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the understanding of sequencing of numbers. It is an
important development and as soon as a child is clear about
following a calendar, he can begin to plan and think ahead.

Seriation is well underway in this age group. A child can
arrange uneven length objects from shortest to longest.
This ability in addition to understanding size and weight to
objects is the beginning of mathematical understanding
(Bisanz & LeFevre, 1990).

Middle school aged children are able to mentally organize
objects and make order out of chaos. In this age group a
child can manage to organize her room (even if very messy)
whereas the younger children cannot accomplish this
ordering task on their own. In addition to being about to
mentally organize, this age group can now compare
complex figures or drawings and identify differences
between them. The younger age span cannot explore
objects systematically because they cannot move between
parts and wholes. By the age of 8, however, categorization
and classification skills are more developed and only
increase over time.

It is only now that children can more accurately process
information that is provided orally. This means that verbal
cues are more understood and that language is sufficiently
developed which is related to mental representations and
symbols. Taking in auditory information, holding it and
responding accurately also requires an increase in
attentional skills. This is the ability to select, perceive and
focus on something and screen out other competing
stimuli. Increasing attention spans, selective focusing and
systematic planning all take place during this time period.

Children in middle to late childhood demonstrate an
increase in memory. Children advance in processing speed
and they apply rules for recalling information such as