KIDMIN

A DISCIPLR PUBLICATION
The Science
of Kidmin
A Disciplr Publication
 About this Book

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,

the shepherds and teachersEphesians 4:11

________________

Theres no question that God gifts certain people with an extraordinary

teaching ability. Instructing others comes to some naturally, and through the
act of teaching theyre able to transmit something of themselves to their
students.

But the act of teaching isnt reserved for only those with natural abilities.
Many people find themselves in kids ministry without feeling a natural ability
to teach. Thankfully, it doesnt take a special gifting to be an extraordinary
teacher. Once you discover how kids learn, teaching them becomes a whole
lot easier.

In this guide we will explore scientific principles of childhood development,

and how these principles influence the way kids learn. The better we
understand how children learn, the better we can teach them!

Want to know more? Check out Disciplr.com.

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 Introduction

The importance of excelling at KidMin

In his book Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, statistician and

researcher George Barna said, Social scientists have known for years that
the moral foundations of children are generally determined by the time the
individual reaches the age of nine. Our research confirms a parallel outcome
in the spiritual dimension: By age nine, most children have their spiritual
moorings in place.

To build the strong Christians of tomorrow, churches need to begin

prioritizing childrens ministry today. Childrens ministry isnt a way to occupy
kids while adults do church. Its important for churches to champion our
childrens education along with adult ministries. The truth is that a well-
instructed child eventually becomes a more stable adult.

In order for us to place the right emphasis on teaching our children, we

need to start training our kidmin staff and volunteers how to teach our
kids. Too often we look for anyone whos willing, toss them the curriculum,
and let them have at it. Our children end up sitting through uninspired
ministries being taught by volunteers who feel frustrated and ill-prepared.

Equipping our teachers is one of the keys to powerful childrens ministry.

The whole process begins with helping staff and volunteers see themselves
as instructors, and not just bodies filling a time slot. Changing the way these
helpers see their role changes the way they approach the position. When
theyre empowered with legitimate teaching skills and a renewed sense of
purpose, their classrooms will be transformed.
 Table of Contents
________

Core concepts in Childhood Development 6

Five scientific Principles for Teaching Kids 12

Some Notes on How Children 22

Learn at Different Ages

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 CORE
CONCEPTS IN
CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT
 Core Concepts in Childhood Development

There are simple, scientifically-observable facts that reveal the way children
learn and how we can create healthy environments for them to spring
into adulthood. A paper from Harvards National Scientific Council on the
Developing Child revealed significant concepts we should keep in mind as
we think about childrens ministry.

Concept #1: Child development is the foundation of

community development.
Obviously, we know this to be true. Society as a whole is built out of the
foundations that we lay in our children. As a society focuses on building
strong cognitive skills, emotional and intellectual well being, and social
competence, a foundation is setupon which we create sound, productive
communities.

This same concept is true for the church. As our childrens ministries teach
children how to think and equip them to see the world through a biblical
lens, they grow into critically thinking adults whose faith isnt as easily
challenged by outside ideas and concepts. This means that its important for
instructors to help guide children through the thinking process rather than
simply telling them what to think.

As children grow up in a cultural Christian enclave, theyre completely open

to being informed. They soak up all the facts and ideas that theyre told. But
if the church doesnt do a good enough job teaching them how to think and
process information, theyre at a disadvantage when they find themselves
outside the church. When they find their perspective rubbing up against
other worldviews, theyre at the mercy of the best-presented argument.

But we cant simply reduce childrens ministry to teaching our kids about
Bible stories. We need to be creating strong and courageous children who

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 The Science of Kidmin

trust God enough to take risks and are willing to be vocal and involved.
Theres a danger in the church of elevating authority in the classroom and
church to such a level that we communicate that being compliant and docile
are Christian values.

While we need to create adults who are kind and gentle, we need to ensure
that were setting a foundation for a church that is bold and fearless. This
means that our kidmin instructors need to respond to the challenge of loud,
inquisitive, and rambunctious kids by channeling that energy and not simply
shutting it down.

Were building the church of tomorrow in our childrens ministries.

Concept #2: Brains are built over time.

A childs brain is constantly developing. This development starts in utero and

continues throughout early adulthood. The brain is made up of a number of
areas that control everything we dofrom motor activity to problem-solving
to processing emotions. Each area has millions of neurons, and these
neurons communicate with each other by passing chemical messages to
each other across tiny spaces called synapses.

