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Developmental Milestones
- Spend increasing amount of time with peers
- Form friendships with others in school and other activities
- Begin to formulate identity independently of their role within
the family
- Choose to play or socialize in smaller groups (for Girls)
- Gravitate toward socializing with larger groups (for Boys)
- Evolve a moral standard that moves from seeking rewards and
avoiding punishments to a more sophisticated understanding of
what’s right and wrong and how their own behaviors affect
others
What's on their Mind
- Begin to compare their progress in appearance, school, and
sports performance to others
- Realize that rules can be altered if it is mutually agreed
- Compose social groups (e.g., wonder who they will sit with
at lunch)
- Share secrets with friends
- Resolve how to end a fight or disagreement with a peer using
words
Building Child-Parent Relationships
- Support child's emerging individuality
- Set clearly defined limits that reinforce child's strengths
- Spend significant time with child in activities; let them direct
the play
- Avoid comparing child's performance to that of others
- Ask specific, open-ended questions about your child’s
peers, activities in school, and life outside the home
Maximizing the Camp Experience
- Share some aspects of the camp selection process (e.g., what
kind of camp, how long to stay, whether to go with a friend or
not)
- Identify goals of camp with child and fit the camp to these
goals (i.e., work together to find a camp that matches your child’s
interests and abilities)
- Allow child to assume responsibility for camp preparation (e.g.,
help to shop for necessities, help to pack, help to complete registration
forms)
- Consider a camp that offers special programs for a specific
strength you have identified in your child (see above)
- Reserve a family time for activities and conversation about
the camp, about coping with homesickness, about keeping in touch
through letter writing
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Middle
Childhood — Ages 8 to 10
