The development of a 9 year old child, is it appropriate?

Entering the age of 9 years, child development is in the early stages of transition from childhood to adolescence. This development can include the physical, psychological, cognitive, to language. Besides that, what kind of growth and development does a 9 year old child experience? Check out the following explanation, yes!

The stages of development of a 9 year old child

The development period of children aged 6-9 years is always interesting to know.

Launching the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), developments at the age of 9 increasingly show that children are starting to slowly break away from their parents.

Growing up children at the age of 9 years usually tend to be more interested in spending time with friends.

At the age of 9 years, several developmental stages experienced by children are physical, cognitive, emotional, social and language development and speech.

The following is a complete explanation of the development of a 9 year old child from various sides:

Physical development of a 9 year old child

Most children at this age experience physical development in the form of increased height and weight.

Generally, children will experience a height increase of up to 6 centimeters (cm). Meanwhile, the child's weight also increases up to 3 kilograms (kg).

In addition, the physical development experienced by a 9 year old child is:

Still experiencing the change of milk teeth to permanent teeth.
It is better to reach the target in the physical activity undertaken.
Girls are usually taller than boys at this age.

In addition to the physical development mentioned above, children of this age also experience physical development according to gender.

This development is also related to the characteristics of puberty in children who begin to experience it. For example, in girls, at the age of 9 years is the onset of puberty.

In fact, some children may have menstruation at this age. Meanwhile, boys will only experience puberty symptoms at the age of 10-11 years.

Usually, in girls, the development at the age of 9 is related to puberty, namely breast growth.

Meanwhile, in boys there will be penis growth. Only after that, both of them will experience hair growth in the genital area and underarms.

However, for both girls and boys, at the age of 9 there will be a lot of challenging physical development.

This development is especially in the early process towards adolescence.

Children may feel that there is something wrong with him when he sees peers who have faster growth and development than him.

Cognitive development of 9 year olds

In addition to physical growth and development, children at the age of 9 also experience cognitive development.

At this age, children naturally experience greater challenges at school in terms of learning.

Children who do well in learning activities and maintain good grades may find this challenge less of a challenge.

However, for children who find it difficult, of course this new challenge makes them even more frustrated with the demands given by the school.

Even so, children will experience cognitive development which they will also get from the learning process at school.

Following is the cognitive development of children aged 9 years:

Learn multiplication and division at school.
Learn to graph using the data provided.
Start being able to add and subtract numbers that are two digits long.
Starting to be able to categorize various objects according to class, for example, watermelon is included in fruits and so on.
Understand long sentences, such as those containing more than 12 words.
Loves to organize and make plans for various occasions.
Already have the ability to make decisions.
Can complete various school assignments that are more complicated than before.
Willing to spend long hours doing activities he likes is due to the ability to focus longer.

Entering the age of 9, children will tend to have a lot of group activities at school.

For example, the child might start getting assignments to do in groups.

However, this is actually good for practicing various abilities, for example in terms of working together to complete tasks.

As a parent, maybe this is the right time to introduce various sources of information that children may need.

Provide a variety of useful reading books for children or invite children to read various information from the many books in the city library.

Psychological development (emotional and social) of 9 year olds

The emotional and social development experienced by children at the age of 9 is certainly more complex.

As with physical development, at the age of 9 years, child development will also experience many new challenges related to puberty.

At this age, children will usually experience the following:

Begins to become aware of social norms and be able to maintain attitudes.
Almost always able to control anger.
Starting to have a great sense of care for his friends.
The sense of empathy that children have for others becomes even greater.
Emotions more stable than before.
Mood swing or mood swings.
I can think more rationally.
Starting to feel anxious about the pressure you are experiencing, for example at school.
Starting to have curiosity about the relationship between boy and girl, even the child may admit it have a crush a friend of the opposite sex.

One of the activities that may be influenced by the psychological development of a child at the age of 9 is that the child has the courage to ask permission to stay at a friend's house.

This can be very important for your child. The reason is, at this age children have a great desire to be accepted by their peers.

So, staying overnight at a friend's house, or going out to play together outside the home are activities "determining" the existence of a child among his peers.

If you can't join in the activity, your child may feel like they can't “get in” the friendship.

In terms of children's social development, as previously mentioned, children will become more attached to friends.

Children can also begin to group the friendships they have, for example where friends are just ordinary friends, close friends, and friends.

Language development and speaking at 9 years old

Actually, at the age of 9 years, the development of language and speech of the child is not very significant.

This means that children have started to be able to speak, read, and use their mother tongue well.

At this age, the growth and development in terms of language that your 9 year old child will experience, namely:

Children often read books, usually books that are interesting to them.
Already have the ability to speak like an adult.
Can write very well, even can make complex sentences with complicated vocabulary.
Can read a variety genre books, ranging from fiction to non-fiction
Able to make works from his writings, it can be in the form of essays, short stories.

Interestingly, according to Mott Children's Hospital, children's speech patterns almost match adults' speech patterns.

Tips for parents to help child development

Even though your child has grown up, it does not mean that you can "take your eyes off" on the child.

This means that the older they are, the more children need support from their parents.

There are several things you can do to support development as your child turns 9, for example:

Encourage children's discussions about him and his friends.
Support children to participate in various activities at school.
Ask the child what he does at school when the child comes home from school.
Assist the child with homework, help when the child needs help.
Teach children how to behave to adults and their friends.
Give praise to the child if the child has done their best.
Give children responsibility by asking them to help clean the house.
Overcome addictions gadget in children by limiting their use for example 1-2 hours a day.

At this age, most children will have friends and this creates a feeling of loneliness when the child's best friend is not there.

Therefore, this is the right time for parents to provide social awareness for their children.

Try to involve the child in various humanitarian activities or other social activities that can show that the child can make a contribution to society.

Entering the age of 9 years, internet use in children may not be inevitable, especially if their peers use social media.

You may have to set rules for your child to have social media.

Make sure that your child does not give anyone their personal information, including information about their home address, photo or phone number.

As a parent, you need to closely monitor internet usage in children.

If necessary, use the internet together and show it website or positive activities that children can do with the internet.

Also tell your child that all the information they get on the internet is not always correct.