Parenting Teens

It can be difficult to find books for teens that hold their interest and, at the same time, deal with real life. The Kimani TRU line from Harlequin is a line of books aimed specifically at African-American teenagers. They feature strong characters, and deal with today’s teen issues in sensitive and down-to-earth ways that teens can relate to, and yet still hold their reading interest. And one bit of good news is that some of these books have male lead characters which can hold a guy’s interest as well! There’s a new book from this imprint on the first of each month. Here are descriptions from the August, September, and October releases.

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James “JD” Dawson grew up in the hood, but left a life of violence three thousand miles behind to make something of himself at Clark Atlanta University. But when the freshman got off to a fool’s start–kicking it with his new homeboys, showing up late to class, not studying and checking out the shorties–JD was assigned a tutor, the luscious Katrina Turner. She made studying real fun. But if JD wanted to get with a girl like Katrina, he’d also have to learn to grow up.
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Three girls. Three high schools. Three gotta-read stories.

How To Be Down by Felicia Pride

When Nina Parker decides to straighten her Afro, lose her valley-girl accent and get a total makeover for her new school in the hood, the cutest guy notices — yes! But so does the meanest girl, Vivica, queen bee of her crew, who wants Jeffrey for herself.

Double Act by Debbie Rigaud

In the hood, Mia Chambers is ‘the smart girl,’ but at her prestigious new prep school she hardly stands out. So Mia does what it takes — only to be accused of selling out by her old friends!

The Summer She Learned To Dance by Karen Valentin

At first, Giselle Johnson hates spending the summer with her cousin from the Dominican Republic. But she soon starts loving the island and even learns to dance to her own rhythm. That is, until her cousin attracts Giselle’s high school crush…
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Fifteen-year-old Kenisha Lewis has it all: good friends who also live to dance, a hot boyfriend headed for the NBA, loving parents and a bling-filled home in the burbs.

But all that changes when her dad drops a bomb: he wants a divorce–and his pregnant girlfriend is moving in. Suddenly, Kenisha and her mom are squeezed into her grandmother’s small house in the city, and Kenisha’s sharing a bedroom with a cousin she barely knows. Could she hate her life any more? Yeah. Because her boyfriend dumps her, her friends are acting weird and her mother is getting more and more depressed. Time for Kenisha to push the pause button on her life and take a long, deep breath…
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For more on books for teens, visit Jackie at
Tiny Treasury

teens, teenagers, teen reading, teen books, Kimani TRU, Harlequin, Pushing Pause, Hallway Diaries, First Semester

For once, I’m going to recommend a book that I haven’t even read yet! Based on Newsweek’s interview with author Diana West, The Death of the Grown-up sounds like a fascinating book. Here’s a reprint of the interview:

NEWSWEEK: First, can you clarify how you are defining the term “grown-up”?
Diana West: What I’m mostly trying to define is the change in attitudes toward growing up. Reading Lionel Trilling, I was struck by what he saw. He noted the complete eradication of the notion of making a life with a beginning, middle and end. That would be the sea change, that aspiration has disappeared. It used to be a reflexive action to reject your growing years. People were expected to grow out of adolescence and lose certain traits such as the self-absorption, lack of identity and striving of a young person to find himself. We as a society no longer expect to find ourselves, it’s become an open-ended process.

Can you give an example of how you see adults behaving like adolescents?
Recently, the New York Times Style section’s lead story was about how “The Boys in the Band are in AARP” [American Association of Retired People], about retired men starting garage bands. It’s like a morphing of what was once considered countercultural with the most mainstream, middle-class, stalwart members of the community. That kind of image really encapsulates the phenomenon and shows how society thinks that it is completely unremarkable.

So are we really talking about the death of the adult male?
Where womanhood stands today is deeply affected by the death of grown-up. I would say the sexualized female is part of the phenomenon I’m talking about, so I don’t think they’re immune to the death of the grown-up. Women are still emulating young fashion. Where sex is more available, there are no longer the same incentives building toward married life, which once was a big motivation toward the maturing process.

