Rural Malawi is a place where families are generally poor socio-economically. In this
chapter we discuss childhood development in a typical Malawian rural setting by
focusing on the overall challenges facing families with young children, and we consider
how families are coping. Such challenges involve social structures, community
involvement, preparation for schooling, and home versus school literacy and numeracy
development for children. We argue that unless these key issues are addressed, rural
children will continue to face dilemmas in their development and in the long run, this will
limit their future opportunities for personal development and participation in the social
and economic development of Malawi.