Socioeconomic Development

Parents need to recognize that their elementary child's world is expanding; peers are becoming more important, and children may spend more time with adults outside the family, such as a Little League coach. Parents also need to begin letting go by allowing the child to assume more responsibility for himself or herself. For example, the child typically can do some household chores, assume responsibility for pet care, and clean his or her room. Parents also need to help their child learn and maintain values by explaining the rationale behind them, achieve a positive self-concept (a cognitive listing of strengths and weaknesses), and develop self-esteem (an emotional evaluation of one's strengths and weaknesses).

Elementary-aged children may be impacted negatively by their parents' divorce.  Research suggests that children of divorce may score lower on a variety of measures, including academic achievement, conduct, self-concept, and social relationships, but these effect sizes are modest, and may be mediated by the quality of parenting following the divorce. Another major disruption is death; this age group often witnesses the death of either a grandparent or a pet. When children witness a traumatic event, it is important for parents to aid the child in coping by reassuring children that they are safe, listening to them, limiting reminders of the trauma, and helping them not to blame themselves. Coping with stress can be divided into two major categories: problem-focused and emotion-focused coping. Problem focused coping involves attempts to change the nature of the stressful situation (e.g. studying for a test), while emotion focused coping involves attempts to distract oneself from the situation (e.g. watching a funny movie).  Research suggests that emotion-focused coping is linked with poorer adjustment in children and adolescents.

Emotionally, children at this age are refining their self-understanding.  While children aged 4-6 conceive of only one emotion at a time, children 6-8 years old begin to understand that they can experience more than one emotion at once (e.g. happiness and pride). By the time they are 8-9 years old, children understand and can describe two distinct emotions that occur in response to different situations at the same time (e.g. I was happy because I got the candy I wanted, but mad because my mom punished me for taking it).  Peers serve as socializing agents and as a source of social comparison. By 5th or 6th grade, groups are starting to become exclusive and cliquish.