You write that “it was during the period of peace, prosperity and bright futures that followed World War II that the adult began to ape the adolescent.” Do you think the experience of war is necessary for the maturing process?
I wouldn’t say war is a necessary experience, though it certainly is a transformative experience. The question is, what is the formative experience to make a perpetual adolescent? When you talk about the postwar period, the vast new affluence is a big factor in reorienting the culture to adolescent desire. You see a shift in cultural authority going to the young. Instead of kids who might take a job to be able to help with household expenses, all of a sudden that pocket money was going into the manufacture of a massive new culture. That conferred such importance to a period of adolescence that had never been there before.

Hasn’t there always been a culture clash between generations?
The main difference is that the counterbalance has been lost. When you come up with the latest outrage that seems to shock people—something like kids freak-dancing at the prom—the adults tend to retreat, talk amongst themselves, wring their hands, but never exercise the power they have as mentors and parents and teachers. They never instruct kids in basic civility, in basic male-female relationships. You lose your power when you don’t exercise it. The adults today have no confidence. I remember being at a high-school party, and at 12 o’clock the mother comes into the middle of the room and blows a police whistle and says, “Thank you for coming, goodnight.” What parent would do that today? It’s the same thing with the spring-break syndrome, where kids are planning expensive trips, going out unchaperoned, they are drinking, debauching, absolutely running amok, yet the parents say, “I can’t do anything about it.” Parents have abdicated responsibilities to give in to adolescent desire.

You quote the cultural critic Neil Postman (“Amusing Ourselves to Death”) saying that prior to literate adulthood, “everyone shared the same information environment.” Could we be seeing a return to that today, with the Internet allowing everyone access to the same information?
I think the Internet comes late to the game. It magnifies the ideas. The Internet is not a cause of the death of the grown-up, but maybe an extension, in the sense that it opened up the boundaries of accessibility to information. But so much of what we consider to be sophistication is just exposure, not really experience or achievement. This sort of exposure can be jading but not enriching.

What I hear you saying is that kids have become more adult in their behaviors just as adults have become more childlike. Is it the death of the grown-up, or the end of childhood?
It’s kind of like a blending that ends up yielding neither one nor the other. There is this sense of wanting to stay young, wanting to stay open, unformed, not wanting Lionel Trilling’s shaped life. You see quite a number of men and women aping the young in terms of everyday clothing, 10-year-olds and 50-year-olds are wearing chunky athletic shoes, T shirts and shorts, and they’re looking the same. It used to be a mark of passage when boys stopped wearing short pants. There’s not really a popular culture that’s geared toward adults. Will it stay with us forever? Will it be something we look back on as a funny blip? I don’t know, but I think it is something new.

I agree with most of the things Ms. West says in this interview. And I believe that one of the reasons for the erosion of parental authority over teenagers is that parents seem “less grown-up” to their teens that my own parents seemed to me. It often does seem that, when I was a teen, no matter the size of the kid, you could tell parent from child merely by the clothes they were wearing. Now, my daughter and I tend to wear the same styles-mostly jeans and tops.

However, clothes are only an outward sign. I think one of the biggest problems is this fear that many parent seem to have to really discipline their kids. Adolescents have become a group with a lot of power, while parents seem to have less authority over them. And parents need to take back that authority.

I can’t wait to get my copy of this book! How do you feel about your authority over your children? Does it seem to you that teens and adults have become more “blended” and that the lines are becoming blurred? Is this a bad or good thing? Let me know how you feel.

teens, teenagers, adolescence, parental authority, Diana West, The Death of the Grown-up, teens and authority, parenting teens, parenting teenagers, parental responsibility

Aside from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (which your teen has probably already read, if he or she is anything like mine!), here are a few of the books recommended by the good folks over at Teenreads. Click on the link to view an entire list, and to see all the other great things their site has to offer.

Cadel Piggott has a genius IQ and a fascination with systems of all kinds. At seven, he was illegally hacking into computers. Now he’s fourteen and studying for his World Domination degree at the Axis Institute. Although he may be advanced beyond his years, at heart he’s a lonely kid. When he falls for the mysterious and brilliant Kay-Lee, he begins to question the moral implications of his studies for the first time. But is it too late to stop a criminal mastermind’s evil plot?

EVIL GENIUS is an engrossing thriller that explores the fine line between good and evil.

SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS is a fluent, ambitious journey through the literary canon as well as a suspenseful tale of murder (or suicide?) and coming of age, told in the distinctive voice of its heroine, Blue Van Meer. After a childhood spent on road-trips between universities with her erudite father (a man prone to aphorisms and meteoric affairs), Blue, in her final year of high school, falls in with a peculiar group of friends and their charismatic teacher, Hannah Schneider. A drowning and a mysterious death lead to a confluence of mysteries, and Blue is left to make sense of a landscape strewn with cultural references, perhaps entirely fraudulent, and at the same time, bleakly real. Pessl draws on every literary giant, from Shakespeare to Flaubert, Ovid to Tennessee Williams, in order to create the mindscape of a young woman who comes of age at a time when post-modernism is a theory of the past and literature is passé. Pessl’s opus will incite debate on both of these topics, between readers and reviewers alike, while the story unravels with fluid writing and unexpected plot twists.

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird’s world, vampyres have always existed. In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire — that is, if she makes it through the Change. Not all of those who are chosen do. It’s tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx. But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny — with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

What’s the best revenge when your best friend ditches you for the popular crowd? Alyson Noël reveals all in her hot new young adult novel.

As freshmen at Ocean High last year, Winter and her best friend Sloane thought they could ditch their nerdy past, launching from invisible to cool. But after another miserable year of standing on the sidelines they make a pact to do whatever it takes not to go unnoticed in their sophomore year, promising each other that whoever makes it into the cool group first will bring the other along.

One Sloane gets a taste of life on the A-list, she slams that door in Winter’s face. Suddenly cast out of her former best friend’s life, Winter takes revenge the modern way: by announcing all of Sloane’s dirty little secrets on an anonymous blog. Then the blog becomes more popular than she ever dreamed and Winter must decide if her retaliation is really worth the consequences — and if the price for popularity is one she’s willing to pay. Once again, Alyson Noël navigates the tricky waters of the high school social scene with the heart and humor her readers have come to love.

teens, teenagers, teen books, Teenreads, Evil Genius, Special Topics In Calamity Physics, Marked, Kiss & Blog, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

The minds of many teens, ‘tweens, and tons of others(myself included!) are on Harry Potter today. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh and final book in the series, goes on sale at 12:01am tonight/tomorrow! My daughter and I preordered our copy awhile back, and we’ll be picking it up promptly at midnight, with the party at the bookstore, and everything else! She gets it first but, fast as she reads, I should have it no later than Sunday morning, or maybe even Saturday night!

I’ve stayed totally away from all the spoiler talk that has been going on. I think it’s really rotten of anyone to spoil it for those of us who have been waiting for so long! When my daughter’s friends say anything about it, we both cover our ears, and yell at them to be quiet (nicely, of course)!

So, everyone have a great weekend reading and, if any of you finish it before I do, please don’t tell me about it!

Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling, teens, teenagers, parenting teens, parenting teenagers, teen reading, teen books

Well, the Pottermania for this summer has officially begun! “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” has been released. The race for who can see it first is already over, and now the race is on to as to who will see it the most times! And with the final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows coming out soon, there’s even more mania to follow. The Baltimore Sun has reactions from some fans who saw midnight showings last night.

Which brings me to the rest of my post for today. As usually happens with our favorite movies, my 16-year-old daughter and I were out to see a midnight showing. This was following a sprained or broken ankle scare yesterday morning (it turned out to be only a strain, thank goodness, but spending half the day in the emergency room was my reason for not posting yesterday). We went with in a small group with two of our friends.

It was, essentially, like a family reunion! Not that we knew all of the people there. But we all had a love of Harry in common, and getting together was great! In keeping with the theme of the evening, I dressed as Professor McGonagall and the three girls dressed as Hogwart’s students. The costumes were interesting. I even saw a couple of people who were wearing torn, black flowing robes and looking like Dementors. One extremely tall guy was wearing a wig and long beard and looking like Hagrid.

We arrived at 11:00pm, although we had already bought tickets earlier. But there were door prizes, a costume contest(we didn’t win, darn it!) and trivia. It was a fun and quick hour, waiting for the movie to begin.

