'tween for Dummies

Teacher: Hello there! I see you're curious about the word "'tween". Well, the word "'tween" is actually a shorter way of saying "between", but it's specifically used to refer to someone who is between the ages of 9 and 12. It's like a bridge that connects the age of being a child to becoming a teenager.

If we break it down, we can see that the prefix "twee" in "'tween" means "two" or "between". And the suffix "n" is added to make it a word that describes a person in this age group. So, when we say "'tween", we mean a person who is neither a child nor yet a teenager, but somewhere in the middle.

Now, let's imagine a timeline of ages, okay? Picture a line with the age of 9 on one end and the age of 12 on the other end. The "'tween" stage is right in the center of this line. It's like a special time in a person's life, where they start to gain independence and develop their own interests, but they still have some childlike qualities.

Being a "'tween" can also mean experiencing certain changes both physically and emotionally. It's a time when you may start to notice some changes happening to your body and start having new feelings. It's perfectly normal, and it's all part of growing up.

So, to sum it all up, "'tween" means a person who is between the ages of 9 and 12, going through a special stage of life that's neither fully childhood nor teenage years. It's like a bridge between these two phases, where you're starting to become more independent and experiencing some changes.