童年時期

**童年**是從出生跨越到青春期的年齡時間段。童年也可能包括青少年，但無論如何都是在成年之前。童年一般由兩個階段組成：前運算階段（preoperational stage）和具體運算階段（concrete operational stage）。在發展心理學中，童年被分為四個發展階段，即嬰兒期（學步期），兒童早期（玩耍期），兒童晚期（學齡期），以及青春期（青春期至後青春期）。各種各樣的童年因素會影響一個人人生態度的形成。

童年是一個讓孩子學習、玩耍的時間段，是一個讓孩子在家庭的愛和鼓勵、及許多成人關心下變得堅強與自信的時間段。這個年齡的孩子，生活沒有恐懼，遠離暴力、虐待和剝削。正因如此，童年絕非僅是出生與成為成人期間的間隔。它指的是兒童的生活狀態和條件，及這些年的生活品質。

## 童年的年齡跨度

童年的具體時間並不明確，它可以指人類發展中的一段長時間。以發育和生物學而言，它指的是嬰兒期與成年期之間的時期。一般而言，童年從出生開始。也有人認為，童年是玩耍和純真的代名詞。許多國家的法律中規定了著法定成人年齡，即一個人的童年正式結束，而在法律上成為成人的年齡。這一年齡各國有所不同，一般在 15 到 20 歲之間，其中以 18 歲最為普遍。

## 童年的發育階段

### 兒童早期

## 腳註

## 擴展閱讀

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* Bunge, Marcia J., ed. _The Child in Christian Thought_. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001.
* Calvert, Karin. _Children in the House: The Material Culture of Early Childhood, 1600-1900_. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1992.
* Cleverley, John and D.C. Phillips. _Visions of Childhood: Influential Models from Locke to Spock_. New York: Teachers College, 1986.
* Cannella, Gaile and Joe L. Kincheloe. "Kidworld: Childhood Studies, Global Perspectives, and Education". New York: Peter Lang, 2002.
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* Higonnet, Anne. _Pictures of Innocence: The History and Crisis of Ideal Childhood_. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1998.
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* Schultz, James. _The Knowledge of Childhood in the German Middle Ages._
* Shorter, Edward. _The Making of the Modern Family_.
* Sommerville, C. John. _The Discovery of Childhood in Puritan England_. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992.
* Steinberg, Shirley R. and Joe L. Kincheloe. _Kinderculture: The Corporate Construction of Childhood_. Westview Press Inc., 2004. ISBN 081339157.
* Stone, Lawrence. _The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800_. New York: Harper and Row, 1979.
* Zornado, Joseph L. _Inventing the Child: Culture, Ideology, and the Story of Childhood_. New York: Garland, 2001.

## 外部連結

* * Childhood，In Our Time (BBC Radio 4) 的《In Our Time》節目。(現在聆聽)
* 世界兒童基金會 （頁面存檔備份，存於網際網路檔案館）（英文）
* Meeting Early Childhood Needs（英文）

新條目《童年》高爾基