Sure, kindergarten was a milestone—and first grade? Pretty big stuff, but when your child enters middle school all bets are off. These steps are the first they take on their own that will really begin to determine who and what they eventually become. In Middle School Years without Tears: Getting Ready (at Any Time) for Wonderful, Awesome, Successful, and Thrilling Middle School Experiences, author and veteran middle school educator Lizabeth Jenkins-Dale supports parents and caregivers to ensure children’s journeys through the corridors and classrooms of middle school are made with confidence. Twelve engaging, highly readable chapters like “Handling Pre-Middle School Jitters (or Jitters Anytime),” “The Icing on the Middle School Cake,” and “Expecting Something Beyond Expecting the Best from Your Child” offer the brass tacks on what parents can do to help prepare students with directing their middle school experiences. This insightful guide considers the whole big picture of middle school and encourages students to take charge of their interactions with others instead of reacting to whatever life throws their way. Middle school isn’t exactly a cakewalk, but there’s more icing and cream filling than students may realize. And with a little nudging from moms and dads, children can begin to hone skills to control any situation that pops up instead of letting what pops up hold them back. Make the next few years wonderful, awesome, successful, and thrilling! Here’s how

Middle School Years Without Tears by Lizabeth Jenkins-Dale is available at Amazon.com.