Now, for the movie itself. This is no critic’s evaluation. I’m a huge Potter fan, and would have liked it, regardless. This is just my take. It was the shortest Potter film to date, at two hours, 18 minutes. It seemed to go much faster than that.

My favorite part of it all was that all the familiar characters were back-Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, Lucius Malfoy. My least favorite part was that the movie is so jam-packed with familiar characters that it left very little room to introduce new ones. We saw extremely little of Tonks and Bellatrix Lestrange (a great turn by Helena Bonham Carter), who figured prominently in the book.

As usual, the veteran actors of the cast were superb. Gary Oldman as Sirius Black fits the role to a T. Alan Rickman did his usual outstanding job as Severus Snape, as did David Thewlis and Ralph Fiennes, as Remus Lupin and Voldemort. From the beginning, the casting of the professors and other older roles has been wonderful.

As for the younger actors-Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, I like them more with every movie. Some people feel that they are outgrowing their roles. I, on the other hand, feel that they have grown into them. They have a great cohesiveness, which improves with every Potter film.

Overall, I felt the film was really good. The tone was much darker, true, but then each successive book has dealt with darker themes, so this is to be expected. When you think about it, kids deal with darker issues the older they become, so the films mirror life in that respect.

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is a great activity to share with your kids-teen, ‘tweens, almost any age. If you like it too, so much the better. If you don’t, go anyway and indulge your kids a bit. They’ll appreciate it, and you might find yourself having a good time, if you can suspend your disbelief for a couple of hours and accept the magic.

Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, David Thewlis, Ralph Fiennes

For teens, ‘tweens, and everyone else alike, it’s a Harry Potter summer! Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has its U.S. release on July 11.

My 16-year-old daughter and I are so looking forward to this movie! With each successive movie, we’ve become more crazy about the series. We were thrilled to hear that Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson had all been signed for the rest of the series. We plan to catch this one at one of the midnight showings with two of her friends.

We’re a little less thrilled with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It’s not that we’re not looking forward to reading it. It’s just that, with it being the final book in the series, we’re both prepared to cry, no matter how it ends! After all, this series of books has been part of both our lives since she was in third grade. Both the books and movies have been a great bonding experience for us, since we are both fans.

Is your teen or ‘tween a fan? Do you plan to see the movie and read the book? Let us know about your experiences with your kids over Harry!

Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, J.K. Rowling, teens, ‘tweens, movies, summer movies

Here’s a great contest for any of your preteens or ‘tweens, ages 10-14, who have an artistic side. The publishers of the book “The Smart Start Guide to Junior High” are looking for someone in this age group to design a cover for the book. The book has lots of advice and information for students and their parents on transitioning and adjusting to middle school. The prize is $50. Here are the contest rules:

Contest Rules:

1. The contest is open to kids and teens age 10 -14.

2. All book cover designs must measure 5 ½” wide by 8 ½” high.

3. The only required parts of the design are the book’s title, “The Smart Start Guide to Junior High” and the author’s name, “Joe Bruzzese”.

4. If the design is created with a computer program please save the file in either gif, jpg or pdf format.

5. If the design is hand drawn, color may be added with crayons, colored pencils or markers.

6. Create and enter as many designs as you like.

7. All designs must be received by Friday, July 13th in order to qualify for the contest.

8. Designs will be posted, without the designer’s name or contact information, at http://www.squidoo.com/thinking-forward/ beginning Sunday, July 15th. Voting begins on Monday, July 16th and ends on Saturday, July 21st. Anyone can vote, however you may only vote once, so tell your friends to vote for you. Visit the web site, http://www.squidoo.com/thinking-forward/ for more information about how to vote for your favorite design.

9. If you have any questions about the contest send an email to contest@thinking-forward.com

10. Did we mention the winning designer receives a cash prize of $50?

Book cover designs may either be submitted via regular mail to:

Thinking Forward
417 Pitzer Court
Goleta, CA 93117
Please include the entrant’s contact information, including email address and phone number, so we can contact you if you win.

Or by e-mail to:
contest@thinking-forward.com
If you are sending a design by email please send the computer file in one of the following formats: jpg, gif or pdf.

