Milestone One: Rule-oriented Games (Physical Domain)
Section A: Knowledge of the Developmental Milestones During middle childhood, children’s play undergoes several changes, the most obvious of which is children engage in games with rules. These rule-oriented games include informally organized games as well as formally organized sports, such as little league, club or intramural sports. The former category may be variants on popular sports games, well-known childhood games such as red rover, and invented games that children develop on their own. The principal commonality is that these games have a set of rules and often have multiple roles for players. While informal outdoor play allows children to develop rules and try out multiple scenarios, formal, organized sports allows children to learn rules, appreciate their personal skills, and develop their position on a team. Both types of rule-oriented games are important for developing social competencies and enhanced cognitive capabilities. This milestone develops as children begin to develop more improved motor coordination, a better capacity for information processing, and a heightened social maturity (Berk, 2007, p. 294). The physical skills at play in rule-oriented games include flexibility, balance, agility, and force, reflective of increased muscle strength. All four of these are basic motor capacities which become more refined with the gross motor development of middle childhood. Additionally, children’s enhanced capacity for information processing and gains in reaction time and perspective taking—the ability to understand the motivations and roles of others—enable more sophisticated game play. At this critical juncture school age children’s ability to react to relevant information increases tremendously, i.e. their attention becomes more selective (Kail, 2003). However, it is important to note that these gross motor and associated cognitive skills are in a stage of development, and as such more basic childhood games should precede children’s participation in formal sports like tennis, basketball and football.
The attainment of this milestone, which typically begins to emerge after age five, can be assessed through observation of a child’s play with their peers, as well as through practice, by signing a child up for adult-organized youth sports. The former is much easier to assess, as one should witness a child of age six playing games with their peers. You can overhear children establishing rules for their game play and fine tuning the roles of different individuals. A normally developing child should be cooperating and working out rules for indoor and outdoor games with their friends. A child’s participation in the latter type of rule-oriented games, namely organized sports, is contingent upon parental decision-making.

Section B: Educational Importance of Milestones Research demonstrates that creating and participating in rule-oriented games increases a child’s social skills and improves a child’s peer relations (Fletcher, Nickerson, & Wright, 2003). The cooperation required in child invention of rule-oriented games is substantial practice for cooperation that occurs throughout a child’s academic life. Students with more refined social skills are less alienated at school, are better equipped to deal with conflict, and work better with others, which frequently is necessary to succeed in academics. The 2003 study cited above found that participation in structured leisure activities, in this case sports, not only resulted in higher levels of maturity and teacher ratings of social competency, but also in higher academic grades and teacher ratings of academic competency. One explanation for the increase in cognitive proficiencies could be that rule-oriented play has children experimenting with rules and strategies to various extents, relying on logical reasoning.
Additionally, school age children’s participation in informal outdoor play and organized youth sports can contribute to lasting practices of physical activity and health. A child’s physical health and associated psychological well-being go a long way in supporting a child’s performance in school. Physically active students tend to be more alert and better able to cope with academic stresses. While the relationship between rule-oriented play and physical well-being is not direct and linear, children who play outdoors and participate in formal sports tend to become more active adolescents, even into adulthood (Tammelin et al., 2003). The benefits of this activity spill over into cognitive and emotional areas as well. Another area of lasting positive influence lies in a child’s self-confidence and skill commitments (Berk, 2007, p. 296). These benefits are usually observed through the lens of gender inequity in sports participation. Boys in middle adolescence are more greatly encouraged by parents and other care givers to participate in formal, organized sports. Accordingly, boys demonstrate higher levels of self-confidence and positive beliefs about their athletic abilities. The salient point is that all school-age children, regardless of gender, can and should reap the benefits of participation in rule-oriented play, even organized sports, which leads to greater self-confidence and a greater emphasis on skill training. During this developmental stage, children begin to discover what they are good at, and no child’s self-discovery should be limited in this regard.

