The importance of Cognitive Development in early childhood
Middle childhood generally allude to the developmental period between ages 6 and 12, it is an important period in children’s cognitive, social and emotional development (Ntshangase, 2011). Ntshangase (2011) explained that during this period, children can form their thoughts in multi-dimensional ways and that they are able to think about objects in more than one perspective. An important characteristic of this stage is that the slower average growth rate of children compared to the earlier preschool period and the later period of adolescence. During this stage, the average annual growth rate is in terms of height and weight is about 6cm and 2kg individually. On average, the child’s height increases approximately 1.2 m at the age of 6 years to approximately 1.5 m at the age of 12 years, while mass increases over the same time frame from approximately 20kg to approximately 40 kg (Louw et al , 1998). As a result of an increase in strength, coordination and muscular control, a child’s gross motor and fine motor skills improve during this time frame Examples of improved gross motor skills include the ability to walk in a straight line, to run fast and to
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The child’s improved fine motor skills are aided by an improvement of motor-perceptual functioning (which is often called hand-eye coordination). Fine motor skills include skills such as buttoning a shirt, tying shoelaces, holding a pen correctly, being able to write, and copying simple designs. According to Shaffer (2002), three sorts of environmental influences can majorly affect physical growth and development during middle childhood, in particular the quality of care that children receive, nutrition and