As we compare our children with others in their same age range, it’s natural for us to create a kind of mental ranking about where one child falls in our understanding of what is appropriate at a certain age or grade. Is she behind or ahead academically? Too shy or too bossy? Is he “keeping up” with his peers socially? How does her height compare to others in her class? His weight? Is she a leader or a follower? Why does he behave like this? When will she outgrow that?

We worry about and compare siblings in our own families, the children in our classrooms. This normal way of observing and measuring sometimes keeps us from seeing more of the strengths children are exhibiting and developing at every age and from appreciating all the positive aspects of the social and cognitive learning challenges they face.

For the next several blog entries I’m going to focus on and extract from my book, Yardsticks, Children in the Classroom, Ages 4-14, some of the particular developmental strengths and positive challenges children present at different ages and in different grades. In reading these reflections, I hope you’ll find yourself smiling as you recognize developmental assets your children are exhibiting and that you’ll find moments of rich understanding and appreciation from focusing on the positive.

I look forward to your questions and comments.