By Trish Wilkinson
In the face of academic demands ratcheting higher, stressing out children and their parents, seven years ago, I set out to write Grade by Grade: How to Raise Smart, Happy Kids, K–5. The book would be a What to Expect When You’re Expecting for elementary school. I wanted to help bring families closer in this techno-hustle world and support parents in raising well-adjusted kids.
I’d collected a boatload of convenient games for parents and children to play on car 
rides, at the doctor’s office, or in line at the grocery store at each grade level—activities to strengthen relationships and help kids thrive, whatever their learning environment.
After twenty-three years of teaching in the classroom, three years of reading studies and articles, and doing interviews with lots of professionals and parents, I decided I was ready to take an online class with Media Bistro to write a killer book proposal.
But once I started sending out queries and talking to agents and publishers at conferences, the response was always the same:
“It’s a great idea, but parenting books written by teachers don’t sell well.”
It didn’t matter that I’m one of the few teachers who has taught all of the grades, from kindergarten through sixth, or that my husband and I have two happy, successful kids, so I could speak from experience. I didn’t have a PhD or several thousand blog followers, so the book wasn’t worth publishing.
My plastic file box, jammed with folders of notes, articles, research studies, and interviews, collected dust in our garage for three years.
When our older daughter graduated from Cal Poly, and our younger daughter was in her senior year at Williams College, my husband and I decided to move to Bend, Oregon to put 94.9 Central Oregon Fox Sports Radio on the air. To make the move from San Diego, California, we threw out eighteen years of accumulated non-essentials—including my box full of research.
But no effort is wasted.
I often remind my clients of this. Our endeavors don’t always get rewarded in the time-frame we expect. Sometimes the skills we learn on a project apply to the next one that gets the results we’ve been seeking.
Shortly after my husband and I moved to Bend, I arranged for Howard Shulman to give a presentation on his book Running From the Mirror and to teach a workshop with me on how to write a memoir at the San Diego Southern California Writers’ Conference in February 2016. His publisher, Sandra, of Sandra Jonas Publishing in Boulder Colorado, called me to coordinate promotions for the book.
And the two of us hit it off.
Sandra is an incredibly conscientious, passionate hard-worker—like I am.
After the conference, we kept in contact, and she asked me to do a developmental edit for one of her authors. This author’s novel had a fabulous premise, but the story and characters needed fleshing out—which we did, and it’s awesome now!
Watermelon Snow by debut author William Lippett, an intriguing story of scientists, melting glaciers, catastrophic egos, treacherous journeys across the ice, and a bit of romantic tension, chock-full of suspense that’s sure to keep you turning pages, will be released in June 2017.
When wrapping up the edit for Watermelon Snow, Sandra mentioned one of her other authors, Jacqueline Frischknecht. Jackie was a PhD who’d done a ton of brain research related to how function and development affect children’s education. She wrote a manuscript called Boosting Brain Power: Leveraging Students’ Learning Abilities.
“What a fabulous idea!” I said and gave Sandra my one-sentence summary of the Grade-by-Grade project, so she would know I had the background to provide whatever help she needed.
Sadly, Jackie passed away while working to develop the manuscript for publication. It still needed focus, organization, and a friendlier tone.
Jackie’s dying wish had been to publish the book, and her family wanted to see that wish granted. Sandra asked me to read the manuscript to see if I could do a content edit that would a) make Jackie’s writing sound more conversational, b) hone the focus, and c) flesh out the work to make the book user-friendly for parents and teachers. Excited to work with Sandra on another project, I told her I would be happy to read the manuscript and come up with a plan to get it in shape for publication.
Jackie’s research was excellent and her ideas empowering.
Digital Planet Design
www.digitalplanetdesign.com
However, to make the book an effective resource, the material needed to be geared for parents or educators, not both. Experts all over the country train teachers to use brain research to drive curriculum, such as Dr. Eric Jenkins who has written many books for educators, Dr. Carol Dwek, and veteran teacher Pat Wolfe, so I told Sandra that Jackie’s work may best serve parents.
Still, to create such a manuscript, I would have to read more recent studies as brain development has been a hot topic over the last decade in the research community. I’d have to almost rewrite Jackie’s book to make it work.
“Would you mind sending me your Grade-by-Grade book proposal so I can get an idea of what you’re talking about?” Sandra asked.
Although I’d tossed my box of research, the proposal had been saved on a flash drive, so I said, “Sure.” I attached the file to an email without much thought.
A week later, Sandra called and said she loved my book proposal: my voice, the grade-by-grade progression, how I present what will be expected of kids that year socially and academically, the games, the “Real Deal” (goofy true-life stories), the tips for everything from communicating with teachers to family organization to healthy snacks on the go…
And Sandra had sent the proposal to Jackie’s family. She asked them how they would feel about me co-writing the book with Jackie. That is, Sandra would ask me to incorporate Jackie’s research and application of brain function and development for kids’ best learning to my grade-by-grade concept as well as integrate social development, games, tips for organization, and all the rest.
I mourned the loss of the box I’d thrown out in the move, but truthfully, the more recent interviews and research will better serve parents anyway.
THIS is the book that was meant to be published.
Though I never had the pleasure to meet Jackie in person, we share our passion for educating and empowering children and families. At times, I felt her looking over my shoulder, guiding my research, nudging me to include this or that as my fingers flew across the keyboard. I learned so much about brains and how humans learn.
BRAIN STAGES: How to Raise Smart, Confident Kids
—And Have Fun Doing It, K–5
will be released August 28, 2018.
Parents who have children at various grade levels have read chapters and given feedback, and I’ve fine-tuned the manuscript with their input. But mostly they say things like:
“I used to get annoyed with my daughter, but knowing what’s going on in her brain takes away the judgement. Our house is so much more relaxed than it was before I read that chapter.”
~Melissa, mother of a fifth-grader in Bend, Oregon
I’d say, “Wish us luck,” except there have been too many “coincidences” involved with this project. Whatever your beliefs, providence or the cosmos, BRAIN STAGES was simply meant to be.
