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Checkups at 8 Years

[8 Year Old Quiz]

What Can Your Child Do at Eight?

  • He can ride a bicycle well.
  • She can skate.
  • He knows his right from his left.
  • She reviews school reports with her parents and should feel confident in school this year. In the third and fourth grade school increases in difficulty quite a bit. Watch for problems she might have during this time.
  • He reads for pleasure.
  • She has a well-developed sense of humor.
  • He takes good care of his belongings that are especially important to him.
  • She knows the rules of games and is concerned about whether they are good or bad rules.

What Can Your Child Eat?

  • Encourage him to engage in physical activity and to limit passive play such as watching TV or playing video games.
  • She should have a balanced diet.
  • Discourage his frequent snacking other than with fruits or vegetables. Do not add extra salt to his diet.
  • Increase her intake of fiber in cereals, whole-grain breads, fruits, and vegetables.
  • Make sure he brushes his teeth at least once a day.
  • She should not have red meat and eggs daily.
  • Your eating habits are the models used by him for his eating habits. Make mealtime a pleasant time which includes conversation with him.
  • A multivitamin once a day may be a good idea if she is a picky eater.

Immunizations

She should be up to date on immunizations and not require any more for several years.

Tests to Be Done

  • She may have an analysis of her urine during her next checkup. This checks for kidney disease, diabetes, and bladder infections.
  • A tuberculin (TB) skin test may be needed if he has been exposed to someone with TB, a chronic cough, IV drug use, HIV disease (AIDS), recent prison time, time in a developing country, or if required by his school or insurance.

Accident Prevention

  • She needs to know a safety plan to get out of your home in case of fire.
  • Teach him that he should not cross fast-moving streams and should enter ponds or lakes feet first and only with adults watching. Life jackets should be worn by everyone in a boat.
  • Air rifles and pellet guns should be treated cautiously since they are now made with more power and have caused many deaths.
  • She should know her home phone number, 911 for emergencies, and that she should never go anywhere with strangers.
  • He should wear a safety helmet at all times while riding a bicycle. Teach him to look for cars both ways at the curb or driveway.
  • Do not let her ride in the back of a pickup or sit in the front seat of a car with airbags.
  • Teach him to avoid strange animals.
  • Keep him away from power tools, electrical equipment, matches, guns, sharp tools, and poisons.
  • The number for Poison Control is 1-800-POISON 1 (1-800- 764-7661). Have Ipecac in your home.

Emotional and Social Development

  • Teach her that there are private parts of her body that even relatives should not touch.
  • He should be doing daily chores to learn responsibility. A weekly allowance will help him learn to use his money.
  • Each parent should have time alone with her. Encourage her to read for fun.
  • Be quick to praise and slow to anger with him. Never belittle or embarrass him, and avoid harsh criticism whenever possible. You will encourage him to change his behavior much more readily if you act lovingly towards him.
  • Extensive television and video games limit family interaction and discourage her creativity.
  • He will readily accept fair discipline at this age.
  • Pay attention when she talks to you.
  • You cannot show too much affection toward him.
  • She should have a regular bedtime.
  • Be involved with his schoolwork as much as possible. Involvement with a parent-teacher organization will give you some say in how he is taught. If you are not happy about school, by law, you can be granted a conference with the teacher, principal, and school counselors to discuss your concerns.
  • Make every effort to attend athletic events, plays, recitals, and other special occasions that occur in her life. Few things you do for her will be so important.
  • He may have a lot of questions about sexual differences and where babies come from. If these questions are answered as they arise with general answers initially, it is usually not difficult to discuss more detail with him in a few years.

Moral Development of Your Child

  • She will learn more from your example than from what you tell her. If you model smoking and frequent drinking, she will likely do these when she is older. If you model divorce or sexual activity with many partners, she will likely repeat this in adulthood. If you eat too much, swear often, and are self-centered, she will likely be just like you 15 years from now.
  • You should limit his exposure to undesirable influences such as the undisciplined child next door, television, movies, and some printed material. All of these affect the way he thinks and his values. Let him be a child for as long as possible.
  • Television and movies are special problems because children watch so much, adult activities such as sex and violence can be "understood" to a degree by young children, the impressive technology appears "truthful" and they appear more exciting than ordinary life, giving her a skewed view of reality.
  • You should actively set limits on the amount and type of programs she watches and teach her what is morally good and bad about what she sees.
  • About 80-90% of the sex shown on television is premarital, extramarital, or violent, and most of the marital sex is depicted as unenjoyable. Seldom is an unintended pregnancy, disease, or divorce mentioned. Most parents disagree with this type of irresponsible sex, yet seem unaware how their child is being trained by what he sees.
  • Violence as shown in the movies and television is usually self-serving or vengeful. If you do not want her to think of violence as acceptable behavior when angry or selfish, you need to limit her exposure to that philosophy.
  • It is philosophically difficult to maintain firm moral standards without some form of religious instruction. Traditional Christianity and Judaism place value on the individual, the healthy family, and compassion toward others. The media and most other world views emphasize selfishness, irresponsible lives, and hunger for possessions. This is one of the main reasons so many children, teenagers, and young adults are confused and in trouble.
  • We strongly encourage you to provide him with religious instruction. Otherwise his values will be shaped by others with whom you may not agree. One of the greatest gifts you can give him is to join a traditional Christian church or Jewish synagogue that has a good children's program.
  • Moral instruction begins at a young age. Waiting to begin until she is a teenager is too late.

 

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8-YEAR-OLD QUIZ

These questions, based on research, are meant to teach your child facts that will help him or her have a fuller life.

Circle the Correct Answer

(Parents may need to help if your child does not understand a question)

  1. It costs a lot of money to buy cigarettes? (yes or no)
  2. Kids who watch a lot of television and video games do not do as well in school? (yes or no)
  3. When people die in car wrecks most of the time someone was drinking alcohol? (yes or no)
  4. Reading a lot of fun books helps kids to make better grades when they get older? (yes or no)
  5. When a pregnant mom smokes cigarettes the baby inside her may be born small? (yes or no)
  6. It is important to obey mom and dad because this will make you more sad? (yes or no)
  7. It is not important to take good care of your pets and clothes? (yes or no)
  8. When moms and dads can live together the kids are usually happier? (yes or no)

 

Answers and Explanations for Parents

1. Yes. For a teenager, the $2 per pack is a lot of money to spend each day.   2. Yes. Studies show that children who watch a lot of television and play a lot of video games do not spend as much time reading and doing school work and thus do not do as well in school. 3. Yes. It has been estimated that more than 50% of traffic fatalities are due to drinking and  driving. 4. Yes. Reading is the basic skill needed for all school work. Even fun reading helps develop this skill. 5. Yes. A smoking pregnant woman has a much higher chance of delivering a low birth weight baby which is much more prone to many additional problems.6. No. A child who is obedient is a more secure child because he knows that his parents are the ones  in control and that helps him to feel safer. 7. No. It is good for the child to have the benefits of pet ownership but also the responsibilities.  Responsibility in small things leads to responsibility in larger things as well. 8. Yes. One of the consequences of divorce or separation on children is the strong tendency for the parent who is no longer in the home to spend much less time with their children as he or she used to. Moreover, this problem tends to get worse over time.

 

 

The information contained within this website is no substitution for timely medical care.

Feel free to copy the information on this web site and give to friends and family. Contact Dr. Glenn Wood at Carousel Pediatrics (512) 744-6000
We are located at 7112 Ed Bluestein Blvd., #100 - Austin, TX 78723

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