As these messages are repeated over and over again, more links are made
and neural pathways are formed. These pathways can be thought of as the
brains wiring system. From birth through childhood these pathways develop
at an extremely fast rate. In children, these pathways arent so much about
information. Theyre establishing trust, self-confidence, and security.

One of the most important things that we can remember as instructors

of children is that were laying the foundation about how they feel about
church and, more importantly, Jesus. The experience kids have during
church creates a framework that informs how theyll end up feeling about

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 Core Concepts in Childhood Development

church for the rest of their lives.

When we think about ministering to children, we need to consider more

than information. We need to think about how were contributing to their
identity, the emotional reaction they have to the ideas of Jesus, church, and
Scripture, and how they interact with each other.

Concept #3: Children develop a relationship to their world through an

increasingly complex understanding of serve and return.

From birth, children are developing an understanding of the world and their
place in it through a growing awareness of serve and return interaction.
It starts as infants serve a cry or coo and their parents return in meaningful
ways. These interactions strengthen babies brains, helping them to develop
emotional and cognitive skills. As children develop, so do their serve and
response exercises. Theyll point at objects and the parent responds by
sharing the name of the object or allowing the child to interact with it.

Through consistent and positive serve and return interactions, children

develop compassion, become self-assured, learn the difference between
right and wrong, and form a sense of trust that the world is a good and safe
place. If children dont experience positive serve and return experiences, it
can have a negative effect on their mental and emotional health.

When you ask adults about their Sunday school experiences as children,
they dont really remember the lessons they learnedthey remember the
teachers. Kind, giving teachers have a great impact on the children they
serve and so much of that is based on creating positive serve and return
experiences. As church educators, we cant trust that children are always
having the best serve and return experiences at home, so its important
that we see how we respond to children as being important for their
development as peopleand Christians.

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 The Science of Kidmin

Concept #4: Toxic stress in early childhood can lead to lifelong learning,
behavioral, and mental/physical health issues

All children deal with some stress and difficulties. Part of natural child
development is learning to cope with these kinds of situations. Coping with
normal stress helps a child navigate a complex and confusing world and
bounce back when difficulties crop up.

When children without adequate emotional support experience consistent

and upsetting events over time, it can negatively impact the way their brain
develops. Toxic stress in a childs life can arise from:

Sexual, physical, or emotional abuse

Physical or emotional neglect

Exposure to spousal abuse

Substance abuse in the home

Mental illness in the home

Parental separation or divorce

Incarcerated household members

As children experience these traumas over time, a natural progression

begins to take shape.

1. They develop social, emotional, and cognitive impairment

2. They adopt increasing health-adverse behaviors (promiscuity, substance

abuse, fighting, suicide attempts, etc.)

3. They struggle through their adult lives with disease, disabilities, and social
problems

As teachers in childrens ministry, we need to be aware that behavioral

problems in the classroom can be a sign of significant problems at home.

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 Core Concepts in Childhood Development

In fact, your classroom might be the only place that these problems reveal
themselves. Bad behavior might be more than a negative influence in the
classroomit could very well be an involuntary cry for help.

Churches need to have a plan in place to reveal and minister to potential

family struggles. And we need to see ourselves as advocates for kids with
behavior problems.

Concept #5: Its a lot easier to create the right conditions for childhood
development than it is to try and reform an adult

Think of a childs brain like wet cement. As a child grows into adulthood,
that cement begins to form and it becomes harder and harder to change
its shape. Scientists refer to the brains ability to change as plasticity, and
over time it becomes harder and harder to alter. This does not only refer to
how the brain understands and stores information (although this changes
over time, too), it deals with the emotional and social intelligence a child is
learning.

We have an incredibly important responsibility to take advantage of the

plasticity of our children in order to create adults who love and serve
God. While we can all be thankful that the Holy Spirit is there to work on the
hearts and mind of adults, we cant overlook the window of opportunity we
have in our children.

We really need to wrap our minds around the fact that were not just doing
kid ministry. Were ministering to and investing in future adults. Part of any
childrens ministry should be a real consideration of the long-term impact
of this valuable time. Were not trying to fill up an hour here and there with
Jesus storieswere building adults who love Jesus. In fact, childrens
ministries should consider the kinds of adults they want in their churches,
and reverse engineer the results.