Voting for the winning design will take place online. Beginning Monday, July 16th you can vote for your favorite design by returning to this site. The rules and instructions for voting will be posted at that time.

So, if you have an artistic student, get him/her drawing and designing! This could be a good opportunity!

pre-teens, parenting pre-teens, tweens, parenting tweens, contests, art, artistic, book covers, The Start Smart Guide to Junior High, Joe Bruzzese, junior high, middle school

Build the ultimate summer reading list for teens and tweens! That’s the project taken on by Char over at Weary Parent. No wonder she’s weary!

The idea is to give a list of at least three of our own teens’ and tweens’ favorite books, and compile all the answers into a massive reading list for these age groups. As both my daughter and I love to read, we couldn’t wait to participate! Here are three of her absolute favorites:

The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot Girls ages 12&up. My daughter proudly proclaims herself a geek, and these books are some of her favorite “guilty pleasures”

Lord of the Flies by William Golding Grades 10&up, according to School Library Journal. One of the classics, which most of us have to read at some point in our high school career. This one really fired up her imagination, and quickly became a favorite.

The Da Vinci Codeby Dan Brown Adults & older teens. My daughter, being the nut she is over both history and archaeology, fell in love with this book immediately. She barely laid it down over the course of the two days she read it! I haven’t seen her read any books this fast, except for the Harry Potter series. And those are already on the list, so I thought I’d add different ones!

So, there you have it! Three of my daughter’s favorite reads! Get your teens reading this summer! Visit Char over at Weary Parent for the rest of the list. Reading is still one of the best forms of entertainment around!

reading, summer reading, teen books, teen reading, The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot, Lord of the Flies, William Golding, The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, Harry Potter, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

Coming up with fun summer activities to do with your kids changes a little when they’re teens or tweens. For the most part, they no longer like to do crafts with popsicle sticks or make their own treats with little faces done with raisins and cherries! It can be a challenge.

Family activities with teens can be fun for the whole family. So far, in the week-and-a-half that my 16-year-old daughter’s been out of school, we’ve managed to fit in two family movies-Shrek The Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Both were great movies, although I didn’t really like the third Shrek as much as I did the first two. We’re also looking forward to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and a few other movies which are coming out this summer.

Concerts are another great thing to do with teens. Find an artist or band you can all agree on seeing. If you never agree on these kinds of things, give a little. You might find that you enjoy some of the same music your teen likes! This Saturday, June 2, my daughter and I will be attending Starfest 2007, a concert presented by Atlanta radio station Star 94. Their lineup this year includes headliners Daughtry, as well as Dashboard Confessional and Augustana. I, personally, could do without Dashboard Confessional and Augustana. I love some of their songs, but am not particularly dying to see them in concert. I did become a big fan of Chris Daughtry during last year’s American Idol, though, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing him.

Later this summer, we’ll be seeing last year’s American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks and, probably, attending this year’s American Idol concert. In the spirit of giving a little, she’s also accompanying me to a concert whose lineup includes Def Leppard and Journey.

We’ll be enjoying a two-week trip to visit my father, brother and sister-in-law, which is always fun for us. We get to lie around, relax, and just talk and enjoy one another’s company! My sister-in-law is big on antiquing, so we’ll probably do a little of that, as well. Trips to visit grandparents or other family members can be fun activities for teens, as well as younger children.

Summer’s also a great time to catch up on reading. We’re both looking forward to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and we’ve been to the library and stocked up for the next two weeks.

We’ll also be going on a couple of hikes with Dad and probably some short trips like the zoo and the aquarium, since we all love animals. Activities with teens can be a bit more of a challenge but, if everyone’s willing to give a little, they can be easier to find and a lot of fun!

[tags]Shrek The Third, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Daughtry, Dashboard Confessional, Augustana, American Idol, Chris Daughtry, Taylor Hicks[/tags

Graduation time is upon us all-students, parents, families, and friends! Need some ideas for what to get the teenager in your life for his/her graduation? Here’s a few suggestions for affordable, and useable, gifts:

*CD’s-in this case, music CD’s! They’re affordable and, if you know the graduate’s
favorite types of music and favorite artists, this one’s easy!

