Developmental Stages
of the
Typical
6-12 year old
Group 2
6 years
Gross Motor Milestones
• Hops, skips, jumps, throws and catches ball
• Constantly on the go lugging, tugging,
digging, dancing, climbing, pushing and
pulling
• Try activities that exceed their abilities (i.e.:
swinging too high, building too tall)
6 years
Gross Motor Milestones
• Seems less coordinated than previous
year, awkwardness may cause
accidents (i.e.: falls out of chair while
eating, knocks over glass, etc.)
6 years
Fine Motor Milestones
• Increased control in
hand use
• Increased speed and
dexterity
• Master printing and
work on cursive
• Copies designs,
shapes, letters &
numbers
• Mature pre hension
patterns
• Manages buttons,
zippers, laces &
other closures
• Ties a knot and bow
• Prints name
6 years
Fine Motor/ADL’s
• Independent with all basic self care
• Begin chores (i.e.: help with cooking,
laundry, sweeping, dusting, making bed
etc.)
6 years
Speech-Language Milestones
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Names some letters, numbers and currencies
Sequences numbers
Understands Left/Right
Uses increasingly more complex descriptions
Engages in conversations
Receptive vocabulary of ~20,000 words
Sentence length ~ 6 words
Understands most time concepts
Recites alphabet
Rotely counts to 100
Uses morphologic markers appropriately
Uses passive voice appropriately
Speech is intelligible
6 years
Cognitive Milestones
• Begins to demonstrate concrete
operational thinking
6 years
Social-Emotional Milestones
• Feels one way only about a situation;
has some difficulty detecting intentions
accurately in situations where damage
occurs
7 years
Gross Motor & Fine Motor Milestones
•
•
•
Gross Motor
Achieves an adult reaching
strategy
Execute multiple small
movement strategies (early
braking) when reaching for an
object
Monitor their movements in a
closed loop strategy to control
their reaching
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fine Motor/ADL’s
Prints many words
Writes in cursive
Draws detailed pictures
Manages dexterity tasks (i.e.:
playing piano, stringing small
beads, fastens necklace)
Draws 3 interlocking circles
Ties shoe laces
Measures ingredients & uses
simple kitchen utensils
Squeezes toothpaste on
toothbrush
Brushes teeth independently
Starts flossing teeth
independently
7 years
Speech-Language Milestones
• Should have mastered the consonants: s, z, r,
th, ch, wh and the soft g (i.e.George)
• Understands opposites
• Tells time to the quarter hour
• Complete simple reading
• Can write or print many words
• Understands terms such as: alike, different,
beginning, end, etc.
7 years
Cognitive Milestones
• Begins to use some rehearsal strategies to aid
memory; better able to play strategy games;
may demonstrate conservation of mass and
length
• Simple planning and inhibition—ability to resist
distraction
7 years
Social Emotional Milestones
• May express 2 emotions about one
situation, but these will be same
valence; understands gender constancy
8 years
Gross & Fine Motor Milestones
Gross Motor
• Jumps rope skillfully
• Throws and bats a
ball more skillfully
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fine Motor/ADL’s
Makes lunch
Cleans room
Packs school bag
Draws vertical diamond
Cuts things with a knife
Plays a game requiring
considerable FM skill
and good reaction time
8 years
Speech-Language Milestones
• Complex/compound sentences used with ease
• Should be a few lapses in grammatical construction
(i.e.: tense, pronouns, plurals
• All sounds, including blends, should be established
• Reading with considerable ease
• Writing simple compositions-better spelling
• Control rate, pitch and volume of voice
• Carries on adult conversation
• Follows fairly complex directions with little repetition
• Well developed time and number concepts
8 years
Cognitive Milestones
• Difficulty judging is a passage is
relevant to a specific theme
8 years
Social-Emotional Milestones
• Understands that people may interpret
situation differently but thinks this is due
to different information
9 years
Gross Motor Milestones
• Combine strategies to increase
efficiency of movements in order to
reduce attention required
• Master fine timing adjustments to
perturbations
• Continue to use closed loop reaching
strategy which inhibits the ability to
execute anticipatory adjustments and
minimize error
9 years
Fine Motor/ADL’s Milestones
• Can draw a circle made of 8 dots
• Enjoys hobbies requiring high levels of
FM skills (i.e.: sewing, model building)
9 years
Speech-Language Milestones
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Listens attentively in group situations
Understands grade level material
Speaks clearly in an appropriate voice
Asks and responds to questions
Participates in conversations and group discussions
Uses subject related vocabulary
Stays on topic, uses appropriate eye contact and
takes turns in conversation
• Summarizes a story accurately
• Explain what has been learned
9 years
Cognitive Milestones
• May demonstrate conservation of
weight
9 years
Social-Emotional Milestones
• Can think about own thinking or another
person’s thinking but not both at the
