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.
A Different Kind of Smart
In the 1990’s, about the time Shel and I were developing the 12 Tasks for our oldest sons, two university professors began to question whether IQ was enough to assess the true intelligence of people. They saw that, in terms of relational success, people with a high IQ...
Thirty Miles in Thirty Days
My parents didn’t give me 12 Tasks. I had to forge my own way into adulthood when I was growing up in Kenya in the 1960s. Sports became my rite of passage, my quest. I grew up big and tall. In my grade school class photos, I stand head and shoulders over the other...