*Books-but books that the graduate will actually like to read! Those books of
verses for graduates are beautiful little gifts, but many graduates don’t even read them. They’re
impersonal. Choose a book from a genre or series that you know the graduate enjoys. Or a nice
bookstore gift card!

*DVD’s-another good, affordable gift-again, if you know the graduate’s favorite
movies or genres. Actually, these first three are good, all-purpose gifts for just about any
occasion, as long as you know what the recipient likes!

*Gift cards-Speaking of gift cards, they make nice, useful gifts no matter where
they’re from! Restaurant gift cards are great, since most teens list eating as a favorite hobby!
Gas gift cards are great right now, with the price of gas going up daily. If the teen will be going
off to college soon, gift cards to stores such as Wal-Mart or Bed, Bath & Beyond can be really
helpful, allowing them to buy (or at least defray the cost of) some of the things they will need.

*Money-Apparently, Miss Manners frowns on giving cold, hard cash, but I’m not
with her on this one. Money is something everyone can use, especially graduates who are either
headed for college, or will be looking for a job! If you’re worried about the amount you can afford
to give, don’t! Anything from $5 on up can be helpful. Or get a group of relatives and friends
together to each contribute what they can afford. Then, give the entire amount with a single
card signed by everyone. The graduate will be happy! Trust me!

If you’re a parent or family member who wants to give a more substantial gift, consider a certificate of deposit or savings bond. These are gifts which can be saved, or spent if an emergency arises.

Remember that, whatever you give, graduation from high school comes once in a lifetime! Make sure that one of the things you do is let the graduate know how happy and proud you are!

graduation, high school graduation, Wal-Mart, Bed, Bath & Beyond, gifts, gift cards, graduation gifts, school, teens, teenagers, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

This is a wonderful read for parents of teen and pre-teen girls. Stressed-Out Girls: Hleping Them Thrive In the Age of Pressure by Roni Cohen-Sandler deals with the stresses girls face today, and how parents can help them cope.

In this excellent book, which gives a lot of practical advice, Dr. Cohen-Sandler discusses how girls experience stress differently than boys:

• In general, girls report far more school-related stress than do boys. They believe that to be successful, they have to be extraordinary in every area of their lives: academic, social, extracurricular, and appearance.

• Compared to girls, boys report being less invested in school. They feel less connected, are less likely to feel successful, and have fewer worries about college.

• Although all teens report being burdened by too much homework and tests, girls are 55% more likely than boys to say they pressure themselves to get good grades and do well in school.

• Girls are also more stressed-out as they go through their school days because of social stress: they constantly monitor their relationships with peers and teachers.

• Heightened worries about appearance—body image, clothing choices, and make-up—further exacerbate the daily stress of teen girls.

• Whereas boys express stress more directly, girls keep their stress hidden.

In addition, she talks about the high levels of stress girls suffer:

• The majority of girls report feeling “too much” or “way too much” pressure to get good grades.

• More than 2/3 of girls in middle school say they “usually” or “always” pressure themselves to succeed. By high school, that number rises to _.

• Almost 2/3 of girls in middle school and 3/4 of girls in high school believe the amount of free time they have is “too little” or “not nearly enough.”

• Nearly 2/3 of girls in middle school and high school report that the amount of homework they get is “too much” or “way too much.”

Other helpful topics include how stress for girls worsens over time, and what parents and teachers can do to recognize and help alleviate stress. Although many parents and educators endorse the book, some of the most telling comments come from the girls themselves. One girl wrote “I am currently reading your book Stressed Out-Girls, and I love it! I am probably one of the busiest and most stressed-out girls in my class. Being senior class president, the head of 2 clubs, varsity tennis captain, and taking eight classes in school (not to mention trying to get into college!) the word “pressure” is nothing new to me. I often take on too much, and find it hard to say “no” when asked to do something. I barely made it through Junior year, because I took on too much and had a huge mental breakdown. My grades went down and I wish I could just start over again.”