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 FIVE
SCIENTIFIC
PRINCIPLES FOR
TEACHING KIDS
 Five Scientific Principles for Teaching Kids

Teaching isnt a mystery. We should be able to train workers to understand

how kids develop and engineer our ministry based on these truths. If we
understand how childrens brains develop, we have a leg up in helping them
understand and retain biblical stories and Christian concepts.

Here are five key strategies for teaching pre-kindergarten children through
elementary school.

1. Stimulate as many senses as possible

I cant tell you the number of times that Ive sat in kindergarten-aged church
classes and watched a teacher teach by lecturing their students. The futility
is almost palpable. The kids are frustrated because theyre struggling to
keep their attention engaged, and the teacher is frustrated because the kids
keep fidgeting and getting distracted.

Children perceive things very differently than we do, and it starts in infancy.
Theyre constantly using their five senses to take in information, react to
their environment, and seek comfort and nutrition. As their brain develops,
they begin to use their five senses to do these things in more complex ways.
Young children are extremely reliant on their senses to learn, and educators
need to make engaging these senses a priority.

Hearing

Its hard for us adults to remember, but learning to listen takes practice for
kids. As educators, there are things we can do that will help kids learn to
hear more effectively.

Have children repeat things back to you: If youre telling children a

Bible story, have them repeat back to you critical parts of the story. This
helps them to learn the importance of paying attention, and cements
the important story elements in their memories.

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 The Science of Kidmin

What was that characters name again?

What did Joseph say to his brothers?

Use a hand bell: Kids minds wander, and in a stimulus-rich

environment a teachers voice is just another thing vying for his or her
attention. If you can teach your children that the bells purpose is to
remind them to pay attention to the story, the bell becomes enough
of a system shock to bring the childrens attention back to the topic at
hand.

Youre not ringing it to make them be quiet. You periodically pick it up

and ring it as a way to snap their attention back to the topic at hand.

Play sound games: If youre telling a Bible story, periodically

encourage kids to try and make some of the noises they would imagine
hearing in the environment. For instance, if youre telling the story of
Jesus calming the storm on Galilee (Mark 4:3541), as kids to try and
communicate what the crowd they were leaving on the shore might
sound like, or the windstorm, or the waves. This helps kids engage the
story with their imagination and keep focused and alert.

Sight

As children develop their sight, theyre practicing early literacy skills. Its
their ability to recognize patterns and objects that helps them eventually
recognize letters and words.

Play I Spy: Describing things that the kids can see in the room
around them helps them to associate visual stimulus with descriptions.
As children get better at doing this, you can ask them to tell you what
the characters might see around them in Bible stories or to describe
what certain objects in Bible stories might look like.

Use plenty of colorful and rich illustrations: Its helpful when the mind

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 Five Scientific Principles for Teaching Kids

of a child can connect a mental image with a story arc. For instance, a
picture of Josephs coat of many colors can help them envision Joseph
as you tell his story.

Use matching images: Try telling a bit of a story and when youre done
hold up pictures of elements in the story. Ask the children what those
images are and how theyre used in the story. If youre talking about
Noahs ark, hold up a picture of an old man, and ask who that might be
in the story. Or hold up a picture of a cow, dove, or a rainbow and ask
how each might be an element in the story.

Smell

The brain is wired to smell in the most unique way. It is the only sense that is
not filtered by the thalamus before it reaches the cerebral cortex. Smell is a
powerful tool that has a direct connection to our brain, and thats why it has
such a significant impact on our memories.

Incorporate scents: When youre teaching a story to children, find ways

to incorporate smells. If youre teaching about the Lords supper, bring
some fresh bread to class to help pull kids into the story.

Ask kids what they smell: As you tell a biblical story, stop and ask kids
what smells they can imagine.

Solidify teaching with smells: Find a class smell. Maybe you can use a
peppermint candle or a pine air freshener, and for years when children
smell that smell theyll associated with your class and its impact.

Taste

Taste is so intimately tied to smell that its hard to separate the two. A lot of
times the flavors of certain items become associated to memories based
more on our olfactory senses than actual taste. So many of the flavors we
use in teaching can be tied to memories and impressions of class in the
same ways that smell is.
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 The Science of Kidmin

Focus on tastes: When youre telling a story that has food in it, talk
to children about the kinds of foods they like and why. For instance,
when Daniel goes on his fast from eating the kings rich food (Daniel 1),
you can talk about the differences in food and why kids prefer certain
flavors over others.

