Middle and Late Childhood: Human Growth and Development

1. Middle to Late Childhood
IHS Unit 6

2. Learning Targets
• Identify changes and developments that occur
in middle to late childhood.

3. Middle Childhood
• This is age span from 6 to 8.
– Also called School age.
• Growth has slowed down physically, but great
changes occur in mental ability.
• Peer interaction (usually same sex) becomes
more meaningful in this stage.

4. Late Childhood
• Also called pre-adolescence (ages 9-12)
– Puberty may begin at the end of this stage.
– Friendship and peer acceptance becomes
increasingly important to social wellness.
– Growth slows down in preparation for puberty.
– This may be an awkward stage for many children.
• May become self conscious, or have concern about
body.

5. Middle/Late Childhood Cognitive
Development
• Piaget describes the level of cognition in
middle to late childhood as concrete
operational.
– They are able to grasp logical reasoning patterns,
such as required in mathematics.
– They are no longer egocentric thinkers.
– Still struggle with analyzing abstract concepts.

6. Middle/Late Childhood Developmental
Task
• Industry VS Inferiority
– This task is all about meeting peer group and
family expectations.
– Doing well in school, social activites and
extracirriculars has a large impact on the childs
self-esteem.
– Children who are no meeting expectations or are
not receiving positive feedback from adults may
develop feeling of negative self image.

7. Health Concerns for Middle/Late
Childhood
• Physical activity and good nutrition are
important.
• Injury during sports and play is common.
• Important for parents to monitor activities,
peer interaction to be sure good choices are
being made.

8. Timeline
• Age 6
– Growth slows, coordination improves
– Grasp concepts of time, basic logic.
• Age 7
– Has good balance and coordination
– Has developed clear ideas of right and wrong
• Age 8
– Able to and enjoy helping with “grown up” task such
as cooking and house chores.
– More advanced problem solving skills

9. Timeline
• Age 9
– Increase in growth for girls in preparation for puberty.
– Has better emotional control and attention span than
younger children.
• Age 10 to 12
– Puberty begins
– Hormone changes may cause emotional difficulty
– Have language skills nearly at adult level.
– Need increased sleep to catch up with growth.