The 12 Stages of Life

The Twelve Stages of the Human Life Cycle

Which stage of life is the most important?   Some might claim that infancy is the key stage, when a baby’s
brain is wide open to new experiences that will influence all the rest of its later life. Others might argue
that it’s adolescence or young adulthood, when physical health is at its peak.  Many cultures around the
world value late adulthood more than any other, arguing that it is at this stage that the human being has
finally acquired the wisdom necessary to guide others.  Who is right?  The truth of the matter is that every
stage of life is equally significant and necessary for the welfare of humanity.  In my book The Human
Odyssey: Navigating the Twelve Stages of Life, I’ve written that each stage of life has its own unique “gift”
to contribute to the world.  We need to value each one of these gifts if we are to truly support the deepest
needs of human life.  Here are what I call the twelve gifts of the human life cycle:

1. Prebirth:  Potential – The child who has not yet been born could become anything – a
Michaelangelo, a Shakespeare, a Martin Luther King – and thus holds for all of humanity the
principle of what we all may yet become in our lives.
2. Birth:  Hope – When a child is born, it instills in its parents and other caregivers a sense of
optimism; a sense that this new life may bring something new and special into the world.  Hence,
the newborn represents the sense of hope that we all nourish inside of ourselves to make the
world a better place.
3. Infancy (Ages 0-3):   Vitality – The infant is a vibrant and seemingly unlimited source of energy. 
Babies thus represent the inner dynamo of humanity, ever fueling the fires of the human life cycle
with new channels of psychic power.
4. Early Childhood (Ages 3-6):  Playfulness – When young children play, they recreate the world
anew.  They take what is and combine it with the what is possible to fashion events that have
never been seen before in the history of the world.  As such, they embody the principle of
innovation and transformation that underlies every single creative act that has occurred in the
course of civilization.
5. Middle Childhood (Ages 6-8):  Imagination – In middle childhoood, the sense of an inner
subjective self develops for the first time, and this self is alive with images taken in from the outer
world, and brought up from the depths of the unconscious.  This imagination serves as a source
of creative inspiration in later life for artists, writers, scientists, and anyone else who finds their
days and nights enriched for having nurtured a deep inner life.
6. Late Childhood (Ages 9-11):  Ingenuity – Older children have acquired a wide range of social
and technical skills that enable them to come up with marvelous strategies and inventive
solutions for dealing with the increasing pressures that society places on them.  This principle of
ingenuity lives on in that part of ourselves that ever seeks new ways to solve practical problems
and cope with everyday responsibilities.
7. Adolescence (Ages 12-20):  Passion -  The biological event of puberty unleashes a powerful
set of changes in the adolescent body that reflect themselves in a teenager’s sexual, emotional,
cultural, and/or spiritual passion.  Adolescence passion thus represents a significant touchstone
for anyone who is seeking to reconnect with their deepest inner zeal for life.
 8. Early Adulthood (Ages 20-35):  Enterprise –  It takes enterprise for young adults to accomplish
their many responsibilities, including finding a home and mate, establishing a family or circle of
friends, and/or getting a good job.  This principle of enterprise thus serves us at any stage of life
when we need to go out into the world and make our mark.
9. Midlife (Ages 35-50):  Contemplation – After many years in young adulthood of following
society’s scripts for creating a life, people in midlife often take a break from worldly
responsibilities to reflect upon the deeper meaning of their lives, the better to forge ahead with
new understanding.  This element of contemplation represents an important resource that we can
all draw upon to deepen and enrich our lives at any age.
10. Mature Adulthood (Ages 50-80): Benevolence – Those in mature adulthood have raised
families, established themselves in their work life, and become contributors to the betterment of
society through volunteerism, mentorships, and other forms of philanthropy.  All of humanity
benefits from their benevolence.  Moreover, we all can learn from their example to give more of
ourselves to others.
11. Late Adulthood (Age 80+):  Wisdom – Those with long lives have acquired a rich repository of
experiences that they can use to help guide others.  Elders thus represent the source of wisdom
that exists in each of us, helping us to avoid the mistakes of the past while reaping the benefits of
life’s lessons.
12. Death & Dying:  Life – Those in our lives who are dying, or who have died, teach us about the
value of living.  They remind us not to take our lives for granted, but to live each moment of life to
its fullest, and to remember that our own small lives form of a part of a greater whole.

