THE SIX YEAR VISIT
The Six Year Visit
At the six year visit, we will:
- Take your child’s height and weight.
- Take blood pressure
- Perform hearing and vision tests
GUIDANCE
Development: This is the age when artistic skills really begin to shine. Your child can copy and draw most shapes and may even be able to create a picture of the whole family. In addition to encouraging their artistic expression, now is also a good time to help improve their writing skills. During drawing time, show your tot how to write letters, and maybe even how to spell their name!
Get ready parents! This is the time you’ve been waiting for! Your child can finally start helping out around the house! Now is a great time to introduce the idea of chores. Feel free to assign them some simple jobs around with house with or without a sticker chart for incentive. After all, six-year-olds want to be just like you, so lead by example and they should enjoy the increased responsibility in the family.
When your child isn’t reading or doing chores, make sure they are getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day to help develop strong bones and muscles.
Health and Safety: Along with the introduction of chores and helping around the home, you can also go over home safety plans for the entire family. If a fire, earthquake, or other emergency were to occur, your child should know what to do, where to go, and who to contact.
This is also the time to impart the importance of wearing safety equipment appropriate for whatever sports or activities your little daredevil will be participating in. This includes always wearing a helmet when riding anything with wheels: bikes, roller skates, scooters, skateboards, unicycle…etc. The more persistent you are with enforcing the helmet rule now, the more likely your child will be to wear one when training for that triathlon in the not-so-distant future.