This book can really open your eyes to the sources of stress for your teenage daughter! Together, my daughter and I sat down and realized there were sources of stress of which she was not even aware! I’d recommend the book for any parents of teen and pre-teen daughters. If you’re a mom, it can also be an eye-opener to some of the sources of stress in your own teenage years!

stress, teen stress, teenage stress, teen girls’ stress, teenage girls’ stress, Stressed-Out Girls, Roni Cohen-Sandler, Ph.D., parenting teens, parenting teenagers, teen girls, teenage girls

Here’s an event for all you parents of teenagers who are homeschooling, or think you might be interested in homeschooling.

Over at Mothering, they will be hosting a live chat with David Albert this Thursday, March 29th. Times are 6pm Pacific, 7pm Mountain, 8pm Central, and 9pm Eastern. I’ll be joining in, and will be updating you on what’s discussed if you can’t join us.

Mr. Albert is the author of Have Fun. Learn Stuff. Grow. Homeschooling and the Curriculum of Love(2006), as well as author and editor of several other books about homeschooling. He is a homeschooling dad, writer, and storyteller. He has two teenage daughters, one 15 and one 18. The oldest is an undergraduate at Smith College in Northampton Massachusetts.

David Albert’s own website is called Skylark Sings! The site features his books, essays and articles he has written for various magazines, and resources for homeschoolers. There is also information about his charitable works, India Projects, which support child welfare and community development projects in South India.

If you’d like to participate in the chat, please visit Mothering before chat time, as you will need to register a screen name and read their participation rules before joining in.

Looks like it’ll be an interesting and informative chat! Hope to see you there!

parenting teens, parenting teenagers, homeschoolers, homeschooling, David Albert, Mothering, Skylark Sings, homeschooling resources, Have Fun. Learn Stuff. Grow. Homeschooling and the Curriculum of Love, India Projects, parenting

First, I’d like to apologize for my absence for most of the last week. I had a family member who needed emergency surgery, so I was away from home and internet access unexpectedly for most of the week.

I found an interesting study published by the University of Alberta. It’s called Family Literacy Matters by Linda M. Phillips, Ruth Harden, and Stephen P. Norris. It was a longitudinal study taking place between 2001-2005. You can read the entire study at the above link or, if you’d like, there’s an excerpt in PDF format at http://www.famlit.ca/resources/Ch.6%2OLT%20report.pdf

The results were no surprise. They basically confirmed the effects of parents’ education and reading ability on their children. How does this tie into teenagers? The following statement from the study said it all for me: “The results point to the crucial importance of children finishing high school with commensurate literacy. Educational policymakers should redouble efforts to promote the importance of school completion with appropriately corresponding levels of literacy.” There are far too many teens who graduate high school with below average reading skills.

Read with your kids. Learn with your kids. If your own literacy skills or educational level are lacking, do something about it. Do whatever it takes to help your kids graduate from high school and read effectively. Both making a good living and living a happy life can depend on it.

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Today’s homework helper is a great public library web site. The King County Library System in Washington State has a really good homework helper page on the Arts. Here are just a few of the topics they have to offer:

*Animation and Cartooning
*Art History
*Artists
*Crafts
*Film
*Photography
*Sculpture

Each section lists numerous links to really good sites about that particular topic. If your teen is studying art history, has an assignment relating to a specific artist, or is just interested in the arts, they should find this site helpful.

In addition to homework helper, they also have a section titled TeenZone which features reviews of books for teens and reading lists for different genres. It also has links to sites on creative writing, careers and college, as well as crisis help and support. A few features require that you have their library card, but most are accessible by anyone.

A very good site for students, budding artists, readers and just about anyone!

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Does your teenager have an interest in writing? Have them check out the website Teen Ink. This is a website, book series, and print magazine all written by teens, for teens.

This site has great features like interviews (the current one is with Alicia Keys), contests (current contest is an interview contest with the winner getting an interview with either Steven Spielberg or Martin Sheen), plus the opportunity for teenagers to submit their writings, artwork and photos to be published in the magazine, on the website or in the books.

Their daily features include the following:

*Fiction
*Non-fiction
*Poem
*Review
*Art
*Photo

In addition, they have resourceful links to things like college, summer jobs and teacher information. It’s a wonderful place for parents, teachers and teens to find out what other teens are thinking, saying and writing. So, check out the site and tell me what you think.

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