Development During Middle Childhood Analysis

271 Words2 Pages
In Development During Middle Childhood, Andrew Collins looks at many different perspectives of middle childhood. The perspective I was most interested in was the “Sibling Caretaking” portion. (345). Most children, age six to twelve, have been found to be the primary caretaker of there younger siblings or younger children amongst their cultural group. Sibling caretaking is also referred to as “shared functioning”. The term is described as flexible and universal childcare. Sibling caretaking is mainly associated with horticulture, pastoralism and agriculture. Usually, many of the mothers are also working outside the home in fields, gardening, or collecting wild vegetation. Once a child is old enough, they turn into the caretaker over the younger