Section C: Relating Theory to the Milestones While participation in rule-oriented games and sports is a physical milestone, the explanation for its emergence can be found in cognitive development theory. The information processing perspective regards cognitive development as a continuous process, and relates human thinking to how computers process similar kinds of information as symbols. Attention and memory are the focal points of cognitive development in this model, as they underpin all cognitive processing (Berk, 2007, p. 302). A significant portion of participation in rule-oriented games is the development of those rules, so much so that “children often spend as much time working out how a game should proceed as playing the game itself,” (Berk, 2007, p. 296). School-age children begin to appreciate the necessity for rules in game play and sports. Their enthusiasm for crafting rules reflects the development of their attention and memory. At the same time physical developments also make this type of play possible and commonplace. During middle childhood, children’s gross motor skills undergo significant improvements and they refine their control over gross motor skills (Berk, 2007, p. 294). Increases in flexibility, balance, and agility, lead to greater coordination and children begin to synchronize the movements of their body parts. More coordinated, whole body movement routines are critically important to participation in organized sports (Oswalt, 2013).

Section D: Application for Diverse Students in Classroom I instruct high school students in Chinese at all levels. On the whole, my students are highly motivated and intellectually curious, in addition to being socially well-adjusted, confident, and mature. I instruct students after they would have attained this developmental milestone; however, their normal attainment of this milestone during the appropriate epoch undoubtedly affects their performance in my classroom. If this milestone was not reached in middle childhood, this could indicate the student did not form normal peer relationships and did not experience sufficient independence or autonomy from their parents. Lacking the full experience of negotiating rules and strategies with peers and establishing relationships on teams, the student may struggle with perspective taking and cooperation, leading to more conflicts with peers and more difficulty during group work or class discussions. If this was the case, I would employ prevention strategies and focus on creating a classroom environment conducive to learning. In this manner, from the beginning of the course I could enlist all the students in the creation of classroom rules and procedures. Establishing a jointly constructed classroom would lead to more inclusive feelings and more cooperation from the start, thus pulling this student in (Kyle & Rogien, 2004).
On another dimension, if a student did not achieve this developmental milestone, they might have lower self-confidence and less belief in their talents or abilities. As such, the student might need more positive reinforcement to bolster their confidence when performing well in the class. I could employ reinforcement strategies to indicate to the student that I appreciate the work they are doing and to increase their self-esteem in the subject and in general. Additionally, if the student did not develop this milestone at the appropriate time, they might demonstrate lower academic competencies related to less strategic thinking and logical reasoning, which would have been worked out in the development and practice of rules in game play. As such I might have to differentiate the material for them and make modifications to the curriculum. One strategy I typically employ in differentiation is to allow for student choice, making use of choice boards for homework and in-class assignments. Section E: Reflection on Reciprocal Influences on Development A school-age child’s engagement in games with rules, be it child-invented games or organized sports, is in part influenced by gender (a biological factor). There are demonstrable differences in motor skills between the genders, with boys during middle childhood exhibiting greater strength and thus greater force. With the exception of balance and certain precise movements, boys outperform girls at gross motor skills, and this edge may result in differing levels of participation in rule-oriented games across genders. The genetic differences between the genders lead to much more exaggerated gender typing and a de-emphasis on sports for girls and a much greater emphasis on sports for boys (social factor). As a result, girls may perceive of themselves as having less athletic prowess and be discouraged from participating in organized club sports.
As far as other social factors on a child’s ability to engage in rule-oriented game play at the normal epoch, a clear influence would be the frequency and quality of their interactions with peers. If a child was in an environment where they had limited contact with agemates, they would miss out rich experiences inventing and partaking in games with other children. The successful attainment of this milestone is also affected by psychological factors. Children who struggle with emotional regulation are at a disadvantage when it comes to engaging in child-invented games with their peers. For example, if a parent dismisses a child’s feelings as trivial and models poor emotional self-regulation, the child might have trouble managing their emotions. This child would then react more aggressively towards others and not be able to get the most out of informal outdoor play, as well as formal youth sports, both of which require perspective taking and more emotional maturity.

