Is the development of an 11 year old child appropriate?

The development that an 11 year old child experiences is usually more challenging, both for parents and for the child. Not to mention the developments related to puberty that some children begin to experience at this age. Then, what developments will an 11 year old child experience? Come on, see the following explanation.

Various aspects of the development of 11 year olds

At the age of 11 years, children will continue to experience physical, cognitive, psychological, and language growth. However, only the stages are increasing.

What happens at this stage of adolescent development in this phase? The following is the full explanation.

Physical development of children aged 11 years

Launching C. S. Mott Children's Hospital, at the age of 11 years, girls will experience physical development in the form of height and weight which increases faster than boys.

So, don't be surprised if girls look taller and bigger than boys their age.

In addition, the physical development experienced by 11 year olds also includes:

Hair growth on the armpits and in the genital area as a sign of the onset of puberty.
Oily skin and hair due to the formation of hormones in the body.
Tendency of a heavier voice.
Started paying attention to her body image more than before.

Yes, according to age, significant physical changes will be experienced by children of this age. Physical changes also begin to appear in the sexual organs.

For example, girls begin to experience breast growth. In fact, some of them may already have their period for the first time.

Meanwhile, in boys, the growth of the penis and testicles also begins at this age.

Given that the child has started puberty at this time, adolescents will eat and sleep more. However, it is not uncommon for those who eat less often because they have started paying attention to their posture.

This happens not only to girls, but also to boys.

In order to support their physical development, you need to support your child to be more active in physical activity. Do not prohibit children from doing physical activities outside the home with friends.

The most important thing in the development of this 11 year old child is to keep him under your supervision. In addition, make sure you also pay attention to his sleeping time.

At this age, children need 9-11 hours to sleep. Keep limiting the time watching television and playing gadget. The goal is to avoid sleep disturbances that will become a habit from an early age.

Cognitive development of 11 year olds

If in the development of a 10 year old child, he already knows how to get the desired information, by the age of 11 the child is able to see a problem from several different points of view.

In fact, a form of cognitive development that your child experiences, he is able to understand that everything in this world is not always absolutely right and wrong.

In addition, other forms of cognitive development experienced by children at the age of 11 include:

Can already understand abstract concepts.
Able to think ahead, although often thinking in the short term.
Understand that there are consequences that may be experienced in the future for his actions now.
Likely to care more about himself than about others.

At this age, children will also experience more challenges at school, especially in academic or educational aspects. Of course the lessons given by the teacher are also getting more difficult.

However, boys at the age of 11 tend to be more focused than before. In fact, boys can concentrate more for a longer period of time.

The cognitive development experienced by children can also be indicated by the child being more active in asking you questions about many things. This is because your child may start to have interests in many things in turn.

Especially at this age, it seems that children like to read books with interesting and specific topics. Do not be surprised if from these habits, children also enjoy writing.

Entering the age of 11 years, cognitive development of girls is also characterized by a tendency to solve problems experienced systematically. This encourages children to respect the point of view of others more than to impose their point of view.

However, it is not uncommon for the emotional changes that he often experiences from time to time at this age that may hinder his cognitive development process.

Psychological development (emotional and social) of 11 year olds

Psychological development experienced by children aged 11 years includes emotional and social development.

Emotional development

At 11 years of age, perhaps the most pronounced emotional development of any other development is erratic mood swings.

This is closely related to the puberty that children begin to experience. No wonder your child can feel happy and then feel sad for a long time.

However, not only that, children at this age will also experience emotional development such as the following:

The ability to make decisions is increasingly well formed.
Refusing touches of affection from parents because they feel more mature.
Beginning to realize that parents have "power" over them.

Along with the emotional development experienced by children of this age, it is not surprising that they begin to have a feeling of wanting to disobey their parents.

However, before it gets out of control, it is important for parents to introduce that there are some things that should not be done because they have a bad impact.

For example, you might be able to provide sex education to this teenager.

Do not take it lightly because understanding sex is important to prevent children from getting inaccurate information.

In addition, there is nothing wrong with letting you know that drinking alcohol, self-harm, smoking and using drugs are bad things and how they will affect them in the future.

At the age of 11, adolescents may have mixed feelings about their development.

This is evidenced by the willingness of children to have greater responsibility, for example by doing more homework.

However, on the other hand, the child may feel afraid and doubtful about himself and what he might achieve. In fact, in boys, this fear and doubt can cause children to lose self-confidence.

Social development

At this age, your child also experiences social development as one of the psychological developments experienced by 11 year olds.

Some of the social developments that will be experienced at this age are:

Start separating from parents and becoming more individual in the family.
Increasingly 'sticky' with friends and choosing to spend more time with them.
At certain times, the child will feel more often bad mood or in a bad mood.
Listen more to suggestions from friends than suggestions from parents.

If previously the child became closer to friends, at this age, his closeness to friends is everything. In fact, children begin to classify themselves as members of a group of friends formed with peers.

This can be shown by the child's behavior starting to be the same with all the friends in the same group of friends.

Children will love and hate the same things as their friends, begin to have the same mindset as their friends, and much more. Usually, this condition occurs most often in girls.

If you don't do the same thing with peers who are members of the group, the child feels that he or she doesn't “deserve” to be in that group.

This then creates pressure that can trigger the child to feel stressed.

Meanwhile, in boys at the age of 11 years, the only social development they experienced was that they became more independent or independent and preferred to spend time playing outside with friends.

However, you still need to provide supervision of the development of children at this age. The reason is, at this age, boys start experimenting with the rules that you give him.

That is, the limits and rules given to him are actually a means of proving himself that even if he violates the rules and boundaries, nothing bad will happen to him.

Language and speech development of 11 year olds

The language development of this 11 year old child shouldn't be too much. In fact, at this age, it's time for you to help your child fix speech or language problems that are still being experienced by him.

If the child still has difficulty speaking, such as slurred or difficulty pronouncing the letter "r" properly, consult a doctor immediately to find the best solution.

At this age, teenagers should have a fairly rich vocabulary. In fact, he has started to be more expressive using body language and facial expressions.

Additionally, your child may already know how to distinguish between formal and informal speech.

For example, children can use formal language when talking to teachers or other adults. Meanwhile, he can be more relaxed when talking with relatives or peers.

Tips for parents in helping child development

As a parent, it is appropriate that you provide full support for the development experienced by children.

There are several things that can be done so that children can experience good growth and development, including:

Provide nutritional intake in accordance with the needs of children.
Freeing children to play outside the house while under your supervision.
Support to be more active in sports and physical activity.
Supporting children to do positive activities.
Helping children in the learning process.
Praise the child in the right way.
Provide sexual education on time.

Basically, it doesn't matter if children still develop a little differently from their peers.

Even so, children who are less sociable and emotionally immature do not rule out being the target of bullying or bullying by their peers.

Therefore, it is important for parents to help their children to grow and develop according to their age. Especially if you notice that your child is experiencing slower growth.

You can also consult with your doctor to find the best solution to the development problems that may be experienced by children aged 11 years. After that, also see how the child develops at the age of 12.

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