Physical Milestones

• The difference in growth between boys and girls is noticeable at this age.

• Males are hitting the age when they start to grow rapidly, while females are just starting to slow down.

• By the end of high school, many girls are likely to have grown as tall as they’re going to be. Boys, on the other hand, often are still growing and gaining muscle strength.

• Puberty and growth

• Larger Appetite

• Need more sleep and may be sleepy in school.

• Circadian rhythm changes along with brain development

• Research has shown benefits for a later school day in adolescents that compliments their ‘internal clock’

• Have increased visual-spatial coordination , processing speed, reaction time

• Are more agile and coordinated

• Individual differences

Cognitive Milestones

• Cognitively, later adolescents:

  • Show an increasing ability to reason, make educated guesses, and sort fact from fiction

  • Start thinking more abstractly

  • Anticipate and come up with ways to deal with hypothetical situations

  • Understand the consequences of actions, both short and longer term

  • Social justice and understanding - Develop a strong sense of right and wrong and make decisions based on following their conscience

  • Later adolescence, use strategies to search for, use, and compare information from multiple sources.

    • Persuasive essays (think : SAT) , DBQs – using different types of sources of information primary and secondary sources

  • May use and apply numerical concepts in real-life situations

  • Planning ahead and time management skills

Social & Emotional Development

• Can recognize more accurately personal strengths and challenges

  • May lead to perfectionism, comparison to others, anxiety

• May seem self-centered, impulsive, or moody – emotional overload based on inconsistent brain development

• Appreciate relationships with siblings within the family over parents

• Become more introspective emotionally, may analyze their own feelings and try to find the cause of them

• Ages 16+ start relating to family better; begin to see parents as “real people”

• Develop a better sense of who they are and what positive things they can contribute to friendships and other relationships. Descriptions of kindness, empathetic, curious, loyal, honest, creative, confident, assertive

• Are to better resolve conflicts as increase in adolescents (middle school vs freshmen year vs senior yr). Narrow down on friends group.  Improved sense of belonging . Encouraged about the future.