Middle Childhood Development Milestone

Physical development

However, middle childhood development is the age from 7-11 and during this stage,
children begin to spurt in height and weight. At this stage, children are going through puberty
stage. With that being said, during this stage children observe different changes in physical
appearance and behavior. Furthermore, during middle childhood, children develop a sense of
self-esteem and individuality, comparing themselves with peers (Eccles, J. S. 1999). However,
during this stage children have already built confidence within themselves. When children have
built confidence in them self they have a tendency to resist negative peer pressure and make
positive choices in life. At this stage, middle childhood should be in this stage: puberty begins
rapid growth, and exploring activities that will enhance gross and fine motor skills.

Language Development in Middle Childhood

During this period, children are at the stage where they can spell words and write
complete sentences. At the age of nine, children is beginning to use correct spelling, and begin to
write stories about what took place in the story. Children that seem to struggle know how to use
their critical thinking skills to sound out words, which consist of blending letters sound together.
Most children at this age begin to recognize vocabulary words and know the meaning of the
word. During the middle childhood stage, there reading skill is advanced and they begin to read
fluently. However, by reading, it allows children to learn and master academic skills. During the
language stage, middle childhood should be doing the following:
Reading Fluently
Learning new and challenging words
Pronounce words correctly
Children can recognize verb and nouns.

Cognitive Development in Middle childhood

During this stage, children attention span is much better than usual. Children at this age
are more organized, and they displays more effective spatial reasoning, as indicated by
ability to construct well-organized cognitive maps and give clear direction (Berk, 2013).
Piaget states at this stage, they begin the ability to combine and classify items in more
sophisticated way, and the capacity for higher-order reasoning (Gibson, C., 2005). During the
cognitive development stage middle childhood should be doing the following:
Can remember important events
Problem solving skills
Make positive decisions
Show empathy for others

Social/Emotional
During middle childhood development, children socialize with peers and teachers.
However, at this age when child interact with others, they see the world in a positive way. As
children build their social skills, they learn by exploring the environment. In middle childhood,
as children engage in social, it enhances their self-esteem and builds confidence. During this
stage middle childhood should be doing the following:

Middle childhood show independence

Middle childhood can determine what is real and make believe
Middle childhood like to fit in with others.

Moral Reasoning/ Self Regulation

During middle childhood, children feel as though they need to live up to others
expectation that they look up to such as friend, peers, and others. During this stage children
know about self-regulation skills such as taking turns and sharing. Children at this age care about
how others feel about them. During this stage middle childhood should be doing the following:

Middle childhood have empathy for others.

Middle childhood have gained knowledge about how to control their emotions and selfcontrol
Middle childhood can understand and follow rules
Middle have gained knowledge of what is right and wrong behavior

Atypical Developing Middle Childhood

During the middle childhood, children should be able to make positive decisions, but they
can not. Children should be able to use language to communicate with peers and others, which
they have difficulties communicating with to others. Atypical developing middle childhood
would not be able to use logical thoughts, and understand concepts because of his or her delay.

Social Factor
Social factor that can influence a middle childhood is friendship and peer interaction. During this
stage, children look for peers and friends for guidance. At this age, children begin to judge them
self and are judged by others. During this stage, parents plays an important role in a child`s
social factor because having positive parents, it will build a child self-esteem when they have
concern parents that they can communicate with on a daily basis.

Cultural Factor
Cultural factor that can influence a middle childhood will be teacher can have the children to
write a paper about different cultures and discuss their findings with the class. Also class can
make a collage about different cultures and hang them around the room. However, every child
will be able to learn about each other culture and the children will be able to appreciate each
other culture.

Strategies for Families

Parent can be an advocate for their child. Parent can take part in their child`s academic by
attending school functions. Parent and child can do homework together to help enhance their
child`s learning. Parent can provide learning activities at home to promote their child`s growth
and development.

References
Berk, L. E. (2013).Child development. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Eccles, J. S. (1999). The development of children ages 6 to 14. The future of children, 30-44.

Gibson, C. (2005). Hearing the Adolescents' Voice: a Study Evaluating the Use
of Conjoint Analysis for Use with Adolescents to Determine
Preferences for Inpatient Hospital Facilities.