 |
|
Benziger Family Life
Parents: Child Development
Childhood Years: Ages Six Through Twelve
Karen DeBord, Ph.D.
Child Development Specialis
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
Overview
When they start school, children enter "middle childhood" and remain there until they reach adolescence.
Between the ages of 6 and 12, the child's world expands outward from the family as relationships are formed with friends, teachers, coaches, caregivers, and others. Because their experiences are expanding, many factors can alter children's actions and impact how they learn to get along. Some situations can create stress and affect self-esteem. The middle childhood period is a time to prepare for adolescence.
Children develop at various rates. Some children in middle childhood seem very mature while others seem very immature. During this stage, behavior may depend on the child's mood, his or her experience with various types of people, or even what happened that day.
Developmental Aspects of Middle Childhood Social and emotional development
- There are signs of growing independence. Children are becoming so "worldly" that they typically test their growing knowledge with back talk and rebellion.
- Common fears include the unknown, failure, death, family problems, and rejection.
- Friends may live in the same neighborhood and are most commonly the same sex.
- Children average five best friends and at least one "enemy," who often changes from day to day.
- Children act nurturing and commanding with younger children but follow and depend on older children.
- Children are beginning to see the point of view of others more clearly.
- Children define themselves in terms of their appearance, possessions, and activities.
- There are fewer angry outbursts and more ability to endure frustration while accepting delays in getting things they "want."
- Children often resolve conflict through peer judges who accept or reject their actions.
- Children are self-conscious and feel as if everyone notices even small differences (new haircut, facial hair, a hug in public from a parent).
- Tattling is a common way to attract adult attention in the early years of middle childhood.
- Inner control is being formed and practiced each time decisions are made.
- Around age 6-8, children may still be afraid of monsters and the dark. These are replaced later by fears of school or disaster and confusion over social relationships.
- To win, lead, or to be first is valued. Children try to be the boss and are unhappy if they lose.
- Children often are attached to adults (teacher, club leader, caregiver) other than their parents and will quote their new "hero" or try to please him or her to gain attention.
- Early in middle childhood, "good" and "bad " days are defined as what is approved or disapproved by the family.
- Children's feelings get hurt easily. There are mood swings, and children often don't know how to deal with failure.
Physical Development
- Growth is slower than in preschool years, but steady. Eating may fluctuate with activity level. Some children have growth spurts in the later stages of middle childhood.
- In the later stages of middle childhood, body changes (hips widen, breasts bud, pubic hair appears, testes develop) indicate approaching puberty.
- Children recognize that there are differences between boys and girls.
- Children find difficulty balancing high energy activities and quiet activities.
- Intense activity may bring tiredness. Children need around 10 hours of sleep each night.
- Muscle coordination and control are uneven and incomplete in the early stages, but children become almost as coordinated as adults by the end of middle childhood.
- Small muscles develop rapidly, making playing musical instruments, hammering, or building things more enjoyable.
- Baby teeth will come out and permanent ones will come in.
- Permanent teeth may come in before the mouth has fully grown, causing dental crowding.
- Eyes reach maturity in both size and function.
- The added strain of school work (smaller print, computers, intense writing) often creates eye-tension and leads some children to request eye examinations.
Mental Development
- Children can begin to think about their own behavior and see consequences for actions. In the early stages of concrete thinking, they can group things that belong together (for instance babies, fathers, mothers, aunts are all family members). As children near adolescence, they master sequencing and ordering, which are needed for math skills.
- Children begin to read and write early in middle childhood and should be skillful in reading and writing by the end of this stage.
- They can think through their actions and trace back events that happened to explain situations, such as why they were late to school.
- Children learn best if they are active while they are learning. For example, children will learn more effectively about traffic safety by moving cars, blocks, and toy figures rather than sitting and listening to an adult explain the rules.
- Six- to 8-year-olds can rarely sit for longer than 15-20 minutes for an activity. Attention span gets longer with age.
- Toward the beginning of middle childhood, children may begin projects but finish few. Allow them to explore new materials. Nearing adolescence, children will focus more on completion.
- Teachers set the conditions for social interactions to occur in schools. Understand that children need to experience various friendships while building esteem.
- Children can talk through problems to solve them. This requires more adult time and more sustained attention by children.
- Children can focus attention and take time to search for needed information.
- They can develop a plan to meet a goal.
- There is greater memory capability because many routines (brushing teeth, tying shoes, bathing, etc.) are automatic now.
- Child begins to build a self-image as a "worker." If encouraged, this is positive in later development of career choices.
- Many children want to find a way to earn money.
Moral Development
Moral development is more difficult to discuss in terms of developmental milestones. Moral development occurs over time through experience. Research implies that if a child knows what is right, he or she will do what is right. Even as adults, we know that there are often gray areas when it comes to making tough decisions about right and wrong. There are a lot of "it depends" responses depending on the particular situation.
Most adults agree that they should act in a caring manner and show others they care about them. People want to come into contact with others who will reinforce them for who they are. It is no different for children. To teach responsible and caring behaviors, adults must first model caring behaviors with young children as they do with other adults. While modeling, focus on talking with children. This does not mean talking at children but discussing with them in an open-ended way. Work to create an air of learning and a common search for understanding, empathy, and appreciation. Dialogue can be playful, serious, imaginative, or goal oriented. It can also provide the opportunity to question why. This is the foundation for caring for others.
Next, practice caring for others. Adults need to find ways to increase the capacity to care. Adults generally spend time telling children what to do or teaching facts. There is little time to use the newly developed higher order thinking and to practice caring interactions and deeds.
The last step to complete the cycle of caring is confirmation. Confirmation is encouraging the best in others. A trusted adult who identifies something admirable and encourages the development of that trait can go a long way toward helping children find their place in this world. Love, caring, and positive relations play central roles in ethics and moral education.
Reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child Care - NNCC. DeBord, K. (1996). *Childhood Years: Ages six through twelve*. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. For Dr. Karen DeBord's complete article check it out on the informative website provided by the National Network for Child Care: http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/child6_12.html
Another site that provides a variety of child and adolescent development information is: http://mentalhelp.net/guide/pro03.htm
Back To Top
|
