Psychological and social development
Of the two major socializing agents in childrens lives: the family environment...and formal educational institutions, it is the family in its function a primary socializer of the child that predominates in the first five years of life: middle childhood by contrast is characterized by a childs readiness for school...being self-assured and interested; knowing what kind of behavior is expected...being able to wait, to follow directions, and getting along with other children.Preadolescent children have a different view of the world from younger children in many significant ways. Typically, theirs is a more realistic view of life than the intense, fantasy-oriented world of earliest childhood. Preadolescents have more mature, sensible, realistic thoughts and actions: the most "sensible" stage of development...the child is a much less emotional being now. They will often have developed a sense of  intentionality. The wish and capacity to have an impact, and to act upon that with persistence; and will have a more developed sense of looking into the future and seeing effects of their actions (as opposed to early childhood where children often do not worry about their future). This can include more realistic job expectations ("I want to be an engineer when I grow up", as opposed to "I want to be a wizard").
Preadolescence is a stage of human development following early childhood and preceding adolescence. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty but may also be defined as ending with the start of the teenage years. Preadolescence is commonly defined as ages 9-12 ending with the major onset of puberty. It may also be defined as simply the 2-year period before the major onset of puberty. Preadolescence can bring its own challenges and anxieties. Terminology
Other slang and terminology used to refer to the preadolescent stage include tween or tweener, as a combination of the words "teen" and "between. "While known as preadolescent in psychology, the terms preteen, preteenager, or tween are common in everyday use. A preteen or preteenager is a person 12 and under. Generally, the term is restricted to those close to reaching age 13, especially ages 9 to 12. Tween is an American neologism and marketing term for preteen, which is a blend of between and teen. People within this age range are variously described as tweens, preadolescents, tweenies, preteens, pubescents, junior highschoolers, middle schoolers, or tweenagers. Prepubescence, puberty, and age range
Being prepubescent is not the same thing as being preadolescent. Instead, prepubescent (and sometimes child) is a term for boys and girls who have not developed secondary sex characteristics, while preadolescent is generally defined as those ranging from age 9 to 12 years.