Curiosity is common and often leads to active pursuit of answers.
• There may be some interest, though fleeting, in sex roles and clothing, actions, etc.

Emotional Development

• Child feels and expresses a sense of personal dignity and self-responsibility.
• "Worrying" begins to occur.
• Tensional outlets increase again-- fidgeting, biting nails, fussing with hair, etc.
• Child is less likely to stutter, but mutters and complains in undertones.
• Awareness of others becomes more sensitive.
• At five, the child could verbalize nonverbal signals of joy and pleasure, at age seven, anger and scorn are noticed, at age nine, ear and surprise are also noticed.
• Child possesses a real awareness that others have the same sets of emotions and needs that he or she feels.
• Adults (but usually not parents) are seen as people for the first time in the sense of having emotions and needs.

Philosophical/Moral Development

• The child usually has a fair understanding of right and wrong by now.
• The child tends to tell the truth unless a lie will help to escape punishment-- and when lying, there is a true awareness that he or she is doing so.
• Praise for efforts is desired and usually effective for improving performance.
• There is a tendency toward accepting responsibility and expressing guilt for wrongdoing and error.
• Jobs and responsibilities are accepted, but the child tends to procrastinate at this age, forgetting to perform agreed upon tasks.
• The child is less likely to tattle at this age in order to look superior to others.
• Group loyalty may begin to form.

Social Development

• The child is social and referents (individuals child wants to “please”) switches more definitely to friends and classmates.
• A sense of belonging and belonging to “clubs” is an important desire for the child-- especially when secret codes, messages, hand signals, etc. are part of the program.
• The child can be appealed to with respect to giving a fair hearing to others' ideas.
• The ability to understand something from another person’s perspective develops rapidly in this age range.
• It can be expected that the child will begin to show self-reliance.
• Performing in front of groups may be embarrassing since a social self-consciousness is developing.
• Bossiness is resented and eluded-- especially from older siblings or students who "grab" the reins.

Intellectual/Cognitive Development

• Concrete stage (the ability to use logical reasoning rather than relying on perceptions) is still most common and appropriate.
• Conservation (the understanding that physical attributes such as mass and weight stay the same even if appearance changes) of matter should be occurring.
• Objects have discrete identity even when discontinuous (for example water can be in the form of a solid, liquid, or a gas).
• Counted numbers now make real sense.  One-to-one correspondence is achieved (one number per item).
• Rulers, maps, and distance begin to make real sense and the child can realistically utilize representation of reality (e.g., a symbol that represents a railroad) without losing sight of true meaning.
• Sequence, progression, and duration as functions of time begin to make sense.
• Causal relationships (e.g., stomach growls because you are hungry) can be taught and understood in a rudimentary fashion.
• Child has dawning of not being "center of the universe."