Middle School Matters: The 10 Key Skills Kids Need to Thrive in Middle School and Beyond--and How Parents Can Help

A counselor and popular Washington Post contributor offers a new take on grades 6-8 as a distinct developmental phase--and the perfect time to set up kids to thrive.

Middle school is its own important, distinct territory, and yet it's either written off as an uncomfortable rite of passage or lumped in with other developmental phases. Based on her many years working in schools, professional counselor Phyllis Fagell sees these years instead as a critical stage that parents can't afford to ignore (and though "middle school" includes different grades in various regions, Fagell maintains that the ages make more of a difference than the setting). Though the transition from childhood to adolescence can be tough for kids, this time of rapid physical, intellectual, moral, social, and emotional change is a unique opportunity to proactively build character and confidence.
Fagell helps parents use the middle school years as a low-stakes training ground to teach kids the key skills they'll need to thrive now and in the future, including making good friend choices, negotiating conflict, regulating their own emotions, be their own advocates, and more. To answer parents' most common questions and struggles with middle school-aged children, Fagell combines her professional and personal expertise with stories and advice from prominent psychologists, doctors, parents, educators, school professionals, and middle schoolers themselves.

• Middle Schooled
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• Smile & Succeed for Teens: A Crash Course in Face-to-Face Communication
• The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives
• Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood
• Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
• The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make: A Guide for Teens: Updated for the Digital Age
• Middle School Makeover
• Little Things Long Remembered: Making Your Children Feel Special Every Day
• Read Me: A Parental Primer for "The Talk"