Milestone Two: Changes in Self-Esteem (Emotional/Social Domain)
Section A: Knowledge of the Developmental Milestones The self-esteem becomes more developed during middle childhood, and changes occur both in the complexity of factors that affect the self-esteem and in the level of a child’s self-esteem. Self-esteem declines during most of middle childhood as children evaluate themselves on a more wide variety of characteristics and competencies (Berk, 2007, p. 332). Research indicates that children evaluate themselves in at least four general competencies during middle childhood: academic competence, social competence, athletic competence and physical appearance. Self-esteem not only differentiates—i.e. a child can have a low academic self esteem and a high social self-esteem—but it becomes hierarchically structured, with some areas having a higher priority on their overall self-worth. At the same time, children not only evaluate themselves using more broad and diverse criteria, but they also take in more feedback about their relative merits and skills, leading to a more realistic level of self-esteem. The hierarchically structured self-esteem develops due to changing cognitive capacities and in response to the feedback of others (Berk, 2007, p. 330). Children’s sense of self becomes increasingly related to their competencies and proficiencies relative to their peers, and less tethered to specific or isolated behaviors. By middle childhood children make far more social comparisons, where they judge themselves not merely on their own merits, but in relation to others. Additionally, children appraise and describe themselves less so in extreme terms and more in gradations. A more realistic hierarchically structured self-esteem also emerges as children’s perspective-taking skills become more refined, and children can more accurately infer what others are thinking or more accurately interpret the opinions and reactions of others. To assess the attainment of this milestone, one can listen to a child’s description of themselves, or more specifically listen to a child’s self-evaluations. When asked to describe themselves, school-age children emphasize skills and competencies and articulate their personalities more clearly. With regards to the latter, children not only detail their positive and negative traits, but they qualify them with modifiers and justify them with explanations (Berk, 2007, p. 330). A caregiver might observe that their child’s previously high self-esteem declines a bit, as they take note of their performance relative to others and process the feedback they receive from others. Again, most self-evaluations made during this time period are couched in social comparisons with their peers.

Section B: Educational Importance of Milestones School age children begin to derive more and more of their sense of self-worth from how well they perform socially, academically, and athletically. How much a child’s performance in a certain area affects their overall self-esteem also depends on how much the child values that area. In terms of the educational significance of this milestone, there is a strong positive correlation in a child’s academic self-esteem and their educational attainment in early adulthood (Berk, 2007, p. 332). This research finding illuminates the importance of students establishing a high academic self-esteem early on in their education. However for positive effects to be lasting, student’s high academic self-worth should come from real academic achievement and not merely praise or compliments. This is because, “over time, a bidirectional relationship emerges: achievement fosters self-esteem, and self-esteem, in turn, promotes good performance,” (Berk, 2007, p.333). Accordingly, educators should work with students to establish challenging but attainable goals and highlight student progress over time. Teachers should also compliment real achievements. If students have low academic self-worth in middle childhood, this can lead to a similar, although potentially devastating positive feedback loop. Were a student to judge themselves as a low academic achiever, feeling less about themselves as a result, then they would psych themselves out in school, not put forth as much effort, or perhaps give up more easily. This in turn would lead to real academic failure. Academic failure would only serve to lower a student’s academic self-esteem. It is common for this type of student to develop learned helplessness, where they attribute their failures to a lack of ability and their successes to factors outside their control or simple luck. These students’ counterparts with high academic self-esteem tend to make mastery-oriented attributions, attributing successes to their abilities and failures to other factors like a lack of effort (Heyman & Dweck, 1998). As this demonstrates, the attachment of self-esteem to competency or ability, which happens in middle childhood, can have a very positive effect on educational outcomes.
While I am focusing on the academic area of self-esteem which emerges as self-esteem differentiates hierarchically during middle childhood, the other competencies forming a child’s self-esteem are also crucial for their academic success. Low self-esteem in any area contributes to lower self-esteem overall, which manifests in children as anxiety or depression. Lower self-esteem leads students to invest less of themselves in school, be it in clubs, sports, or their academics.
Section C: Relating Theory to the Milestones Erik Erikson was a psychoanalytic theorist in the vein of Freud, although he distinguished himself from Freud on several points. The principal point of departure is Erikson believed the ego develops from birth and does not act simply to mediate impulses and negotiate the demands of the superego, but takes on attitudes and expertise to form a proactive and functioning individual. Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development corresponds to Freud’s five stages with the addition of three stages in adulthood. Erikson saw each stage of development as the resolution of specific positive and negative psychological characteristics along a continuum (Harder, 2002). According to Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, the psychological conflict of middle childhood is industry versus inferiority, where children attempt to accomplish new skills and establish their competencies, while battling feelings of inadequacy when they evaluate themselves against their peers. If this conflict is positively resolved, a child gains a sense of competency at skills they find valuable (Berk, 2007, p. 330). This conflict can also lead to a negative outcome where a child finds themselves inferior to others. As children in this stage of development make frequent comparisons to their peers, performing consistently below one’s agemates can lead a child to feel incompetent. This in turn can contribute to serious problems with self-esteem.

