Why middle childhood is critical

When it comes to "vulnerable" ages for children, we tend to think of infancy or adolescence. There is, however, another period in children’s lives which brings significant challenges: middle childhood. The recurring theme children face at this age is change. Yet the changes affecting middle childhood centre less on growth and more on children’s developing social and emotional worlds. The first big change is that children in middle childhood spend around half as much time with their parents as they do in early childhood, while the time they spend with other children and alone increases significantly.