The elementary school years are the Golden Age of Childhood because they are a time of slow, even, physical growth and great leaps forward intellectually and socially. It's a time for both girls and boys to play soccer and have a best friend, to go on sleepovers and become ardent fans of a favorite baseball or football team. And it's also a time to ride bikes in the park, eat ice cream on a lazy summer afternoon, have carefree moments with nothing to do and get absorbed in a good book.
What a wonderful time for parents! Children between the ages of six and eleven or twelve can take care of themselves in regard to eating, sleeping, and hygiene. For the most part they cause little trouble, listen well, and - most importantly - they like and admire their parents and want to spend time with them. Mom and Dad really are the greatest! Enjoy it, folks. Unfortunately, such admiration is short-lived, soon to be replaced by the uncomfortable but necessary distancing and disdainful scrutiny of every parental word in adolescence, which is just around the corner.
Child psychiatrist, Cal Colarusso M.D. loved raising two boys and a girl through these wonderful years, has fond memories of his own childhood in a much simpler age and has had the privilege of treating scores of boys and girls over the past five decades. In this book he uses his personal experience as a parent, grandfather and therapist to share his knowledge of this age with parents in a relaxed but informative manner. After all, after months and years of sleepless nights, dirty diapers and temper tantrums, parents deserve a Golden Age too.
The Golden Age of Childhood: The Elementary School Years provides parents with an in-depth understanding of what makes children of this age tick and provides suggestions on how to promote maximum growth and development.
This book provides information on: