Lisa Johnson on middle childhood

Modeling:
As children develop emotionally and socially in middle childhood, they also mature physically, cognitively, and their social relationships with family and peers also mature and change as well. During this turbulent time of middle childhood, peer friendships take on a more prominent role than ever before, and can include friends at school, in the neighborhood, teammates, and siblings close in age. Communication and cognitive skills continue to improve, white middle childhood children developing increased interpersonal awareness skills, as a result, becoming improved at reading and responding to others, understanding others’ intentions and needs, and why they behave the way the do. These social skills lay the foundation for the formation of closer friendships.

During this adjustment period, is when middle childhood adolescents begin to take on some key components of adult relationships and the dynamics of friendships begin to take on new dynamics. These include mutual regard for another’s individual personality, abilities, and behavior. They grow closer together because they learn to respect on another, in the form of the other child’s kindness, humor, loyalty, fearlessness, and intellect. Mutual trust and willingness to support each other are the cornerstones of these friendships.

This is where modeling comes into play, Modeling is when the children learn from someone else, such as their parent, adult, older sibling or role model. If these “models” have positive relationships with their peers, the children will more than likely develop the same type of positive relationships as well. It is human nature for people to form relationships in some fashion, so it is imperative that adults and others set up a positive environment for children to follow. Bandura illustrates how modeling is extremely important in childrens’ lives by stating that a positive environment for a child to follow is healthy and one of the important steps in development.

A prime example would be a young male person who had many friends in early childhood age group, but as he matured, his group of peers narrowed down to two or three close friends who have much in common. They have learned to respect each other and understand the boundaries of limitations each young middle age child presents.

Lisa Johnson on Emotional and Social Development

The emotional and social development of infants and toddlers begin from birth and spans to three years of age. This is the time where this age group develops the foundation for all social interactions. They experience feelings and emotions for the very first time and it is up to the parents and other adults in their lives to model and teach them how to react and behave socially.

From birth to one year of age, they learn to communicate by expressing their needs through crying, laughing, and eye contact. Twelve to twenty-four months of age, these young toddlers use parallel play where they will not interact directly with other children, rather they play side-by-side with others. During the second year up to twenty-six months, the older toddler should develop the ability of interacting with others among their own age group and in pretend play. By the age of three, the toddler begins to actively use their imagination and together, develop stories. They will begin to clearly state their own feelings and wants by using imaginary play.

From birth to the age of three, there are humongous social changes in both social and emotional development in children. Parents and others that interact with infants and toddler can positively impact them through appropriate social and emotional interactions. This can be achieved by providing words for talking about feelings and expressing them verbally. Other avenues would be to introduce videos and books that teach children appropriate behaviors and manners. An adult should respond by modeling proper behavior and by gently redirecting the child’s actions. By demonstrating with both verbal and physical instructions in a positive way, and by telling them the correct way to act and react, it will give them expectations and guidelines to adhere to.

Conservation

I have a younger sister who is taller than me, and an older sister who is shorter than me. A lot of people get our ages mixed up, most of these people are children. Children have a tendancy to think that whoever is the biggest is the oldest, which most of us know is not necessarily true. This ties into the idea of conservation. Conservation is the ability to understand that certain physical characteristics of objects remain the same even when their outward appearance changes. Consider this, you put the same amount of water into two different glasses. One of the glasses is really short and fat. The other glass is tall and skinny. When you ask your child which glass contains more water, what do you think they will say? The tall one of course! They answer this way because they have not developed this idea of conservation. In their little brains they think that the taller one has more, just like people think that my younger sister is older than me just because she is taller. Children develop this ability of conservation between the ages of 7 and 11. This is just one little step in their development, but it makes a big difference!

Kelsea Bedford

GENDER TYPING DURING MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

When I think of middle childhood I can't help but linger on the issue of gender typing. As parents we play a role in socializing gender, we dress boys and girls differently, select toys based on gender, and often react negatively if they behave in ways they think are gender inappropriate. So I propose this question, if we are on the front lines of shaping thier lives, what could be done to erase these gender lines that are so clearly defined? Masculinity and femininity develop early, Kohlberg's Cognitive Development Theory states that a child notices physical and behavioral cues, the child then finds it rewarding to behave in a gender-appropriate manner and imitate same-gender models. Children, including my own see the example we set before them, they will either want to be just like you or completely opposite you. When you are at home if you have that significant other, share the household responsibility. Let your child see mommy picking up a hammer and putting things together and also let them see daddy doing the dishes, is it really that hard guys? Come on! Your son will see this and in the future will do the same for his significant other. Your daughter could potentially become more self confident and learn how to better choose and wait for the right person. Isn't this what we want for them, to be better than us in every way possible? Let your child play with the things they like to do. If a boy wants to play with dolls, met him play with them. If a girl wants to play toy cars or trucks let her play. Avoid comments like "boys shouldn't play with dolls" or "girls shouldn't play with trucks". Help your child dress up in a way he or she wants to. Try not to be over protective of your girls, and please don't emphasize on her physical appearance. Yes she look uber cute in that pink frilly dress but let her know she is smart and has so many other qualities to work with. Jackie Raio

