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• Acknowledge her maturity. Give her certain responsibilities. Let her do some shopping for you. Appreciate her when she does well. If she needs help in carrying out your instructions, do so subtly. Don`t make her feel inadequate.

• Give her the freedom to move around her timings a bit. She may want to study late or maybe hang out with her friends after school. Sit down with her and mutually agree to a time within which she must be back home, the number of hours she needs to study every day.

• Even as you give in to little requests and a bit of freedom, emphasise the importance of academics and sports. Freedom cannot be used to give up the important things in life.

• Help her cope with changes in her body. Puberty is a hard time to go through. Your little girl will suddenly look gawky and gangly. Tell her it`s all a part of growing up.

• Take an interest in her activities. Have affable conversations about her school, her friends and her hobbies. Encourage her to follow her own interests and don`t expect her to follow yours.

• Be her friend. Let her confide in you. Don`t be judgemental about her secrets. Some of them might sound silly to you, but they are very important to her. Join her in her giggles.

• Good values. Help her develop them. It will stand by her for a lifetime. Do it without preaching, but do have conversations about the danger of drugs, aids, and drinking, smoking and even sex    if you`re brave enough.

• Encourage her to think about her future. What would she like to do when she finishes her education? What are her strengths and weaknesses? What career would she be comfortable in?

• She`s bound to make mistakes. She needs to learn from them. Don`t come down too hard on her.