Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children

TPP 321: Chris Balme on How Parents Can Navigate the Tricky Middle School Years

Mar 7, 2023

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Middle school might not feel like a very enchanting time in our lives — it definitely didn’t feel that way for me when I was living through it. But according to my guest Chris Balme, middle school is a time of great magic and opportunity for our kids, and for us as parents, if we know what we’re looking for.

In our conversation, Chris explains the three stages of identity development a child goes through in middle school, how we as parents will want to adapt our parenting styles change as our kids reach these stages, and how to navigate our child breaking our trust. We also talked about what individuation is and what it means to become a better companion for our kids, which is a reframe I really love.

Chris Balme is an education leader and writer, passionate about helping young people discover more of their human potential. As Co-Founder and Head of School at Millennium School, a lab school in San Francisco, Chris helped pioneer new learning methods for middle schoolers, based in developmental science. Chris then founded Argonaut, an online program to bring social-emotional learning to more students. He now serves as the Founding Principal of Hakuba International School in Japan, developing learning approaches that foster human and environmental well-being.

Things you'll learn from this episode

Why Chris believes the middle school years are magical
What the three stages of identity development for middle school students are how kids may progress through them
What individuation is and how to navigate it with your children
Advice for parents regarding scaffolding in a way that supports their child’s development
How to navigate a child breaking our trust
What companioning is and how to do that for our kids