Top Ten Tips for Parents of Children 6 - 12 Years Old
10. Make your rules fair and consistent. If you allow your child to break the rules, you send the message that rules are made to be broken.
9. Your child needs your time, love, and guidance, even when she acts as if she doesn't care what you do or say. Spend time with your child. Take her to the grocery store, make dinner together, and talk about what she's watching on TV.
8. Preteen kids are all about contradiction. Their bodies may be maturing but they are still capable of having temper tantrums and need parents to remind them to take a bath/shower.
7. Children at this stage are concerned about justice and following rules. They see the world in black-and-white terms. There are no gray areas!
6. Peer pressure becomes very important during these years. Don't downplay your child's wish to "fit in." Get to know your child's friends and their parents, and keep tabs on where your child goes when he leaves the house.
5. Help your child manage emotions and control his anger. It will be an important skill for success later in life.
4. Preteen kids can drive parents crazy by saying "I forgot" to almost every request. They get sidetracked easily and often lack skills for organization.
3. Offer lots of alternatives to TV and video games -- board games, books, sports, cooking, bike rides, walking, instruments -- to get kids active. Praise kids when they choose these activities.
2. When your child is in school, he will be exposed to lots of different people and experiences. Teach your child how to be safe in the outside world and how to ask for help when she encounters problems at school or in the community.
1. Don't wait for your child to learn about sexuality and drugs in school. Educate yourself, and your child, about the change taking place in his body and how to resist peer pressure to use drugs or have sex. Don't be afraid to share your values with your child and let him know what is important to you.