same time
10 years
Gross & Fine Motor Development
• Gross Motor
• Jumping distance
continues to
increase
• Fine Motor
10 years
Speech-Language Milestones
• Becomes a more sophisticated speller
10 years
Cognitive Milestones
• Makes better judgments about
relevance of a text
• Begins to delete unimportant
information when summarizing
• Hypothesis testing and impulse control
reaches adult levels
10 years
Social-Emotional Milestones
• Can take own view and view of another
as if a disinterested third party
11 year old
Gross & Fine Motor Milestones
• Gross Motor
• Running speed
stabilizes for girls
• Fine Motor
11 years
Speech-Language Milestones
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Forms opinions based on evidence
Listen for specific purposes
Listens and understands info. presented by others
Uses words appropriately in conversation
Understands some figurative language
Gives accurate directions to others
Summarizes & restates ideas
Organizes info. for clarity
Uses subject area info. & vocabulary for learning
Make effective oral presentations
Follows written directions
11 years
Speech-Language Milestones
• Takes brief notes
• Learns meanings of synonyms and multiple
meaning words
• Use reference materials
• Explain author’s purpose and writing style
• Make inferences
• Paraphrase
• Write effective stories and explanations
• Develop a plan for writing
• Edit for grammar, punctuation and spelling
11 years
Cognitive Milestones
• May demonstrate conservation of
volume
11 years
Social-Emotional Milestones
• Still has trouble detecting deception
• Spends more time with friends
12 year old
Gross & Fine Motor Milestones
• Gross Motor
• Plays ball more
skillfully due to
improved reaction
time
• Fine Motor
12 years
Speech-Language Milestones
• Maintain eye contact and use gestures, facial
expressions and appropriate voice during group
presentations
• Participate in class discussions across subject
areas
• Summarize main points
• Report about info. gathered in group tasks
• Learn meanings of unfamiliar words through
knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes
• Prioritize info. according to the purpose of
reading
12 years
Speech-Language Milestones
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Describe development of character and plot
Describe characteristics of poetry
Analyze author’s language and style
Use reference materials to support opinions
Writes for a variety of purposes
Vary sentence structure
Revise writing for clarity
12 years
Cognitive Development
• Shows skill in summarizing and outlining
• Improvements in goal setting
• Verbal design and fluency, motor
sequencing & planning emerging
• Increased inhibition
• Increased verbal memory
• Short term memory reaches adult levels
12 years
Social-Emotional Milestones
Typical Developmental Skills
6-12 year olds
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Asha.org(American Speech and Hearing Association)
www.brightfutures.aap.org(American Academy of Pediatrics)
Ames, LB, Gillespie, C, Hayines, J & Ilg, FL. The Gesell Institute’s Child from
One to Six: Evaluating the Behavior of the Preschool Child. New York. Harper
& Row, 1979.
Campbell, S. Vander Linden, D, & Palisano, R. Physical Therapy for Children.
Missouri:Saunders Elsevier, 2006.
Effgen, S. Meeting the Physical Therapy Needs of Children. Philadelphia: F.A.
Davis Company, 2005.
Schmitz, C, Martin, N, & Assaiante C. Building anticipatory postural
adjustments during childhood: A kinematic and electromyographic analysis of
unloading in children from 4 to 8 years of age. Experimental Brain Research:
2002.
Case-Smith, J; Allen, A; Pratt, P (1996). Occupational Therapy for Children.
St. Louis. Mosby, Inc.
References
• Cech, D; Martin, S (1995). Functional Movement Development
Across the Lifespan. Philadelphia. W.B. Saunders
• Huizinga M, Dolan CV, van der Molen MW. Age related change
in executive function: developmental trends and a latent variable
analysis. Neuropsychologia. 2006; 44: 2017-2036.
• Capilla A, Romero D, Maestu F, Campo P, et. Al. Emergence
and brain development of executive functions, Actas Esp
Psiquiatr. 2004; 32 (6): 377-386.
• Anderson V. Assessing executive functions in
children:biological, psychological and developmental
considerations. Pediatric Rehabilitation. 2001;4(3):119-136.
• Romine CB, Reynolds CR. Sequential memory: a
developmental perspective on its relation to frontal lobe
functioning. Neuropsychology Review. 2004;14(1): 43-64.
References
• Tsujimoto S. The prefrontal cortex:functional development
during early childhood. Neuroscientist. 2008;14 Available at
http://nro.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/4/345-a
Accessed March 30, 2009
• Ylvisaker M. Feeney T. Executive functions, self regulation and
learned optimism in paediatric rehabilitation: a review and
implications for intervention. Ped. Rehab. 2002;5(2)51-70.
• Rueda MR, Rothbart MK, McCandliss BD, et.al. Training
maturation and genetic influences on the development of
executive attention. Porc. Natl. Acad.Sci. U.S.A. 2005;102(41).
Available at http://www.pnas.org/content/102/41/14931.long
Accessed March 31, 2009