Years 6 to 9: Explorers

This is the years of the “Social and Imaginative Stage”. During this stage, the child is more stable, has great energy, and is relatively calm. At this point, the child has mastered the basic human skills of basic intelligence, coordinated movements, and fluent speech. Each child’s individual personality becomes more noticeable.

 

During this stage of development, children learn through reasoning and using their imagination and logic to explore topics. Their minds are filled with questions and they are desperate to know the who, what, when, why, and how of everything.

 

At this age, children are also sensitive to peer identity. It is very important for them to be accepted by their peers. It is usually at this stage that the child will begin to distance themselves from their family in an effort to find their new identity in the peer group.

 

It is also during this developmental phase that children establish a set of ethics and morals for themselves. They form ideas about right and wrong, good and evil. It is at this point that children should be introduced to fairy tales and Bible stories as they love stories where justice prevails.

 

Subjects covered during this developmental stage include: