Your 7-Year-Old: Learning to be a good sport

Learning to be a good sport

Seven-year-olds are good sports, especially compared with their younger counterparts. Less rigid in their thinking, they're able to hold various points of view in their mind at one time. Their improved perspective on time means they can appreciate that "sometimes you win, sometimes you lose." This makes them less inclined to cheat or lie in order to win at all costs. Playing card games and board games provides good practice for this new ability.

Your 7-year-old now

Everybody likes to win. But when your child loses at a game now — and it's inevitable that he will — he's a much better sport about it. Seven-year-olds have a keener understanding of the concept that there are winners and losers, and people take turns at each. As your child becomes less rigid about inventing and sticking to rules, he becomes easier to play with, for grownups and peers alike.

Cheating and other deceits are not as prominent as they were just a year ago. You may also notice a general decline in lying and fibbing. Your child is better able to handle mistakes and losses.

Games that are more complicated appeal now, such as the old classics Mousetrap, Connect Four, and Monopoly. Even though digital versions of all these games exist, invest in the "old-fashioned" board versions. Physically manipulating game pieces and money helps your child learn better.

Your life now

Even if your child is reading pretty well on his own, don't give up on reading to him. It allows you to expose him to material that's slightly more challenging (it's easier to hear and comprehend big words and longer sentences than it is to read them yourself). And the shared time is still important.

So if reading has always been part of your bedtime ritual, stick with it. Or make time after school or on weekends.

Ideally, encourage your child to read a book to you, and then take a turn reading to him. Some kids are ready to hear longer series-type books, like Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. And they may enjoy illustrated classics, which feature complex stories with an illustration on every page to look at while you read, advancing comprehension.