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:

• The emergence of the capacity for friendships
• The development of morality and a strong sense of right and wrong
• The elaboration of sexual identity
• The physical, emotional and cognitive capacities needed to succeed in school
• The nature of play in childhood
• The rhyme and reason behind classical fairy tales and movies of this phase of development

Use the strategies in this book to guide your child through the elementary school years while enjoying the process every step of the way.

About the Author: Calvin A. Colarusso, M.D. is an eminent authority in the field of development. Dr. Colarusso is a board-certified Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego, where he served for two decades as Director of the Child Psychiatry Residency Training Program. He is also a Training and Supervising Analyst in child and adult psychoanalysis at the San Diego Psychoanalytic Institute and an internationally known lecturer to students, professionals, and the general public on many aspects of normal and pathologic development.