Understanding 8-9-Year-Olds describes how children grow and change as they move further away from reliance on home and family, out into the world of school and community. Children of this age develop preferences as well as opinions based on their experience of new relationships and activities. For many children, it is a period of relative calm as they develop through new skills while accumulating knowledge. Biddy Youell looks at the ways in which eight and nine year olds experience their world and highlights some of the difficulties that may hinder their emotional, social or educational development.This accessible book provides valuable insights that will help parents, educators and carers better understand and relate to children during these middle years of childhood.The Tavistock Clinic has an international reputation as a centre of excellence for training, clinical mental health work, research and scholarship. Written by professionals working in the Child and Family and the Adolescent Departments, the guides in this series present balanced and sensitive advice that will help adults to become, or to feel that they are, ''good enough'' parents. Each book concentrates on a key transition in a child's life from birth to adolescence, looking especially at how parents' emotions and experiences interact with those of their children. The titles in the ''Understanding Your Child'' series are essential reading for new and experienced parents, relatives, friends and carers, as well as for the multi-agency professionals who are working to support children and their families.