About Grade 4
This 9-10 age is a time of dramatic change which can be both challenging and amazing. Children at this developmental age have rapid changes in cognitive growth, may be physically maturing, have changing emotions and hormone levels, changes in friendship groups and dynamics. While some 9-10 year-olds will start looking and acting more mature, others will remain more child-like, both physically and emotionally. As these factors are all in a state of flux some children, may seem to almost start sounding ‘grown-up’ going from ‘little kid’ to ‘big kid’ with critical thinking skills, great advances in academic learning, a strong drive for independence, a growing social life, and definite opinions and thoughts on who they are and how they want to be.
Let us help you. Together we can develop the full intelligence, personality and potential of children and let our students unleash their creative power and innovative potential.
Your 9-10 year old
The first steps into Primary school
This rapidly developing age is when children need loving guidance.
At the age of 9-10, typically in grade 4, children experience notable developments across various domains. Academically, they demonstrate growing proficiency in subjects such as mathematics, language arts, and science, exhibiting enhanced comprehension skills and a deeper grasp of concepts. Their cognitive abilities continue to expand, marked by an increasing ability for abstract thinking, problem-solving, and logical reasoning. Socially, they further refine their interpersonal skills, forming deeper friendships and exhibiting greater empathy and cooperation within group settings. They become more adept at navigating social dynamics and understanding the perspectives of others. Additionally, their motor skills continue to develop, with improved coordination and physical dexterity, enabling them to engage more confidently in sports, games, and other physical activities. This stage represents a critical period of growth and readiness as children progress through their academic journey in preparation for the challenges of upper primary school and beyond.
9-10 year old
Fine Motor Skills
They have improved agility, speed, coordination, and balance and can excel at sports. Many 10-year-olds love to be highly active: they run, bicycle, skate, jump on trampolines, swim, and play sport, whether team or individual activities. They also have an increase in small muscle coordination, so can do fine motor tasks such as drawing, writing, or playing an instrument leading to a deeper interest in art, music, crafts, reading, or being out in nature. This is why we have in-built flexibility in our program so that you can choose which sessions to do, when to do them, also do them at your own pace.
9-10 Year Old
Emotional Development
9-10 Year Old
Social Development
Social development also increases alot as children start having a greater awareness of other’s perspectives and how it relates to them. They form stronger, more complex friendships and peer relationships. It becomes more emotionally important to have friends, especially of the same sex and there is a shift to more influence from peers, more sensitivity to how they look, and how they fit in. They want to protect themselves from being embarrassed in front of their peers. So although this is an age where children typically gain more self-confidence and self-esteem, it is a critical time for building self esteem because children who feel good about themselves, will be better equipped to handle the peer pressure that comes at this age.
Cognitive Development
This is at the edge of adolescence, so children will now have language skills and cognitive ability to gather information and formulate well-organized opinions and thoughts. They are interesting to talk to and can hold effective conversations in social settings, giving their opinions on news, current events, books, music and other subjects. Help them become independent by listening and offering guidance when they ask or as necessary but letting them come up with ideas and solutions to their issues.
They can read, analyse and criticise longer texts and can themselves be more organised with their own thoughts such as being able to write persuasive essays and argue their point of view logically. In maths this shows up as the ability to practise more mental maths skills and use logic and abstract thinking to solve verbal maths problems. While subjects covering history or social sciences may find 10 year olds researching in libraries or online for school projects and presentations, they will be thrilled to have their own work appreciated. Overall 9-10 year-olds will be moving toward greater independence in managing and organizing school work and homework, requiring less supervision from parents.
things to do:
- Spend time with your child, ask about their day and their friends.
- Encourage joining school activities such as sports team or work as a charity volunteer
- Teach them about online safety and have discussions about the use of mobile phones and social media.
- Keep an early bed-time as children going through so many development changes need adequate rest.
- Encourage working on household task like cooking and cleaning.
- Playing fun educational games like Suduko or Chess
- Do not compare your child to other children of the same age, as all children grow and develop at different rates