What are The Middle Years?

The Middle Years span the years of ages 8 through 14, focusing on  puberty, and covering such things as educational transitions, making friends, peer pressure, competition, and various disorders, including learning disorders, motor skills disorders, and communication disorders.


Under this site, the major changes that are happening during this time period will be addressed, including the physical, emotional, and mental changes that come with puberty.  We will also talk about other hallmarks of the Middle Years, to include starting to date, bullying, education, parenting, having "The Talk", and technology.


Stay tuned!  There is a LOT more to come!!

Teens, Tweens, and Technology

Teens, Tweens, and Technology

View another webinar from McDonogh School

Education in the Middle Years

Education is the central work of the Middle Years.  The school years we will look at are generally known as Middle School, ranging from fifth or sixth grade through eighth or ninth grade.

An additional big change that happens during the Middle Years is a huge surge in brain development.  "Change is exciting, and adolescence is certainly filled with it. But just because your adolescent child is willful, reckless, and moody, doesn't mean there's no rhyme or reason to their behavior. Knowledge about brain development can help parents understand the behaviors and abilities of this age group, and work with their kids to grow together."  Read this article online at Adolescent Brain Development, on Education.com.

One of favorite subjects for Middle Schoolers is science.  "Maybe it’s the Bunsen burners or those life-size models of human intestines, but there's something about a science classroom that keeps most middle school kids riveted. And teachers want it that way. In fact, says the National Science Teacher’s Association (NSTA), these are critical years."  Read the rest of the article at Middle School Science: What Happens, on Education.com.

Frankly, not all students enjoy school, and school in the Middle Years is not as fun as elementary school was. To learn some strategies for helping Middle Years students with homework, read the article When Your Child Hates the Textbook, from education.com.

For more information on the Middle Years and education, see The Parent's Guide to Middle School.

Health in the Middle Years

In the Middle Years, students are finding more and more reasons to do things that adults may know are not healthy for them.  Less sleep, more junk food, more video games, texting, cell phones, driving....and then what about vaccinations and diseases?

• Why do my parents keep saying I can't play my video games?  My mom's so mean...she won't let me watch my show every night!  What are the risks for playing video games all the time?  For warning signs of video game addiction, read this article:  Video Game Addiction: Five Warning Signs for Assessing Risk
• In addition to video gaming, there is concern about online gaming, chatting, phone calls, and TV all having negative influences on the Middle Years students.  For more information on helping students unplug, read this article:  Unplugged and outside:  Combating Nature-Deficit Disorder
• Why won't my mom let me have pizza for supper every night?  
• Why is sleep so important?  According to this article, Tweens/Middle Years students need 9 1/2 to 10 hours per night.  How many get that?  Read this article for strategies to: Make Sleep a Tween Priority, and Sleep, Tween, Sleep!
• What about other disorders, especially anxiety?  For signs of anxiety in tweens, and how to help your tween cope, read the article:  Why is My Tween Afraid to Leave Home?  Understanding Chronic Anxiety
• Is your Tween showing signs of depression?  Childhood Depression - Know the Symptoms of Childhood Depression
• H1N1, aka Swine flu, and teens:  Symptoms of H1N1 aka Swine Flu
• Preventing H1N1 (Swine) flu in Middle School Children
• Girls and body image:  "Mom, Do I Look Fat?"
• What about alcohol usage?  Kids and Alcohol
• Tweens/Middle Years and Sexuality:  Talking to Your Tween about Sexuality: What Your Tween Needs to Know
• Have questions about Gardasil and Cervical Cancer in your Tweens?  From staff at the Mayo Clinic:  Cervical Cancer vaccine:  Who needs it, how it works, and more on the debate about it:  Gardasil and Tweens - The Debate About the Vaccine
• Smoking:  Keeping Your Tween Smoke-Free
• What about drugs?  Signs of Drug Use in Teens and Tweens
• Eating disorders - what is healthy?  Kids and Eating Disorders

If you have concerns about yourself, or your child, please contact your family doctor or a mental health professional.  

Puberty: Boys

What PHYSICAL changes happen for boys? (From:  http://puberty101.com/boys/ )

5 Stages of Puberty for Boys
With questions and answers below.

1. Normal Age Range: 9-12, Average: about 10 
   Male hormones are becoming active, but there are hardly, if any, outside signs of development. Testicles are maturing, and some boys start a period of rapid growth late in this stage.
2. Normal Age Range: 9-15, Average: 12-13 
   Testicles and scrotum begin to enlarge, but penis size doesn’t increase much. Very little, if any, pubic hair at the base of the penis. Increase in height and change in body shape.
3. Normal Age Range: 11-16, Average: 13-14 
   Penis starts to grow in length, but not much in width. Testicles and scrotum still growing. Pubic hair starts to get darker and coarser and is spreading towards the legs. Height growth continues and body/face shape look more adult. Voice begins to deepen (and crack). Some hair around the anus grows.
4. Normal Age Range: 11-17, Average: 14-15 
   Penis width increases, as well as length. Testicles and scrotum still growing. Pubic hair begins to take adult texture, although covers a smaller area. Most boys have first ejaculations. Underarm hair develops. Facial hair increases on chin and upper lip. Voice gets deeper and skin gets more oily.
5. Normal Age Range: 14-18, Average: around 16 
   Nearing full adult height and physique. Pubic hair and genitals have adult appearance. Facial hair grows more completely and shaving may begin now or soon. During the late teens and early twenties, some men grow a bit more and develop more body hair, especially chest hair.

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Puberty: Girls

What PHYSICAL changes happen for girls?  (From http://puberty101.com/girls/)

Stages of Puberty

5 Stages of Puberty for Girls
With questions and answers below.

1. Age Range: Usually 8-11
   In Stage 1 there are no outside signs of development, but a girl’s ovaries are enlarging and hormone production is beginning.
2. Age Range: Usually 8-14. Average: 11-12
   The first sign is typically the beginning of breast growth, including “breast buds.” A girl may also grow considerable height and weight. The first signs of pubic hair start out fine and straight, rather than curly.
3. Age Range: Usually 9-15. Average: 12-13
   Breast growth continues, and pubic hair coarsens and becomes darker, but there still isn’t a lot of it. Your body is still growing, and your vagina is enlarging and may begin to produce a clear or whitish discharge, which is a normal self-cleansing process. Some girls get their first menstrual periods late in this stage.
4. Age Range: Usually 10-16. Average: 13-14
   Pubic hair growth takes on the triangular shape of adulthood, but doesn’t quite cover the entire area. Underarm hair is likely to appear in this stage, as is menarche. Ovulation (release of egg cells) begins in some girls, but typically not in a regular monthly routine until Stage 5.
5. Age Range: Usually 12-19. Average: 15
   This is the final stage of development, when a girl is physically an adult. Breast and pubic hair growth are complete, and your full height is usually attained by this point. Menstrual periods are well established, and ovulation occurs monthly.