middle childhood and individuality

I am fortunate to have two boys in middle childhood right now, ages 7 and 8. I often compare and contrast my boys in their physical, cognitive, emotional and psychological development.  They are polar opposites of each other. My 8 year old is big and tall, has a hard time relating to others, is really good at math and spelling and is very emotionally sensitive. My 7 year old is short and very thin, is very popular, struggles in school and is stoic with his emotions. In our classes we are continuously revisiting the nature v nurture concept. I see my boys as the perfect example of how people are a product of both. It is very interesting for me to see what my 8 year old is doing now and how different it is from what he was doing a year ago. I see my 7 year old and know what to look forward to in the next year because of where his brother is at, but I know that even the same events will be met with different experiences.  Each of my children is unique. They have more differences than they do similarities even though they both grew up in the same environment. I have learned to appreciate these differences. When I became a mom the second time I just assumed that I would do the same thing with my second as I did with my first. It worked for the first, why not the second. But as my children grow, (and especially now that we have a daughter that is 4 years younger than my youngest boy) I am learning that being fair and being equal is not the same thing.  We hold our children to certain expectations but realize that they are individuals and so each situation should be handled individually.  For example, a few weeks ago my 8 year old went to his first sleep over. My 7 year old has been staying the night at friends’ houses for at least a year now. There was no blanket rule that says “When you turn 7, you can stay the night at a friend’s house.” That decision was made individually with each child. We look at the situation, the maturity level of the child and we consider how that child will handle that specific situation, and then make any decisions that need to be made. When the kids were younger it was easy to have a set of uniform rules. But as they grow each part of their personalities become more and more defined it becomes necessary to consider the individual qualities in each of my children.  

Amanda Tompkins

Temperament and Development

Temperament and Development: Infants and Toddlers

By Terry Begley

Temperament in infants and toddlers is are shaped and formed at early stages of life. Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess (1956) studied 141 children and discovered how parenting can modify a child's temperament. Infants are cute and we are sweet, but it all depends on their temperament which appears early (Berk, 2010). Crying, laughing, smiling, anxiety, and how active a child may be, all have to to with their temperament. Thomas and Chess found that a child's temperament can follow them through adulthood. Even psychological problems can be a cause of early childhood temperament (Berk, 2010).

By interviewing parents Thomas and Chess discovered the first model of temperament, which was nine dimensions. They found that certain characteristics clustered together. They found that it gave them three types of children:

• The easy child which adapts well, can be cheerful, and easily begins routines early.
• The difficult child is irregular in everyday routines during infancy, is slow to accept new
  experiences, and tends to reacts negatively.
• The slow- to-warm-up child is not active, reacts slowly and mild to their environment, has a negative mood, and adjusts slowly to new experiences (Berk, 2010).

Mary Rothbart has another model of temperament. She looks at individuals and how they do not just differ in their reactivity. Rothbart explains how the self regulatory dimension of temperament is what she calls effortful control. Effort control is the capacity to voluntarily suppress a dominant response in order to plan and execute a more adaptive response (Rothbart, 2003; Rothbart & Bates, 2006).

Measuring temperament is usually done through interviews or questionnaires given to parents. Researchers also observe in the child's home or in the lab. Neither of these approaches are full proof and can be inaccurate.

Psychologists focus their research on children's temperaments that fall at opposite extremes of the positive-affect and fearful-distress dimensions of temperament (Berk, 2010).This where studies o inhibited, shy, uninhibited, and sociable children are focus on by psychologists.

This is where I enjoyed reading about how biology and environment may change the temperament of infants and toddlers. The explanation of how arousal of the amygdala contributes to contrasting temperaments. The research done with MRIs shows how shy and inhibited children react to novel stimuli (Berk, 2010). It is how easily the amygdala's connection to the cerebral cortex and the sympathetic nevious system prepares the body to act in the face of threat in the shy and inhibited child and not in the uninhibited child (Berk, 2010). The heart rate, Cortisol, Pupil dilation, blood pressure, skin surface temperature, and EEG brain-wave activity are controlled through the amygdala (Berk, 2010).

Effective child rearing practices have the chance of changing the temperaments of children. Patient, loving and supportive parents are what children need, along with good nutrition.

Importance of Knowing Your Child's Intelligence
By Peggyann Swopes

I think it’s extremely important for parents to know that there are multiple types of intelligences.  Gardner tells us of 8:

·         linguistic

·         logico-mathmatical

·         musical

·         spatial

·         bodily-kinesthetic

·         Naturalist

·         Interpersonal

·         Intrapersonal

Each child develops their own personality at their own pace.  A mother may be worried that her child isn’t talking and communicating like the other 6 year olds.  Gardner lets us know that it’s ok; she may be an intrapersonal learner.  Once a learning type is determined, homework and classroom activities could be more specific to the child’s needs.  Establishing intelligence types for children is essential in early years of learning.  Once it is acknowledged, teaching, nurturing, and discipline for the child will be much easier on the child.  In conclusion, I think it is very important to watch how your children grow and interact with other peers to give them the tools that best fit for them.