"Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it."-Bill Cosby
Typical Middle Childhood Development
Middle childhood is a very active time in a child’s life. Middle childhood ranges from 7 to 12 years of age. During middle childhood, children grow at a slow consistent rate before reaching a large growth spurt during adolescence. A healthy average weight increase during this state is 5 to 8 pounds per year. An average height increase is 2 to 3 inches per year. The girls in this stage tend to grow before the boys. Boy’s growth in height usually comes after their development of secondary sex characteristics. Girls at this stage normally have a growth spurt before the development of secondary sex characteristics.(Santrock 2008) It is very important for children in this stage to be up and active. Being active at a young age promotes continued activity in the later years reducing that threat of sedentary death syndrome and other health problems. Sixty minutes a day is a suggest amount of activity for kids this age.
Children’s motor skills become smoother and more coordinated than in early childhood. They are able to master running, skipping, bicycle riding, and skating. Boys will usually have better performance than girls at this age in gross motor skills, whereas girls typically perform better than boys in fine motor skills.
Psychosocial development is another important part of middle childhood. At this stage peer relationships become more important than parent. Children are receiving many inputs and influences from peers, TV, and school at this stage and must learn how to deal with them all. There is a lot of transition in middle childhood. Kids are going from a safe sheltered home environment to a less sheltered and protected environment of school. With all this change in security it’s important for the child to develop a sense of personal awareness. Self-esteem at this stage is becoming very important. With the increaseing influence from peers, self-esteem can have an effect on how the child feels about themselves. The better the child feels about themselves the more likely they are to want to excell in the class room and at home. The child starts to show rapid development of mental skills in this age range. They learn better ways to describe experiences and talk about their feelings and thoughts. They are also starting to become less self-oriented and start focusing concern for others.
There are a few different ways children are motivated in middle childhood. When the focus is on performance orientations it is an extrinsic motive. The child will be motivated by trying to please and satisfy others. It is important for the child to also be intrinsically motivated. With intrinsic motivation the child gets internal pleasure from the task or activity rather than an external reward. Both are necessary for a productive and healthy life style as they continue to grow and mature.
Sense of self is the basic understanding of who I am. Children in middle childhood are starting to become aware of what it means to be ME. Sense of self is based on cultural influences, views of others, and personal experiences. Everything the child has been through and learned can have an effect on their idea of self.
(Ryan, 2008)
Children’s motor skills become smoother and more coordinated than in early childhood. They are able to master running, skipping, bicycle riding, and skating. Boys will usually have better performance than girls at this age in gross motor skills, whereas girls typically perform better than boys in fine motor skills.
Psychosocial development is another important part of middle childhood. At this stage peer relationships become more important than parent. Children are receiving many inputs and influences from peers, TV, and school at this stage and must learn how to deal with them all. There is a lot of transition in middle childhood. Kids are going from a safe sheltered home environment to a less sheltered and protected environment of school. With all this change in security it’s important for the child to develop a sense of personal awareness. Self-esteem at this stage is becoming very important. With the increaseing influence from peers, self-esteem can have an effect on how the child feels about themselves. The better the child feels about themselves the more likely they are to want to excell in the class room and at home. The child starts to show rapid development of mental skills in this age range. They learn better ways to describe experiences and talk about their feelings and thoughts. They are also starting to become less self-oriented and start focusing concern for others.
There are a few different ways children are motivated in middle childhood. When the focus is on performance orientations it is an extrinsic motive. The child will be motivated by trying to please and satisfy others. It is important for the child to also be intrinsically motivated. With intrinsic motivation the child gets internal pleasure from the task or activity rather than an external reward. Both are necessary for a productive and healthy life style as they continue to grow and mature.
Sense of self is the basic understanding of who I am. Children in middle childhood are starting to become aware of what it means to be ME. Sense of self is based on cultural influences, views of others, and personal experiences. Everything the child has been through and learned can have an effect on their idea of self.
(Ryan, 2008)