Unit 8: Caring for Middle School Children
Language skills and social abilities are evolving and the middle childhood children can be pleasant companions.
Middle childhood children are proud of their new found abilities and if given tasks that interest them, they can be a real help in the child care centre and at the same time it will help to build their self-confidence.
Their intellect is blossoming and they are becoming more selective about their interests. With their increased ability to concentrate, middle childhood children will spend hours devoting themselves to chosen interests.
At times their bodies seem to be working against them. This age group will experience several growth spurts. Like their bodies, middle childhood children’s emotions also change frequently. They can be cheerful and chatty one moment and silent and moody the next.
Middle childhood children require stable, loving relationships to cope with the wider world. Peers become very important in this age group. Fostering the development of positive self-esteem in children will produce well-adjusted adults. Child care providers must also teach these children how to protect themselves by offering street-proofing training.
Middle childhood children have a need to test the limits of authority and to assert their independence, but child care providers still have important roles to play in providing guidance and support.