Life in the Middle Years Workbook

ALONG THE MIDDLE YEARS WAY Student Workbook is the companion for the video and audio series Preparation for Adolescence.Consider the example of the Chinese bamboo tree. Once the first sprout emerges from the soil, the rate of growth averages nearly two-and-a-half feet per day, culminating six weeks later in a ninety foot tree. What is even more amazing is the root system that sustains and nurtures this explosive growth. From the time the seed is planted, an extensive network of roots takes four years to develop before the tender bamboo shoot ever breaks ground and heads for the sun.This is a good analogy of what is happening now with your middle years child. The growth in these years is silent, extensive and occurs mostly below the surface. Like the Chinese bamboo tree, your child is developing a supporting "root system" that will sustain and support him or her in the explosive growth years of adolescence. This is the time when you the parent must nurture, water and tend the "seedling" in your care. We want to help prepare you to meet that challenge. The middle years, eight to twelve years of age, are perhaps the most significant attitude-forming period in the life of a child. It is during this time that the roots of moral character are established. From the foundation that is formed, healthy or not-so-healthy family relationships will be built. These are the years when patterns of behavior are firmly established patterns that will impact your parent-child relationship for decades to come. Rightly meeting the small challenges of the middle years significantly reduces the likelihood of big challenges in the teen years. In other words, the groundwork you lay during your child's middle years will forever impact your relationship even long after he or she is grown.