Since each stage of life has its own unique gift to give to humanity, we need to do whatever we can to
support each stage, and to protect each stage from attempts to suppress its individual contribution to the
human life cycle.  Thus, we need to be wary, for example, of attempts to thwart a young child’s need to
play through the establishment high-pressure formal academic preschools.  We should protect the
wisdom of aged from elder abuse.  We need to do what we can to help our adolescents at risk.  We need
to advocate for prenatal education and services for poor mothers, and support safe and healthy birthing
methods in third world countries. We ought to take the same attitude toward nurturing the human life cycle
as we do toward saving the environment from global warming and industrial pollutants.  For by supporting
each stage of the human life cycle, we will help to ensure that all of its members are given care and
helped to blossom to their fullest degree.

Adapted from Thomas Armstrong, The Human Odyssey:  Navigating the Twelve Stages of Life.  New
York:  Sterling, 2008.

Click Here to Schedule a Speaking Event with Dr. Armstrong.

Multiple Intelligences

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of
education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q.
testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a
broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are:
  Linguistic intelligence ("word smart")
 Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
 Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
 Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
 Musical intelligence ("music smart")
 Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
 Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
 Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")

Dr. Gardner says that our schools and culture focus most of their attention on linguistic and logical-
mathematical intelligence. We esteem the highly articulate or logical people of our culture. However, Dr.
Gardner says that we should also place equal attention on individuals who show gifts in the other
intelligences: the artists, architects, musicians, naturalists, designers, dancers, therapists, entrepreneurs,
and others who enrich the world in which we live. Unfortunately, many children who have these gifts don’t
receive much reinforcement for them in school. Many of these kids, in fact, end up being labeled "learning
disabled," "ADD (attention deficit disorder," or simply underachievers, when their unique ways of thinking
and learning aren’t addressed by a heavily linguistic or logical-mathematical classroom. The theory of
multiple intelligences proposes a major transformation in the way our schools are run. It suggests that
teachers be trained to present their lessons in a wide variety of ways using music, cooperative learning,
art activities, role play, multimedia, field trips, inner reflection, and much more (see Multiple Intelligences
in the Classroom). The good news is that the theory of multiple intelligences has grabbed the attention of
many educators around the country, and hundreds of schools are currently using its philosophy to
redesign the way it educates children. The bad news is that there are thousands of schools still out there
that teach in the same old dull way, through dry lectures, and boring worksheets and textbooks. The
challenge is to get this information out to many more teachers, school administrators, and others who
work with children, so that each child has the opportunity to learn in ways harmonious with their unique
minds (see In Their Own Way).

The theory of multiple intelligences also has strong implications for adult learning and development. Many
adults find themselves in jobs that do not make optimal use of their most highly developed intelligences
(for example, the highly bodily-kinesthetic individual who is stuck in a linguistic or logical desk-job when
he or she would be much happier in a job where they could move around, such as a recreational leader, a
forest ranger, or physical therapist). The theory of multiple intelligences gives adults a whole new way to
look at their lives, examining potentials that they left behind in their childhood (such as a love for art or
drama) but now have the opportunity to develop through courses, hobbies, or other programs of self-
development (see 7 Kinds of Smart).

How to Teach or Learn Anything 8 Different Ways

One of the most remarkable features of the theory of multiple intelligences is how it provides eight
different potential pathways to learning. If a teacher is having difficulty reaching a student in the more
traditional linguistic or logical ways of instruction, the theory of multiple intelligences suggests several
other ways in which the material might be presented to facilitate effective learning. Whether you are a
kindergarten teacher, a graduate school instructor, or an adult learner seeking better ways of pursuing
self-study on any subject of interest, the same basic guidelines apply. Whatever you are teaching or
learning, see how you might connect it with

 words (linguistic intelligence)

 numbers or logic (logical-mathematical intelligence)
 pictures (spatial intelligence)
 music (musical intelligence)
 self-reflection (intrapersonal intelligence)
 a physical experience (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence)
 a social experience (interpersonal intelligence), and/or
 an experience in the natural world. (naturalist intelligence)

