How can parents help their preteens or ‘tweens’ on their road to adulthood? Children need to know what it means to be an adult with strong character and values. 12 Tasks will guide you on how to create a rite of passage for your emerging adult. The book tells the story of where 12 Tasks began 30 years ago among some families in Kenya. It traces the history and importance of rites of passage in traditional culture. Then it offers a clear how-to for designing your own version of 12 Tasks for your child – including ways to assess your child, choosing the tasks, completing and then celebrating at the end. 12 Tasks is not an easy journey, but it will help deepen your relationship as a parent with your child and it will help you guide your son or daughter in their transition toward adulthood.
This book was written by two fathers who are passionate about helping their children and grandchildren make a successful transition from being youth to being adults. 12 Tasks offers a personal and practical path for parents with the same passion to help their children on the journey to adulthood.
Meet the Authors
Jack Taylor
Learn more about Jack and his other books.
Shel Arensen
Learn more about Shel and his other books.
Check out our 12 Taskers blog for stories and experiences of parents who have done or are doing the 12 Tasks with their kids.
Understanding Emotions
How would you like the chance to go back and feel again what you experienced in your 10-15 year old self? Can you even imagine accurately what it was like? Issues with your teeth, your skin, your diet, your friends, your identity. What hope did you have to understand...
Fake News and Fourteen Year Olds
While my own daughter has been hyper-vigilant in controlling the amount of screen exposure time with her four children, I realize that more and more of the youth in our faith community are spouting off conspiracy theories I’m sure they didn’t pick up at school. Fake...
Romantic Competence for All of Us
It’s almost frightening for some parents to look at their emerging adolescent and to think that romance could be right around the corner for them. We look at our own series of relationships and wonder how to prepare and protect our little ones from a lifetime of...
Rebuilding Trust in the Next Generations
Tim Elmore notes that our upcoming generations are being impacted by social media in three key ways. They don’t trust leaders, they see life as unfair, and they feel out of control. One of the benefits of 12 Tasks is that your parental investment and involvement can...
The power of your tongue
Sometimes parents don’t realize the power of their tongue for life in their children. Proverbs 18:21 (NIV) says that the tongue has the power of life or death and this is especially true when it comes to a child. You’ve probably witnessed a child cringing and...
The Hard work of Parenting
From the first moment you bring your newborn home you realize things will never be the same again. Sacrificial hard work is here as is unlimited love. Each stage of parenting is filled with its own navigational hazards and that is no less true at the onset of the teen...