The Basics This chapter will help. It covers ways to talk to your preteens about their developing bodies and changing relationships with their friends, family, and themselves. It also explains how to keep the lines of communication open as your children are transformed, seemingly overnight, from kids who’d talk about most anything to almost-teens who would rather die than reveal anything to you.
Basic Concepts Covered in this Chapter:
j Sex is not just for procreation
j Pre-adolescence: physical and social changes
j The changing relationship between parents and their kids j Active listening
j Tolerance and boundaries: social and physical
Moving from Facts to Feelings As your kids enter the preteen years, they will transition from being strictly concrete learners (“just the facts, please�) to becoming more abstract learners. That means that they begin to understand concepts such as love and respect, and the more you model these concepts yourself through concrete actions, the more easily your budding preteens will understand and internalize them.
70