Understanding Your Middle School Child

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    The Adolescent Brain
    Adolescents in the 21st century aren’t necessarily different from their predecessors, we just know more about them. In the last 20 or so years, the field of adolescent brain development research has gained momentum. It would seem that with this new awareness of what’s going inside adolescents’ heads, educators, and parents would be less perplexed by teen behavior. Alas, that’s not the case. As adolescents move through middle school and high school, some adults expect them to automatically make mature decisions, as if these external events magically grant adolescents adultlike thinking skills. This is a recipe for future conflict; adults become disappointed, and teenagers feel misunderstood. To get a firm understanding of this, let’s take a look inside the head of a teenager.

    Learn more about 
    Understanding the Adolescent Brain and The Role of School Counselors from the American School Counselor Association (ASCA).

    Understanding Your Middle Grader
    "My middle grader goes from being helpful and considerate to angry and stubborn in the blink of an eye."  The middle years are full of challenges.  As children become teens, they display new attitudes and reactions that appear to come out of nowhere. While it may seem like your middle grader is misbehaving, these qualities are actually a natural pan of growing up. Here are some typical middle grader behaviors and suggestions for ways to handle them.
    Insight to "Understanding Your Middle Grader"