Eleven Years Old
Physical
For eleven-year olds, particularly the girls, this is a time of great physical
growth; therefore, children of this age have a huge appetite for both food and
physical activity
They seem to be in constant motion and perpetually restless
May fall ill more often than in previous years with colds, viruses, etc.
Need a lot of sleep (may be the beginning of that remarkable teenage ability
to sleep well past noon), and complain of growing pains
Physical aggression is not unusual, sports teams often become much more
competitive at this point
Social
Can be moody, over sensitive and easily embarrassed, do not do well with
criticism in front of peers
Are oppositional and test limits; quick to challenge parents and teachers
Can appear to be rude and impulsive but their tone is caused more often than
not by an unawareness of social boundaries
Love to argue and have difficulty making decisions but do not want help
Can be self absorbed and unaware of other people’s feelings
Inclusion and exclusion can be a big issue; this age presents the height of
cliques
May start to avoid home and spend more time with friends
Language
Discover the telephone and may talk to friends for hours at a time
Impulsively and insensitively speak before thinking
Are very argumentative and seem to enjoy the debate almost as much as the
conclusion
Appreciate humor and on occasion can be very good natured about mistakes
Imitate adult language, want to sound “grown up”
Cognitive
This is an age characterized by immense cognitive growth that expresses
itself in contrary behavior as well as a hunger for knowledge and new
experiences
Accordingly, eleven year olds prefer new tasks to repetitious or reflective
work
Can handle abstract concepts and advanced reasoning
Understand the system of essay organization, revision and modification; can
develop a hypothesis
Although sometimes appearing very self absorbed, they are increasingly
capable of viewing the world and situations from multiple points of view if
asked to do so
Demonstrate contradicting behavior such as complaining to the teacher
about a task while bragging about how cool it is at home
Vision and Fine Motor
Fine motor skills are almost completely developed and used with much more
confidence in difficult tasks such as calligraphy and painting
Elevens display greater focus with textbook reading and math
Have trouble concentrating on reading for extended periods of time
Demonstrate interest in handiwork such as friendship bracelets or braids
Gross Motor
Love challenges and competition but as sports get more serious some may
drop out while others rise to the occasion and become very involved with
their teams
Motor skills develop rapidly and there is an increased affinity for activities
involving hand-eye coordination including catching, kicking and throwing