Section D: Application for Diverse Students in Classroom I teach relatively small classes of high school students in Chinese at all levels. My students’ would have already undergone these changes to their self-esteem—increasingly nuanced and realistic, hierarchically structured, tied to competency, etc.—by the time they enter my high school classroom, though their normal attainment of this milestone affects many facets of their performance. I suspect that all my students have a highly differentiated self-esteem that is based on their performance across several areas and tempered by comparisons to their peers. Were their self-esteem to be more juvenile and perhaps unrealistic, I would need to be more careful in the language I used to criticize and praise them, and I would still attempt to link my praise to their actual performance.
By and large my students are high academic achievers who value their performance and having elected to take Chinese, they typically find the language fun, valuable, and useful. My students tend to put forth a lot of effort and relish challenges when it comes to the language. This profile or description does not match all my students though, and I think it is important to consider what can be done to assist those students with a lower academic self-esteem. I am going to focus on how I could help students with learned helplessness. I would ensure that my communication with students about their performance is focused on their mastery of the material and progress, and not focused on their numerical grade. I would also be sure to qualify my praise of students, and couch it in terms of their abilities and mastery of certain skills. For example, I have one student who struggles, but he excelled at the bargaining portion of our unit, and I frequently commended him on how good he was at strategizing and negotiating and how well he was making use of the language. He has since put forth greater effort in subsequent lessons. I need to maintain a positive attitude and nurture a classroom environment that supports and encourages student learning.

Section E: Reflection on Reciprocal Influences on Development A biological factor that influences a child’s normal development of a more holistic and realistic self-esteem could be their physical appearance. Perceived physical appearance contributes more to a child’s overall self-esteem than any other single factor (Berk, 2007, p.331). If a child had a disfigurement from a disease, birth defect or wound, this could lead to sever psychosocial problems including negative body image, depression, or body dysmorphia. Consequently the child’s self-esteem could be overly affected by their physical appearance, and other factors would account for even less in terms of their self-worth. The child might attach less importance to their academic, social, and athletic competencies, and as a result disinvest themselves from these activities, thus leading to an even lower self-esteem. A clear social influence on a school age child’s normal development of self-esteem would be their caregivers’ parenting styles. If a child had authoritarian parents who were cold and domineering, then they would have less autonomy and feel more powerless (Berk, 2007, pp. 279-280). As a result, the child may feel they lack competency or abilities and have a low self-esteem. Their self-esteem would not only be lower than their peers but it would be unrealistically low and not based on the child’s actual competencies or achievements. A potential psychological influence on a child’s self-esteem development during middle childhood would be if the child’s temperament. If a child were more hostile and antisocial from a young age, they would be more likely to internalize negative feedback from others, including negative cultural messages. This child might have an unrealistically low self-image, and tend to make only negative social comparisons.

E-2: Interplay Between the two Milestones: Changes that occur in a school age child’s self-esteem impact a child’s participation in games with rules. Rule-oriented game play, be it informal or adult-organized, has a reciprocal influence on the development of self-esteem as well. For example, if a child had poor coordination relative to their peers, upon engaging in more games and sports they might begin to make social comparisons and evaluate their athletic competency poorly. This could then lead to lower athletic self-esteem, dissuading them from participating in youth sports and inhibiting their future participation in sports as a whole. As a child’s self-esteem undergoes several changes during middle childhood, they may become more invested in playing games with their peers. Game play gives children an opportunity to develop self-worth and discover their competencies, which school age children are wont to do.

Bibliography
Berk, Laura. (2007). Development through the lifespan. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Fletcher, A., Nickerson, P., & Wright, K. (September 2003). “Structured leisure activities in middle childhood: links to well-being”. Journal of Community Psychology. 31(6): 641-659.
Harder, Arlene. (2002). “The developmental stages of Erik Erikson”. Support 4 Change. Available: http://www.support4change.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=108.
Heyman, Gail, & Dweck, Carol. (April 1998). “Children’s thinking about traits: implications for judgments of the self and others”. Child Development. 64(2):391-403. Available: https://www.stanford.edu/dept/psychology/cgi-bin/drupalm/system/files/Children's%20Thinking%20About%20Traits%20-%20Implications%20for%20Judgments%20of%20the%20Self%20and%20Others.pdf.
Kail, Robert. (April 2003). “Developmental change in proactive interference”. Child Development. 73(6): 1703-1714.
Kyle, P., and Rogien, L. (2004). Opportunities and options in classroom management. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Oswalt, Angela. (1995-2013). “Physical development: motor development”. Seven Counties: Mental Health and Development Services. Available: http://www.sevencounties.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=37676&cn=1272.
Tammelin, T., Nayha, S., Hills, A., & Jarvelin, M. (January 2003). “Adolescent participation in sports and adult physical activity”. American Journal of Preventative Medicine. 24(1)”22-28.

RUBRIC/Follow-Up 3: Middle Childhood
Reflection, Application and Integration Activity
Please Attach the Rubric to the Paper SCORINGMilestone 1Domain:P C S/E | Milestone 2Domain: P C S/E | Section A, KNOWLEDGE OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES | 2 | 2 | Response clearly and accurately describes milestone attained in this epoch of life, including its emergence and how its attainment can be assessed. | 1 | 1 | Response generally describes milestone attained in this epoch of life, but response reflects only general understanding of factors related to its emergence and/or how its attainment can be assessed. | 0 | 0 | Response fails to accurately describe a milestone typically attained in this developmental epoch of reflects major confusion about how it emerges or can be assessed. |

SCORINGMilestone 1Domain:P C S/E | Milestone 2Domain: P C S/E | Section B, DECIDING WHY A MILESTONE IS IMPORTANT | 2 | 2 | Response provides a clear example of how understanding of this milestone can affect educational development. | 1 | 1 | Response reflects general understanding that the milestone has practical implications for educational development, but the example provided is general. | 0 | 0 | Response fails to reflect the relevance of knowledge about this milestone for educational development. |

SCORINGMilestone 1Domain:P C S/E | Milestone 2Domain: P C S/E | Section C, RELATING THEORY TO THE MILESTONES | 2 | 2 | Response clearly relates milestone to a SPECIFIC developmental theory or set of research findings | 1 | 1 | Response accurately but generally relates milestone to a SPECIFIC developmental theory or set of research findings. | 0 | 0 | Response’s attempt to relate milestone to a developmental theory or set of research findings reflects confusion or is inaccurate . |

SCORINGMilestone 1Domain:P C S/E | Milestone 2Domain: P C S/E | Section D, LINKING APPLICATIONS TO THE MILESTONES | 2 | 2 | Response describes an appropriate intervention for the intended students. Intervention is specifically related to the selected milestone. | 1 | 1 | Response describes an appropriate intervention for the intended students, but only general clarification of the relationship to the milestone is provided. | 0 | 0 | Response fails to either describe an appropriate intervention for the intended students OR to relate the intervention to the selected milestone. |

SCORINGMilestone 1Domain:P C S/E | Milestone 2Domain: P C S/E | Section E, REFLECTION ON THE RECIPROCAL INFLUENCES ON DEVELOPMENT/ INTERRELATEDNESS OF DEVELOPMENTAL DOMAIN MILESTONES | 3 | 3 | E1Response clearly describes a biological, psychological and social influence on this milestone. | 2 | 2 | Response generally describes a biological, psychological and social influence on this milestone or describes two accurately and one with some confusion. | 1 | 1 | Response describes only one influence on this milestone accurately. | 0 | 0 | Response fails to clearly or accurately describe a biological, psychological or social influence on this milestone. | | | | 2 | | E2Response clearly illustrates how the quality of attainment of one of the milestones could directly or indirectly affect the attainment of the other. | 1 | | Response generally illustrates how the quality of attainment of one of the milestones could affect the attainment of the other. | 0 | | Response fails to demonstrate how the quality of attainment of one of the milestones could affect the attainment of the other. |

Total Pts.:_____/24 possible