Page 155 - Meeting with Children Book

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Social Emotional Development

Children in this age band have moved
from learning about how the world
works by initially assimilating bits of
reality into fantasy to now viewing the
world as a place with rules, laws and culture and now

having to assimilate themselves into reality. A major change
has now begun to take place as the child no longer sees
herself as the centre of the world, rather she sees the world
as a complex place to sort where she now fits. For this age
group, social/emotional development is viewed as the
continuation of the emergence of self. Communication and
language skills have matured to the point that a sense of
self and healthy relationships are beginning to solidify. This
leads to the child finding her place in the community.
Community, school and friends become central during
middle to late childhood. Because the focus on "others"
increases so dramatically; this stage of social/emotional
development becomes very complex. There are many
values, rules and routines to learn. Parents remain very
important, but peers begin to take on a very important role.

Social perspective taking becomes increasingly
sophisticated and during this stage of development
children learn that there are many ways to understand a
situation. Children also begin to learn about how others see
them. By the time a child is 10-12 years old, she can hold
opposing or different view points at the same time. Hart
(1998) notes that children in this age band begin to
understand ambivalent feelings and they view the self and
others as having many characteristics. This age group is
much better than the 5-7 year olds at reading the feelings,