For example, if you’re teaching or learning about the law of supply and demand in economics, you might
read about it (linguistic), study mathematical formulas that express it (logical-mathematical), examine a
graphic chart that illustrates the principle (spatial), observe the law in the natural world (naturalist) or in
the human world of commerce (interpersonal); examine the law in terms of your own body [e.g. when you
supply your body with lots of food, the hunger demand goes down; when there's very little supply, your
stomach's demand for food goes way up and you get hungry] (bodily-kinesthetic and intrapersonal);
and/or write a song (or find an existing song) that demonstrates the law (perhaps Dylan's "Too Much of
Nothing?"). 

You don’t have to teach or learn something in all eight ways, just see what the possibilities are, and then
decide which particular pathways interest you the most, or seem to be the most effective teaching or
learning tools. The theory of multiple intelligences is so intriguing because it expands our horizon of
available teaching/learning tools beyond the conventional linguistic and logical methods used in most
schools (e.g. lecture, textbooks, writing assignments, formulas, etc.). To get started, put the topic of
whatever you’re interested in teaching or learning about in the center of a blank sheet of paper, and draw
eight straight lines or "spokes" radiating out from this topic. Label each line with a different intelligence.
Then start brainstorming ideas for teaching or learning that topic and write down ideas next to each
intelligence (this is a spatial-linguistic approach of brainstorming; you might want to do this in other ways
as well, using a tape-recorder, having a group brainstorming session, etc.). Have fun!  

Resources

 Armstrong, Thomas. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom 3rd ed. Alexandria, VA: Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2009.
 Armstrong, Thomas. 7 Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Many Intelligences. New
York: Plume, 1999.
 Armstrong, Thomas. In Their Own Way: Discovering and Encouraging Your Child's Personal
Learning Style, New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 1987.
 Armstrong, Thomas. You’re Smarter Than You Think:  A Kid’s Guide to Multiple Intelligences. 
Minneapolis, MN:  Free Spirit, 2002.
 Armstrong, Thomas. The Multiple Intelligences of Reading and Writing:  Making the Words Come
Alive.  Alexandria, VA:  Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2003.
  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Multiple Intelligences CD-ROM, and
Multiple Intelligences Video Series; 1250 N. Pitt St., Alexandria, VA 22314-1453 (800-933-2723).
 Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic,1983
 Gardner, Howard. Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. New York: Basic, 1993.
 Gardner, Howard. Intelligence Reframed:  Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century.  New York: 
Basic, 2000.
 National Professional Resources, 25 South Regent St., Port Chester, NY 10573, 914-937-8879.
Producer of several videos on MI including, Howard Gardner, "How Are Kids Smart?" Jo
Gusman, "MI and the Second Language Learner", and Thomas Armstrong, Multiple Intelligences:
Discovering the Giftedness in All".
 New City School, Celebrating Multiple Intelligences ( 5209 Waterman Ave., St. Louis, MO 63108).
 Skylight Publications, 200 E. Wood St., Suite 250, Palatine, IL 60067 (div. Simon and Schuster).
Publisher of many MI materials.
 Zephyr Press, PO Box 66006, Tucson, AZ 85728 (602-322-5090). Publisher of many MI
materials.

Click Here To Schedule a Speaking Engagement with Dr. Armstrong

Normal Stages of Human Development (Birth to 5

Years)

This page presents an overview of child development from birth to five years of age. It is
important to keep in mind that the time frames presented are averages and some children
may achieve various developmental milestones earlier or later than the average but still be
 within the normal range. This information is presented to help parents understand what to
expect from their child. Any questions you may have about your child’s development should
be shared with his or her doctor.

e Emotional  Social

0 hrs per daySensory Capacities: Generalized Tension Helpless

ion, hearing, smelling, tasting, Asocial
eption of pain Fed by mother

ception, visual exploration, oral Distress Smiles at a Face Visually fixat

os, gruntsMotor Ability: control of by rocking.
on stomach. Delight

oundsSounds: babbling, makes most Enjoys being cuddled  Recognizes his mother. Distin
consonantsFeedings: 3-5 per day strangers, no longer smiles in
d and arm movements, purposive bathing.

