The Developmental Tasks of Middle Childhood

Abstract

Abstract To begin to capture the complex contextual influences on children of immigrants’ identity development and academic pathways, we have chosen to focus our studies on the period of development often referred to as “middle childhood.” This period, ranging roughly between the ages of 6 and 12 years, is a crucial time in children’s development (Eccles, 1999; Huston & Ripke, 2006). Yet, most of the literature has tended to neglect this developmental period. We know a fair amount about the first 3 years of life, about preschoolers, and about adolescents (unfortunately, in the latter stage, mostly about their problems), but little about the normative processes in middle childhood. Before we could begin our studies, then, we needed to build a thorough understanding of what developmental processes and milestones are currently known to be important to children of this age and consider how to apply these past developmental studies to our research with children of immigrants. Why is increasing our knowledge about middle childhood important? We contend that pathways that are created, initiated, or maintained during middle childhood put children onto certain life trajectories and not others. Many life course research projects start such analyses in adolescence, since trajectories and decisions made in that developmental period (i.e., continue education, start work, start parenthood, etc.) are clearly implicated for later life trajectories (e.g., MacMillan & Eliason, 2003). In contrast, we propose that patterns established and decisions made in middle childhood are just as critical in determining later outcomes.