Words to Keep in Mind When Parenting Preteens
From Our Last Best Shot
by Laura Sessions Stepp
New York: Riverhead Books, 2000

Let go, but stay in touch.
Treat them with respect.
Give them responsibility.
Share them with other adults.
Plug them in; insist on one positive outside activity.
Introduce them to the spiritual.
Don’t stop playing with them.
Sip from their cup.
Accept them.
Own up to your own mistakes.
Give them constancy.
Manage your fears.
Nurture friendships.
Encourage learning by doing.
Stay engaged with them.
Count them in; don’t see them as problems.
Relax a little.


Bibliography for “Preteens — Our Last Chance?”
by Carol Wehrheim, APCE 2004

Books

Bass, Dorothy, and Richter, Don C., editors, Way to Live: Christian Practices for Teens. (Upper Room Books, 2002).

Blanco, Jodee, Please Stop Laughing at Me... One Woman’s Inspirational Story (Adams Media Corporation, 2003).

Cram, Ronald Hecker, Bullying: A Spiritual Crisis. (Chalice Press, 2003).

Kindlon, Dan, and Thompson, Michael, Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. (Ballantine Books, 1999).

Perlstein, Linda, Not Much Just Chillin’: The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers. (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2003).
 
Pipher, Mary, Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves ofAdolescent Girls. (Ballantine Books, 1994).
Shure, Myrna B., Raising a Thinking Preteen. (Henry Holt and Company, 2000).

Stepp, Laura Sessions, Our Last Best Shot: Guiding Our Children Through Early Adolescence. (Riverhead Books, 2000). Also available in paperback. Includes good listing of resources, including web sites, for each chapter.

Web Sites

Bullying Online This site is excellent, with information for children as well as parents. Although based in the United Kingdom, it has links to sites around the globe.

Great Transitions The Carnegie Corporation is known for its excellent work in studies of education, families, and children. An abbreviated edition of Great Transitions can be read on this site. Well worth looking at.

Talking With Kids An offshoot of the Kaiser Family Foundation site, this is a good source of materials for parents, youth advisors, and teachers.

Inside the Teenage Brain  From PBS and Frontline. Watch online.

 Way to Live!  A continuation of the book listed above, this site has more stories and conversations, plus a leader’s guide to use with the book. The site is for young people and their leaders.