Parenting During Middle Childhood

Parents of children between the ages of 5 and 12—the period commonly referred to as middle childhood—face challenges arising from maturational changes in children and from socially imposed constraints, opportunities, and demands impinging on them. In diverse cultures, early middle childhood historically has marked a major shift in children’s relationships with adults. The age of 6 or 7 years was the time at which children were absorbed into the world of adults, helping to shoulder family responsibilities, and working alongside their elders. Well into the eighteenth century in Western nations, many children left home by the age of 6 or 7 years to work as servants in other households. To most parents in industrialized societies, middle childhood is less distinctive as a period of development than infancy, toddlerhood, or adolescence. Nevertheless, ages 5–12 are universally set apart because this period encompasses major transition points in human development.