If you’re a WyldLife leader, one of the best ways to understand middle school kids is to observe them in their natural habitats. You’ll see their short attention spans and watch them get their feelings hurt. You’ll see them change friend groups several times in one week, and you’ll have many one-word text conversations with them.
As you observe middle schoolers, you might wonder why they do what they do and say what they say. Understanding the “whys” can help us care for them, relate to them, and share God’s love with them.
Set aside some time to get to know what’s going on inside those early adolescent brains, bodies and hearts.
WyldLife veterans recommend the following books and resources:
- Being Thirteen: Inside the Secret World of Teens, CNN documentary
- Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain by Daniel Siegel
- Center for Parent/Youth Understanding blog and podcasts
- Middle School: The Inside Story: What Kids Tell Us, But Don’t Tell You by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias and Sue Acuna
- Middle School Matters by Phyllis Fagell
- Middle School Ministry by Mark Oestricher and Scott Rubin
- The Middle School Brain, 4-minute video
If you have a resource that has been helpful in your ministry as a Wyldlife leader, we’d love for you to send us an email so that we can add it to this list!