Heather Was an "Early Bloomer

Essay

Heather was an "early bloomer." She was comparatively young when she began her adolescent growth spurt and began showing unmistakable signs of beginning sexual maturation.Thus, in Grade 4, she was taller than most of her classmates (boys and girls alike), her figure was becoming quite womanly, and she had reached menarche.But she regarded her early changes as some kind of special ordeal nature had inflicted on her.Overall, Heather worried a lot about being on the road to becoming very, very big, and very, very tall.But at least she had company, because her mother told her that she too had matured very early and had some problems for a while.(a) At what ages would you deduce that Heather's growth spurt and sexual maturation began? (b) Might genetics be a factor operating in the timing of Heather's maturation? (c) Why would Heather be less than thrilled about early maturation? How might she feel later, say, in junior high school and high school?