12 Year Old Havng Trouble Adjustng

if you haven't found the local dance or cheer studio you both feel comfortable with, keep looking, keep her enrolled and engaged there. Also, you talk, talk, talking with her about her past accomplishments will remind her she has achieved and will again.
I raise my niece, who is now 16 1/2, and she was really good at dance and gymnastics and swimming, then she fell and broke her arm---lost her confidence. She failed a class in school. That summer she aced her summer school class and took up dancing again and I kept pointing out to her and asking her to share with me how that felt, and she could see she has it in her to achieve, to have fun, and to be back in the game of life. She changed shools this year & recently she auditioned for a play and got a part! She has several new friends that I approve of, too.

Try Cypress Academy, they have programs for all of the classes listed above. (View their website) I think their try outs for cheer are right now. If you have the time you can sign her up for extra tumbling classes to bring her up to level on the cheer, that she could do during the summer. They have special prices for extra classes during the summer. Not to mention the male coaches for tumbling and cheer are awesome.

Try looking on the internet to find a dance studio or team that does not do competitions to start off. I don't know of any in your area, but there is sure to be one that has competitive dancing and non competitive dancing. She could start off in the non competitive dancing first to get her self esteem up again and when she feels comfortable she could move to the competivie side. This way she is doing something she likes and meeting new people with the same interest. This will probably make her transition a little better. Also look for flyers from different high schools that do cheer camps. They usually hold them every so often on the weekend just to get her out and to show her there is a lot of things to do here. Hope everything works out for you and your family. Good Luck.

Forgot to mention, most places offer a 30 trail period.

I read you question three times. Maybe she should try something different for a year, like Karate or Kick boxing. It may help build her self confidence and bring her out of her shell. Better yet, maybe take the class with her, make it a girl time. Coming into teenage years, it may help you and her both to stay close. And you both will make new friends. Could even be her birthday present.

You are never to old to start a new sport, talk her into going to a gym and watching the tumbling classes and some gyms will let you have a trial visit. She might see how much fun it could be.

A gym around you that is good is Cypress Academy. Check out there webstie.

Birthday idea: Have her friends been here for a visit? Have them come for her birthday and turn an area in your house (or yard) into a dance studio. I know a dance troupe that I can talk to about possibly coming over to do dance lessons, maybe teach a routine for her birthday. Not only would that be enjoyable for the girls, but the friends would also see that it wasn't a bad move for your daughter. If you invite some of the girls from your daughter's current school, then they could all interact, and there won't be such a disconnect between the Louisiana friends and the Cypress friends. She can score a few popularity points, too. You don't want too much popularity, but a couple of points are good for the esteem.

My parents moved me here from Slidell when I was 10. I can really feel for your daughter. I found the kids very judgemental and not nearly as friendly. I ended up with long term adjustment problems. It is very hard and competitive here, kids are started in the sport of their choice before they even start school. I stopped trying sports and got involved with the science and biology clubs at school and that helped some. If you can you should seek the help of a psycologist or other professional. I don't want to scare you but I ended up making some very poor choices looking for acceptance.

I live in Cypress as well. There is a great place you might want to look into. It's called Cypress Academyof Gymnastics. It's on Huffmeister. It is a huge facility. I have been taking my son their for gymnastics and he really enjoys it. They have all sorts of classes to take, tumbling, gymnastics, cheerleading. Here is the website to check out the options and prices. They even offer a free trial class.
http://cypressacademy.com/

I don't have any advice, as i only have two boys, but I just wanted to say that I feel for you. It sounds like a tough quandary. I do know there are places specific to cheerleading that she can take classes at, as opposed to just a gymnastics place. And if you find a place like that you might be able to buy individual classes for her from one of the instructors.
And I would definitely encourage her to get back into dance!

Lots of luck on your and her transition!
A.- mom to Dominic (10) and Julian (7)

Have you found a good church home? My daughter (12 years old at the time) went to a sumemr camp last summer with a friend at Community of Faith (COF) on 290 & Becker. (We had been members of Fairfield Baptist and Waller Baptist). She loved the kids and leaders of COF so much that she was begging for us to start going there, even though she didn't know anybody going into it. We have been going to COF since December 2007 and my daughter can't get enough of it!
Give it a try :)