Young teens undergo multiple changes that seem to set them apart from other students. But do middle schools actually meet their special needs? The authors describe some of the challenges and offer ways to tackle them, such as reassessing the organization of grades K-12; specifically assisting the students most in need; finding ways to prevent disciplinary problems; and helping parents understand how they can help their children learn at home.

Women past a certain age often feel like they are fading into the background of life. The nest is emptying, limitations are increasing, and fear about aging and the years ahead grow. Even women of faith can feel a waning sense of value, regardless of biblical examples of godly women yielding fruit long after their youth is gone. But despite a youth-obsessed culture, the truth is that the second half of life can often be the richest. It's time to stop dreading and start embracing the wonder of life after 40. Here, well-known women of faith from 40 to 85 tackle these anxieties head-on and upend them with humor, sass, and spiritual wisdom. These compelling and poignant first-person stories are from amazing and respected authors including: Lauren F. Winner Joni Eareckson Tada Elisa Morgan Madeleine L'Engle Kay Warren These women provide much-needed role models--not for aging gracefully but for doing so honestly, faithfully, and with eyes open to wonder and deep theology along the way. Each essay provides insight into God's perspective on these later years, reminding readers that it's possible to serve the kingdom of God and His people even better with a little extra life experience to guide you. The Wonder Years is an inspiring and unforgettable guide to making these years the most fruitful and abundant of your life.

From America’s most trusted pediatric authority comes an indispensable, easy-to-use guide to helping your baby and young child flourish in the first five years of life—physically, mentally, and emotionally. The first five years of a child’s life are filled with major developmental and behavioral milestones. During this period your infant becomes an individual who has mastered a range of skills—from walking to making conversation–that prepares him or her to enter the world beyond home and family. For parents, this wondrous time provides an opportunity to help children fulfill their potential. The Wonder Years shows you how to make the most of it. Written in the same warm and accessible language that has endeared the Academy’s bestselling Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5 to millions of parents for over fifteen years, this doctor-approved resource features a variety of fun-filled activities, tips, and hints, and offers the most dependable, authoritative, up-to-date information on child development, including: • Ideal patterns of growth at every stage—and normal variances • Parent-child activities that help you monitor and promote your child’s development • Easy ways to create an enriching home environment • A “behind-the-scenes” look at what’s going on in your child’s developing brain • Information on aiding children with special needs–from ADHD, autism, and learning disabilities to those who are gifted • Advice on consulting specialists, including nutritionists, occupational therapists, and counselors • Tips on safety and injury prevention • How factors like birth order and gender impact development With five hundred full-color photographs and illustrations, developmental time lines, charts, and graphs, this family-friendly book is the definitive guide no parent or caregiver can afford to be without.

Discover how the lost art of wonder can help you cultivate greater creativity, resilience, meaning, and joy as you bring your greatest contributions to life. Beyond grit, focus, and 10,000 hours lies a surprising advantage that all creatives have—wonder. Far from child’s play, wonder is the one radical quality that has led exemplary people from all walks of life to move toward the fruition of their deepest dreams and wildest endeavors—and it can do so for you, too. “Wonder is a quiet disruptor of unseen biases,” writes Jeffrey Davis. “It dissolves our habitual ways of seeing and thinking so that we may glimpse anew the beauty of what is real, true, and possible.” Rich with wisdom, inspiring stories, and practical tools, Tracking Wonder invites us to explore how the lost art of wonder can inspire a life of greater joy, possibility, and purpose. You’ll discover: The six facets of wonder—key qualities to help you cultivate the art of wonder in your work, relationships, and lifeHow wonder can help us fertilize creativity, sustain the motivation to pursue big ideas, navigate uncertainty and crises, deepen our relationships, and moreThe biases against wonder—moving beyond societal and internalized resistance to our inherent giftsWhy experiencing wonder isn’t really about achieving goals—though that happens—but about how we live each dayInspiring stories of people whose experiences of wonder helped them move through the unthinkable to create extraordinary livesPractical exercises, tools, and reflections to help you begin your own practice of tracking wonder A refreshing counter-voice to the exhausting narrative hyper-productivity, Tracking Wonder is a welcome guide for experiencing more meaning and joy in the present moment as you bring your greatest contributions to life.

Many newly pregnant women believe mothering begins after the baby is born. As a result, their pregnancy is spent preparing the baby’s room, buying a crib, and even attending childbirth classes. All of these activities are valuable and help to prepare for this new life, but what about before the baby is born? The Wonder Within You takes you on a journey that weaves scientific studies, dozens of interviews with mothers, and storytelling into a fascinating account of life inside the womb. An obstetrician loads each chapter with advice. A sonographer gives incredible 3 and 4-D snapshots (available online) and stories from her 25 years of watching babies grow in utero. Each chapter includes week-by-week developmental information, findings from recent neonatal studies, and even nutritional advice all designed to nurture a healthy baby. The Wonder Within You also serves as a weekly journal for expectant mothers to chronicle her own baby’s journey to life outside the womb. It’s a keepsake baby book that begins before birth. The Wonder Within You will help moms meet the real needs of the growing pre-born baby. Sonograms, dietary and medical advice, and stories from experienced moms are combined to encourage 40 weeks of prenatal parenting designed with a joy for the journey in mind.

This book on retirement is a useful ally in the hands of every worker who works, intends to work, or planning to retire from work. Unlike many other books on retirement, this book introduces a very practical way of looking at retirement. The insights given at the end of each chapter are stepping stones meant to dispel the negative mental attitudes held by most workers regarding retirement from work. They provide valuable ideas towards formulating a plan for the retirement life from the very beginning of any career most people engage in, during the most productive years of life. The insights reveal that a systematic plan for retirement is as important for every worker as much as a career plan they do develop throughout their working years. It is a time for retirees to begin a second life in which they do things that they were not able to do during the time they worked.

Adolescence is a period full of strange and exciting happenings. Yet, due to inept handling by adults, these wonder years can be marred by unpleasant experiences that may leave scars for life. In a question- answer format this book brings the message home to everyone who interacts with adolescents - parents, teachers, doctors and other community workers - that all adolescents deserve their love and care

In the 21st century, why do we keep talking about the fifties and sixties? In "Happy Days and Wonder Years", Daniel Marcus reveals how interpretations of these decades have figured in the cultural politics of the United States since 1970.

From America's premier pediatric authority and the organization behind "Caring for Your Baby and Young Child" comes an accessible and essential handbook for helping parents guide their children's development through the first five years of life.