A Boy's Natural Life Stages

On of the contributors to this blog, Peter Young, suggests the book Natural Learning Rhythms: Discovering How and When Your Child Learns by Josette Luvmour. It’s one of a number of books about the Natural Learning Rhythms philosophy. In the book there is a section that covers Ritual Rites of Passage, which Peter says describes developmentally appropriate ways of celebrating a number of landmark points in time for both boys and girls.

The NLR philosophy is based on over 20 years of research and fieldwork, and the author claims that it, “. . . enables parents to understand the psychological, emotional and physical components of optimal well-being in children.”

The EnCompass Institute, started by the author, offers programs based on Natural Learning Rhythms concepts. At the Institute’s website you can find an interesting description of their, “. . . four primary life stages in childhood.” They describe their model this way:

• The first starts at conception and continues to approximately 8 1⁄2 years old. We coined the term BodyBeing.
• The second is from 8 1⁄2 to 12 1⁄2 years old. We call this stage FeelingBeing.
• The third stage goes from the ages of 12 1⁄2 to 17 1⁄2. This stage is called IdealBeing.
• The last stage starts around 17 1⁄2 or so and ends around 23 years of age. We call this stage, ReasonableBeing.

If you’re interested in EnCompass Institute's description of these stages of child development, read the brief description of their “Central Tenants ” on their website.

Whether you agree with the NLR model or not, it’s another approach that reminds us of how critically important certain influences are at just the right time in a young person’s life.