The Fourth Grade Child:

Will probably be:

• Insistent on his/her independence
• More self-contained and self-sufficient
• Interested in factual material
• Extremely interested in peers and teamwork
• A worrier/complainer of small discomforts
• Self-centered

Will probably have:

• Great physical energy
• Passing curiosity about sex
• Great variety of interests
• Sense of humor
• Strong and impressionable sense of justice
• Started a collection
• Desire for a pet
• Desire to participate in some community activity

Family Activities that Support Learning for the Fourth Grader

• Explore as much of California as possible through travel, videos, books, and family stories
• Support your child’s activities outside of school; for example, scouts, athletics, band, etc.
• Encourage older children to teach their younger siblings to play board games, cards, etc.
• Make sure your child gets enough rest and has the proper nutrition
• Emphasize safety as your child becomes more independent in areas such as bicycle/traffic rules, and contacts with strangers
• Watch weather reports on television with your child
• Encourage your child to select more sophisticated literature on library visits, e.g. biographies, plays, adventure stories, etc.
• Make up math word problems based on household activities
• Consider your child’s academic and cultural interests when choosing gifts
• Institute a family reading hour during which time everyone reads something

The Fifth Grade Child:

Will probably be:

• Relatively more free from disease than at any other growing period
• Normally slow and steady in growth in height and weight
• Interested in factual material
• Showing better command of time
• Able to concentrate for longer periods
• Pleased with adults
• Increasingly aware of and concerned about personal ideas and beliefs
• Extremely interested in and loyal to groups of friends, clubs, etc. of his/her own gender
• Able to assume responsibility for personal needs in dress and grooming
• Beginning to struggle between ending childhood and beginning adolescence

Will probably have

• Increasing interest in organized games and team play
• Passing curiosity about sex
• Urge to earn money
• Great variety of interests
• Well-developed sense of humor
• Strong and impressionable sense of justice
• Interest in collecting
• Desire for a pet
• Desire to participate in a community activity
• Increased strength and resistance to fatigue
• Beginning interest in opposite sex
• Need for special friends
• Tendency to separate work from play

Family Activities that Support Learning for the Fifth Grader:

• Subscribe to a kid’s magazine or book clubs
• Explore as much of the US as possible through travel, videos, books, and family stories
• Give your child more responsibility for money and ways to earn it
• Involve your child in deciding on his/her responsibilities around the house and ways to contribute to the family
• Encourage your child to read to and tutor younger siblings
• Discuss your favorite authors with your child
• Encourage your child to read varied books
• Discuss movies and television programs in terms of characters, plot, setting, theme
• Listen carefully when your child talks to you
• Help your child with research for school and personal interest projects while still encouraging him/her to work independently
• Create estimation problems in every day life such as how long it takes to drive 100 miles
• Practice mental math with your child
• Actively support your child when he/she wants to explore science at home through activities such as model building and “kitchen chemistry”
• Discuss safety issues when using tools and equipment
• Help your child stick with an activity when he/she is frustrated or having difficulty

The Sixth Grade Child:

Will probably be:

• Able to concentrate for longer periods
• Resentful of being told what to do
• Increasingly aware of and concerned about the personal ideas and beliefs of others
• Having strong urges to conform to peers
• Ready to challenge knowledge or adults
• Able to assume responsibility for personal needs in dress and grooming
• Eager to earn money
• Critical of his/her artistic productions
• Developing a sense of humor
• Joining clubs
• Increasingly able to separate work from pay
• Able to gain satisfaction in his/her ability to achieve
• Struggling between ending childhood and beginning adolescence
• More interested in peer group than family

Will probably have:

• An interest in religion
• Cravings to be alone for long periods of time
• An interest in the world around him/her
• More freedom from disease than at any other growing period
• An interest in factual material
• An interest in organized games and team play
• An interest in collecting
• An interest in the opposite sex
• Increased strength and resistance to fatigue
• Desire to have a pet

Family Activities that Support Learning for the Sixth Grader

• Involve your child in local community drama or other fine arts opportunities
• Encourage your child to be active in school clubs and activities
• Read aloud and discuss your favorite forms of literature with your child—a favorite poem, humorous section of a novel, news article, etc.
• Share your favorite author and discuss why he/she is your favorite
• Use the Internet to access information
• Involve your child in planning a family vacation, including the estimation of costs and mileage, geographical and historical points of interest to see, planning an itinerary, etc
• Point out influences of ancient cultures in everyday life, including words with Latin roots, references to Greek or Roman mythology, food, etc.
• Consider a science set as a gift
• Encourage local and critical thinking to solve problems