Ministry

Characteristics Of A Typical 11 Year Old

By jgiroux ⋅ June 21, 2008 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

This is a four part series outlining the basic characteristics of a typical junior high aged students.  This is just a foundational list that all are encouraged to add to based on their experience or expertise.

Characteristics of a Typical Eleven Year Old

Physical:

• Vast appetite for food and physical activity and talking
• Growth spurt of early adolescence for some girls
• Constant motion; restless
• More illness: colds, flu, ear infections
• Need for more sleep
• Physical aggression not uncommon
• Fine motor capability good

Social:

• Moody; sensitive
• Oppositional; tests limits
• Often does best away from home
• Impulsive; rude; unaware
• Loves to argue
• Difficulty with decisions
• Self-absorbed
• Extremes of emotion
• Inclusion/exclusion; height of cliques; seeks to belong

Language:

• Discovery of the telephone and instant messaging
• Impulsive-talks before thinking
• Can be cruel
• Argumentative; debater
• Appreciates humour
• Imitates adult language

Cognitive:

• Prefers new tasks and experiences to reflection or revision of previous work
• Able to abstract
• Deductive reasoning advances
• Can establish and modify rules, develop hypotheses
• Increased ability to de-centre and see world from various perspectives
• Loves to argue