COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF SEVEN YEAR OLDS

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Ø     May be moody, shy, sulky, touchy; sometimes depressed

Ø     Prefer playing and working alone or with one friend

Ø     May change friendships quickly and feel “nobody likes me”

Ø     Rely on adults for help and reassurance

Ø     Need the security of rules, routines, and physical boundaries

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Ø     Better at understanding ideas such as time, space and quantity

Ø     Learn new words and meanings quickly; enjoy writing stories

Ø     Open to learning math

Ø     Good at classifying, such as sorting buttons, pictures, leaves, and shapes

Ø     Listen well and speak precisely

Ø     Enjoy hands-on exploration of how things work

Ø     Bothered by mistakes and try hard to make their work perfect

Ø     Like to work slowly and finish what they start

Ø     Enjoy repeating tasks and reviewing learning

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Ø     Often keep their eyes focused on a small, close area

Ø     Copying from board is very hard

Ø     With head on arm or table, grasp pencil point tightly and write very small

Ø     Can do quiet work for longer periods

Ø     Can get sick from worrying about tests, assignments, etc.