Mom and 11-Year Old Son Co-Host Podcast, The Middle School Years

    GRAND PRAIRIE, TX, July 26, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The recently released Podcast, The Middle School Years, is the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" guide for moms of middle schoolers age 8-12. This free podcast covers topics that middle school students and their parents face as they navigate the preteen years in today's technology-driven culture. The show is hosted by mom and son duo, Jennifer Conner and 11-year old Mekhi Leaks.

After Mekhi's tumultuous first year of middle school, he and his mom wanted to shed a light on the tender years between early childhood and adolescence, described as the middle years by the show's hosts. They created The Middle School Years Podcast to share their personal experiences in hopes of helping other moms and their middle school kids to survive and thrive at school, home, and in today's world.

As Jennifer can attest, the middle years is challenging for both kids and their parents. She says, "Middle school is totally different from when we were growing up. On top of their little bodies changing, social media, gaming, and the rise in screen time usage has given way to new challenges for kiddos and as parents, we have to educate ourselves. When Mekhi took his school's standardized testing on his iPad last year, it was an eye opener for me as a parent."

She goes on to say, "Technology has disrupted how our kids socialize and interact with each other. It's even redrawing the lines of how they learn. More and more schools are issuing iPads, tablets, and laptops and digital textbooks are replacing the traditional print books. Kids are struggling with critical thinking skills and other social skills needed for resilience and confidence building."

Creating a podcast offered an opportunity to give voice to the real life challenges that preteen middle school students face from the perspective of a peer. New episodes of this family-centric podcast are released twice weekly. The Monday show format is framed as if the podcast listener is eavesdropping on a mom and preteen having a candid conversation about their experiences and perspective about life in the middle. On Thursday, Jennifer chats with other middle school moms, preteen parenting enthusiasts, and shares tips, tools, and resources to help moms take care of themselves as they parent through the middle years.

The podcast is true to its tagline, Preteen. Parenting. Perspective. Listeners can find the show on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. Episodes are also available at themiddleschoolyears.com.

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