k and hands, sits without support,  Specific emotional attachment to mother. Protests separation from mot

and feet, stands, creeps, apposition AffectionFear of strangersCuriosity, exploration  Responsive to own name.Wa
guage: says one or two words, “no-no!”Gives and takes obje
simple commands.Feedings: 3
rs, 2 naps Anger

s, walks (10-20 min), makes lines on Very upset when separated Obeys limited commands.Rep
t Behavior from motherFear of Bath image.Feeds himself.
all, builds 6 cube tower (2yrs) Temper tantrums Resentment of new baby Doe
r control.Language: vocabulary of (1-3yrs)
2 hours at night, 1-2 hr nap

p, rides a tricycle, uses crayons, Negativistic (2 ½ yrs)Violent emotions, Talks, uses “I” “me” “you”Cop
guage: starts to use short sentences angerDifferentiates facial expressions of anger, possessive about toys, enjoys
with language, stuttering may appear sorrow, and joy.Sense of humor (Plays tricks) (2 ½ yrs).Resists parental dem
sameness of routine. Inability

leg, jumps up and down, draws a
Self-sufficient in many routines of home life. Likes to share, uses “we”Coo
Affectionate toward parents.Pleasure in genital school. Imitates parents.Begi
manipulationRomantic attachment to parent of practices sex-role activities. In
opposite sex bodies.Imaginary friend.
(3 to 5 yrs)Jealousy of same-sex parent.Imaginary
fears of dark, injury, etc. (3 to 5 years)

control, skips, broad jumps, dresses Responsibility and guiltFeels pride in Prefers to play with other chi
a triangle.Language: talks clearly, accomplishment appropriate activities
s mastered basic grammar, relates a
s

Read more: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/normaldevelopment/#ixzz3WCGbZTYC 
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5 Manners to Teach Your Kids

by Pam Myers, BSEd | on October 31, 2012 | in Child Development, Child Development Books For Parents, Parenting
Everyone wants a well-mannered child. But with all the responsibilities that parents are
already juggling on a daily basis, teaching your child right from wrong and how to act is
sometimes put on the back burner. Most parents know what it’s like to feel shocked and
embarrassed in front of other adults when their child exhibits bad manners.
The cold hard truth is that parents learn from imitating their parents. If you want them to
practice appropriate mannerisms, then they need to observe them first. These are the same
mannerisms that your parents taught you when you were small.

Cover the basics by teaching your kids the five following manners:

1. Saying “please” and “thank you.”

You’d be surprised how infrequently these phrases are heard in polite conversation these
days. Kids just don’t know the etiquette. When someone gives you something, the proper
reply is “thank you.” It conveys respect and appreciation. When you ask for something, end
your statement or question with “please.” It also conveys respect and graciousness.

2. Greeting someone.
Pay attention to how many people actually say the word “hello” to you today. Proper
etiquette is to say the greeting when you enter a room where people are already gathered.
Even if the other person or people don’t return the greeting, extending this greeting shows
kindness and respect to others.

3. Answering the telephone.

When picking up the receiver, yelling “huh” into the line isn’t the proper way to speak to
someone on the other end. Always say “hello” first. Once the pleasantries are out of the
way, then the other person can state their business if they are the one calling you. If you’re
calling someone, state your name and the purpose of your call after the

greeting. 

4. Practice selflessness.
In a nutshell, practicing selflessness means showing consideration for others, e.g. holding a
door open for someone behind you, taking the grocery bags in the house for mom, allowing
an older person to have your seat on the bus. Do these things for others and your children
will eventually model your good behavior.
5. Waiting for your turn to speak.
Try not to interrupt your children when you’re having family conversations or one-on-one
chats, and they’ll learn how to listen and speak when the other person is done speaking.
Interrupting is not totally avoidable, as sometimes interruption is a part of normal
conversation flow, but in excess it’s just rude.
Related reading: 4 Things Moms Can Do to Promote Their Child’s Independence
Mastering manners teaches responsibility, sensitivity, respect, and maturity, and stacks the
odds in favor of your child growing into a well-adjusted and viable citizen in their community
and the world beyond.

Read more: http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/five-manners-kids-should-know-and-
use/#ixzz3WCMCaBYd 
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