Tips for Working Parents: Children 5-13 Years

As you and your child develop and grow together, you can continue to expect some hurdles along the way. You’ll both make mistakes, but you can learn from them. Remember, many "problems" of school agers are eventually outgrown. They’re just a normal part of growing up.

School Agers: 5–13 years

School agers’ lives tend to revolve around friends and school, where they may be social and talkative, even when they’re not supposed to! Although it may be aggravating, this misbehavior is usually a temporary phase while children test the rules and find out just how far they can go.

If Your Hurdle Is...

At this age, children begin to travel from place to place, such as from school to after-school programs, without adult supervision. This eases some of the pressure of arranging child care, but may conjure up new worries, such as dangerous strangers, traffic safety, or unfriendly dogs.

Train Yourself to...

Encourage your child to talk to you about getting from site to site and to tell you about anything that has happened. Teach your child how to recognize "good" strangers (such as police officers) and "bad" strangers, to stay with groups of friends, and to obey traffic rules.

Managing Child Care

If a supervised after-school program is not available, you may ask yourself whether your child is all right at home alone—or scared? Or lonely? You and your latchkey child will feel safer if you leave a set of rules and a schedule (including a check-in call to you or another responsible adult).