| The beginning of adolescence is a time of very great change in your child. In addition to starting puberty and beginning to reach most of her adult height, her mind will also grow to understand logical and abstract thinking and she will develop the moral standards by which she will live her life. You can also expect her to begin to move away from the family as she develops her own identity and also become more influenced by her friends. Fortunately, this influence is usually limited to outward things, such as hair and clothing styles.
This is also a time when your child may become interested in dating. It usually starts as group dating, but her interest may progress to one on one dating by the time she reaches high school.
This is a time of growing independence and children at this age want to be considered more responsible. To help foster this sense of responsibility, now is a good time to begin giving your child an allowance. The amount is not very important, but is usually 50¢ to $1.00 per year in age and should be used for special things that your child wants. Managing an allowance will help to teach your child about the value of money and the importance of saving. To promote an interest in saving, you should encourage her to set aside a certain amount of her allowance for special items that she can buy later.
While it is also important that your child begin to have regular age appropriate chores (setting or clearing the table, taking out the garbage, cleaning their room, etc.) around the house, these should probably not be tied to their allowance. Positive reinforcement is important for completed chores, and failure to complete chores can be punished by loss of a privilege (TV, videogames, etc). Allowing your child to have a choice of which chore to do sometimes helps with compliance and you should rotate the assignment of undersirable chores among your children.
Encourage self esteem and a positive self image in your teenager by using positive reinforcement and frequent praise for things that he has accomplished. Encourage your child to be curious, explore and take on new challenges.
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| The progression through adolescence includes your teens continuing need to become more independent, figure out who she is and learn to manage her own life. She will probably become less interested in spending time with the family and more interested in being with her friends.
It is important to continue to respect her need to be private and be available when she needs help or guidance. Some important milestones she will be facing now include dating and forming more intimate relationships, becoming more independent, the responsibilities of driving, and increasing peer pressure to experiment with smoking, alcohol, drugs and sex, and finally leaving the household for college or a formal job.
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