Middle Childhood (ages 8-11)

Adolescence

Early Adolescence (ages 11-14)

Middle Adolescence (ages 15-18)

Below are characteristics of the "typical" child during the developmental stage of middle childhood (ages 8-11).   Children's progression through all stages of adolescence is determined not only by biological growth and change, but also by temperament and personality, adult expectations, the child's environment, and social influences.

Physical Growth

• Period of uneven growth of bones, muscles, and organs can result in awkward appearance.

• Early onset of puberty can present difficulties for girls; for boys, it can result in adult expectations more appropriate for older boys.

• Since some adolescents begin puberty during middle childhood, children need access to information about sexuality and puberty prior to the middle-school years.

Cognitive Stage

• Logical thinking with limited ability to extend logic to abstract concepts; disdain for imaginative and illogical thinking of early childhood.

• Accumulation of much general knowledge.

• Gradual development of ability to apply learned concepts to new tasks.

• Frequent interest in learning life skills (cooking, fixing things, etc.) from adults at home and else where.

Moral Development

• Predominantly egocentric in thinking, although has developed a conscience.

• Moves from thinking in terms of "What's in it for me" fairness (e.g., if you did this for me, I would do that for you), to wanting to gain social approval and live up to the expectations of people close to them -- "golden rule" morality (can take perspective of others, may place needs of others over own self-interest).

• Moral thinking abilities not always reflected in children's behaviors.

Self-Concept

• Influenced by relationships with family members, teachers, and increasingly by peers.

• Often relatively low level of concern about physical appearance (especially boys), although this is influenced by peers as well as the media.

• Many boys experience pressure to conform to "masculine" stereotype.

• Girls' body image declines precipitously with puberty, especially with early onset.

• Early onset of puberty is also associated with lower self-control and emotional stability, especially for boys.

Psychological and Emotional Traits

• Need to develop a sense of mastery and accomplishment.

  • Frequent interest in making plans and achieving goals.

  • Learning from parents and others to do, make, and fix things.

• Tendency to be disorganized and forgetful.

Relationship to Parents and Other Adults

• Tends to be closely attached to parental figures.

• Parents commonly make most decisions, affecting child, with child involvement in decisions increasing with age.

• Most frequent conflicts over sibling quarrels and forgetfulness with respect to chores, schoolwork, and messiness, especially of child's bedroom.

• Parental listening skills become increasingly important.

• Parent-child communication patterns can change with puberty.  Many adolescents report that they can't talk with parents about issues related to sexuality, and they don't get needed information in sex education courses at school.

Peer Relationships

• Friendships often with same-gender peers, usually based on proximity, common interest/hobbies, or other perceived commonalities.  Girls usually have fewer, but emotionally closer, friends than boys.

• Formation of exclusive "clubs" and shifting peer alliances common.

• Media influences and popular culture increasingly impact children's peer activities and relationships.

Information from Middle Childhood and Adolescent Development, Oregon State University Extension Service.

NEXT:  Early Adolescence (ages11-14)

Read All The Books

A researcher of brain science and gender differences, Gurian believes that much of a child's behavior is inborn from the start.  But Gurian sees a disturbing trend in parents' increasing willingness to disregard their own instincts, letting media and society-driven fads dictate the way they raise their kids.  Gurian presents an in-depth, chapter-by-chapter analysis of child development, beginning at infancy and ending in early adulthood.  This ground-breaking book shows us how to know our children, and appreciate their differences.

More Information on Middle Childhood

40 Developmental Assets for Middle Childhood (pdf) ~ The external and internal building blocks that help children grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.

Changing the "Self" in "Self-Esteem" ~ Self-serving pursuits do not create self-esteem. In fact, they often have just the opposite effect.

Early puberty in girls linked to obesity, inactivity ~ The study doesn't prove obesity is a cause for early puberty, but suggests it's likely that higher body weight could be a key contributor.

Generation M:  Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds (pdf) ~ This study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that over a 7-day week, children spent 6-1/2 hours a day with media (TV, video games, music, computers), 2 hours with their parents, just over an hour in physical exercise or play, 50 minutes doing homework, and 30 minutes doing chores.

How We Took the Child Out of Childhood ~ How did we get to the point where few kids ever get to play with friends outside of a play date, to walk to a neighbor's house without parental escort or to have free, unsupervised time in which they're not tethered to a television set, computer or Xbox?

Making the Young Old Before Their Time ~ For too many kids today, growing up is far more complicated than it was a generation ago.  Life for children appears to be stuck on fast forward.  It seems that every parent has an eight-year-old daughter going on twenty-one.  Our little boys seem more interested in issues that were once the sole domain of early adulthood.

When Your Child is Close to Puberty ~ Information from the American Academy of Family Physicians on the time in life when a young person starts to become sexually mature.