Middle school is tough.

It isn’t all cute and craft-laden.

It’s lots more school work than what the littles do. And it doesn’t often make for fun pictures.

There seems to be a lot of stress – for her with the ups and downs of adolescence – and for me as a parent trying to break through to her.

The goal as a parent is to teach self-control and keep knocking at the barriers she puts up.

I encourage her through all those awkward feelings. I dig down deep to remember what it was like for me.

Being stuck in the middle is tough.

She’s outgrowing many childish things, but she’s not old or mature enough for many adult things. The adult world is a scary place and it’s my job to protect her even on the days (moments!) when she thinks she’s ready for it.

Responsibilities increase and hormones mess up everything.

It’s important to maintain rules and boundaries even when she pushes back.

We require attendance at meal times, church, and family read aloud time.

She may roll her eyes and scoff or cry, but it’s important. She needs to realize that growing up can be uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally, but we must model appropriate behavior in how we handle discomfort and inconvenience.

Is it easier to let her huff and hide and in her room? Absolutely. But it’s worth the family disruption to teach her self-control. And her siblings watch the ordeals and learn.

School time is often a battle, but sometimes it’s magic.

I encourage her to be more independent with her assignments.

She still wants Mama time: to be read to, to discuss the reading and assignments, and to stay up after her siblings go to bed and watch a movie.

We re-evaluate school work constantly for something that works well.

Liz loves notebooking with PowerPoint and Notebooking Publisher. yay for technology!

I snapped a pic of Liz’s completed pipe cleaner DNA strand.

She’s going through Apologia General Science. She does most of the experiments with Dad, so there aren’t usually any pictures since I’m not involved.

Liz is enjoying our history and literature studies with Tapestry of Grace. We’ll learn about her namesake Elizabeth I in history next week!

She continues to adore Life of Fred math. She is now on Elementary Physics, a pre-algebra book. She will begin Videotext Algebra next.

The middle school years are challenging and the rewards are few, but so worth the effort.