At 10, boys are most likely skilled at reading and writing and can speak clearly. They're developing abstract and critical-thinking skills, can follow detailed directions, make plans, and reason through problems. They also tend to see things as either right or wrong with no middle ground.

Can begin to understand time and the days of the week; by age 10, children can place events in time sequence. Improved short- and long-term memory. Can speak and also write; by age 10, children have a vocabulary of 20,000 words and learn an average of 20 new words a day; can also understand that a word may have different meanings.

Milestones usually are grouped into five major areas: physical growth, cognitive development, emotional and social development, language development, and sensory and motor development. Physical growth and development Most children by age 10: Grow about 2.5 in. (6 cm) and gain about 7 lb (3 kg) in a year. Have growth patterns related to their sex.