The Nine-Year-Old: Growth Patterns

Physical	Increased coordination Pushes self to physical limits Fatigues easily Numerous injuries Somatic complaints Tension outlets such as nail-biting, hair-twisting, lip-pursing
Social	Highly competitive Self-aware Impatient Worrier; anxious Aloof Complainer; fairness issues Sees adult inconsistencies and imperfections Critical Can be sullen and moody Individualistic
Language	Descriptive Loves vocabulary and language play and information Baby-talk sometimes re-emerges Use of hyperbole Age of negatives:"I hate it," "I can't," "boring," "yeah, right" "Dirty" jokes Graffiti
Cognitive	Industrious and self-critical Dawn of "bigger world" Less imaginative Intellectual curiosity Ability to deal with multiple variable emerges Trouble with abstractions -- large numbers, periods of time or space