Many changes take place between 11 and 13. Childhood ends and adolescence begins. In some areas, middle schoolers are more like adults than their younger peers. Take a peek at some of the major achievements of this age, and then click on the associated hyperlink to get a more in-depth view of the many things that children this age are learning! By the end of this period your child:
Should be able to:
- Mentally manipulate abstract ideas (e.g., formulate a hypothesis before testing it out). (cognitive development)
- Project into the future, using thinking and reasoning to develop expectations for specific outcomes and to formulate long-term goals. (academic skills)
- Look beyond literal interpretations and understand the metaphoric uses of language. (language & literacy)
- Demonstrate adolescent egocentricism, where she thinks everyone is looking at her (imaginary audience) and that her experiences are supremely unique (personal fable). (social development)
- Show a marked decrease in creativity along with notable conformity of thought . (creativity development)
Will probably be able to:
- Explain his logical reasoning (metacognition). (cognitive development)
- Consider ideas that are contrary to fact (e.g., what if the sun shone at night). (academic skills)
- Understand and form analogies. (language & literacy)
- Move away from parental influence, demonstrate mood shifts (heightened emotions) and increased defiance. In addition, he will likely understand how to participate in and extend peer interactions. (social development)
- Engage in new kinds of problem solving when prompted. (creativity development)
May possibly be able to:
- Demonstrate selective attention and other executive function tasks with reliability. (cognitive development)
- Evaluate the strategies she uses to learn and make decisions based around her metacognitive evaluations and her learning profile. (academic skills)
- Independently carry through abstract themes, such as justice in an essay or debate. (language & literacy)
- Take the path he will continue on into adulthood for vocational interests and peer group choices. (social development)
- Engage in divergent thinking and formulate open ended questions. (creativity development)
See Also
Child Labor