Middle Childhood Development
Middle Childhood Development
Carman Moon
ECE 332
Professor Haddy
October 3, 2011
Each child will grow and develop, but not all will reach milestones at the same time. This makes it very important for educators and parents to have knowledge and understanding of the developmental milestones of middle childhood in order to ensure that a child is developmentally progressing within a normal time frame. These milestones are set up as a guide to help parents and educators make choices to take necessary steps to provide extra assistance if needed or help to identify inabilities if growth is not matching the milestones within a certain time frame. This paper will provide information on characteristics/milestones of middle childhood in relation to various theories, as well as provide some activities to help promote the development of cognitive, language, and motor development as well as detailing how the activities enhance these developments. The first step will be the ability to identify milestones of middle childhood. Middle childhood is a time in a child’s life where a lot is going on. Big changes are taking place and the child sometimes becomes easily overwhelmed thus the guidance of parents and teachers becomes very important. Middle childhood begins around the age of 6 or 7 and lasts unto about the age of 11 or 12. This is the time when school begins. Some children have had the experience of preschool which will help them advance at a much faster pace than children who will be entering school for the first time. Children of the middle childhood are learning how to become independent from parents and family. They dress themselves and usually tie their own shoes. This stage is also characterized by acquisition of internal transformations, manipulations, and reorganization of mental structures (Wieten, 2010). In other words the child had gained the ability to solve most of the mental problems experienced at the initial stage. They are
Carman Moon
ECE 332
Professor Haddy
October 3, 2011
Each child will grow and develop, but not all will reach milestones at the same time. This makes it very important for educators and parents to have knowledge and understanding of the developmental milestones of middle childhood in order to ensure that a child is developmentally progressing within a normal time frame. These milestones are set up as a guide to help parents and educators make choices to take necessary steps to provide extra assistance if needed or help to identify inabilities if growth is not matching the milestones within a certain time frame. This paper will provide information on characteristics/milestones of middle childhood in relation to various theories, as well as provide some activities to help promote the development of cognitive, language, and motor development as well as detailing how the activities enhance these developments. The first step will be the ability to identify milestones of middle childhood. Middle childhood is a time in a child’s life where a lot is going on. Big changes are taking place and the child sometimes becomes easily overwhelmed thus the guidance of parents and teachers becomes very important. Middle childhood begins around the age of 6 or 7 and lasts unto about the age of 11 or 12. This is the time when school begins. Some children have had the experience of preschool which will help them advance at a much faster pace than children who will be entering school for the first time. Children of the middle childhood are learning how to become independent from parents and family. They dress themselves and usually tie their own shoes. This stage is also characterized by acquisition of internal transformations, manipulations, and reorganization of mental structures (Wieten, 2010). In other words the child had gained the ability to solve most of the mental problems experienced at the initial stage. They are
References: Haig, K., & Rod, P. (2010). Introduction to psychology. California: Wadsworth Publishers Company. Kaplan, H. B. (2005). Understanding the concept of resilience. Handbook of Resilience in Children, 1(3), 39-47. Rathus, P. A. (2010). Cdev. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub Co.Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books/feeds/volumes?q=0-495-90553-4 Wieten, W. (2010). Psychology: themes & variations. 8th Ed. Belmont, California: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.