The ParenTribe
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Not Your Usual Dance Class

Register today

 Tween Beat is an amazing dance class that emphasizes the fun of movement and the joy of feeling good about yourself -- whatever your body type or dance ability. From hip-hop to Latin, the girls move and grove and love it.

A Tribe of Her Own
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What's Up in Our Tribes
Stand your ground. Use your head. Find your heart. And when all else fails, SHRUG! These were the words of wisdom from the Legendary Ladies our Tribe girls met this month.  

Welcome.

Our mission is to help girls understand their own emotions and learn how to create authentic, nurturing friendships. We use storytelling, circle sharing, creative movement and artistic expression to help girls experience and express their full selves. The Parent Tribe is an e-newsletter designed to educate the parents and caregivers of tween-aged girls. We hope you will enjoy reading it, whether or not you have a child in one of our Tribes. [archive]    Subscribe 

Sure or Shy: Tools for Life for All Types of Girls

Is your child and introvert or an extrovert? Is she inwardly focused, reflective, quiet, shy, imaginative, and not terribly social? Or is she an extrovert: open, outgoing, social, active, and outwardly focused?

In either case, tween-age girls are at a life stage in which they grapple with social relationships. Whether they are self possessed and internally focused or friends with everybody and very accommodating they need help dealing with friendship and feelings at this age.

For the shy girl, life in the middle childhood years can be difficult:

Shy kids are just like all kids who go through the socialization process of middle childhood, except that they tend to work their way through it in their own way and at a slower pace, what’s known as being ‘off time.’ Compounding this ‘off-time’ tendency, developmental compression also works against the shy ones’ slowly warming personalities, leaving them even further behind bold peers. Just when shy kids want to be accepted, they often feel alone on the sidelines, alienated and misunderstood.

-Bernardo J. Carducci, Ph.D., The Shyness Breakthrough

Carducci offers several tips for the parents of shy children, but three points stand out: first, help your child understand that she is not the only child who feels the way she does. Second, give her opportunities to practice being social in a safe and nurturing environment, and third, help her feel good about herself.    Arrow