Use flavors to give a sense of drama: When something good happens

in a story, offer the kids something sweet like an orange or a mint.
When the something hard happens, give them something bitter like
unsweetened cocoa or an olive.

Touch

Children learn a lot about the world and communication through touch.
Include activities where kids can use their hands and feet to give your
lessons a sense of reality and substance.

What does this character feel: When youre telling a story, stop to ask
the kids what the character physically feels. But focus on different body
parts. For instance you can ask how the oil felt in Davids beard, how
sand felt on Jesuss feet, or how the pillars of the Philistine temple felt
on Samsons hands.

Pillowcase game: Place items from the story into a pillowcase and ask
children to guess what they are from touch. If youre talking about the
crucifixion, you can put a piece of wood in there for the cross, vine for
the crown of thorns, iron for the nails, or a strip of leather for the whip.

Tactile art: Find a place where its safe to get messy and let kids create
pictures of stories using textured materials like fingerpaint, rice, dirt,
jello, and clay.

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 Five Scientific Principles for Teaching Kids

2. Teach with enthusiasm

There is probably no quality more influential and desirable in a teacher than
enthusiasm. The excitement we feel in introducing children to Jesus should
really exceed their anticipation in hearing it. In fact, the etymology of the
word enthusiasm comes from the Greek entheos meaning possessed by
God.

An enthusiastic teacher supercharges a classroom and helps keep children

engaged. It sparks their curiosity and motivates in them a desire to learn.

Although theyre curious, young children struggle to create an internal

motivation to learn. Instead, they respond to their environment. The
teachers excitement incites a desire to digest the information being taught.
Conversely, lack of passion in a teacher directly corresponds to lack of
interest in students.

Youre probably reading this and thinking, But I dont always feel
enthusiastic about teaching. You want me to fake it? And the answer
is, Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes! As educators we can learn to act
enthusiastic about things were not excited about. The wonderful thing is
that by acting enthusiastically, we can become enthusiastic.

Here are some areas to keep in mind when youre teaching:

Vocal dynamics: Keep your voice animated by adding dynamics when

youre talking. Go from a quiet whisper to speaking with an exuberant
shout. Change the cadence of your delivery from staccato phrases to
rapid-fire points.

Physical animation: Burst into the room with excitement. Talk with
exaggerated gestures and cartoon-like facial expressions. Intersperse
jumping up and down with very still moments.

Incorporate humor: Tell jokes and invite students to do the same.

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 The Science of Kidmin

Put cartoons up in the classroom and on worksheets. Create an

environment where its OK to laugh at yourself.

Role play: Dress up like a biblical character. Set the childrens

imaginations on fire using voices and accents. Find ways to incorporate
props.

Create a sense of suspense: Tease out elements of the story and

make the kids wait to discover how it works out. Bring in a box with an
important story element. Allude often to the box, but dont let kids look
in it. The more anticipation you build, the more interested they become.

When it comes to teaching kids, there isnt a clear demarcation between

educating them and entertaining them. Your first order of business should
be grabbing their attentionwithout that, the best curriculum in the world is
useless.

3. Children need help with abstract concepts

Jean Piaget was a Swiss clinical psychologist who did pioneering work in
child development. He broke development up into the following stages:

1. Sensorimotor Stage: Birth through about 2 years

During this stage children are learning about the world through their
senses and manipulation of objects.

2. Preoperational Stage: Ages 2 through 7

A child begins to develop memory and imagination. They begin to
understand things more symbolically as well as conceptualize ideas like
past and future.

3. Concrete Operational Stage: Ages 7 through 11

Here a child becomes less egocentric and becomes more aware of

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 Five Scientific Principles for Teaching Kids

feelings of others and external events that are unrelated to himself.

During this stage they begin to grasp that there are people who dont
share their thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

4. Formal Operational Stage: Ages 11 and older

This stage introduces logic into problem solving and make a more clear
distinction between their choices now and the outcome of events.

During the second stage, the child is using more concrete thinking than
abstract thinking. This type of concrete thinking is why a toddler will close
their eyes and think because they cant see you, you cant see them.

As a child grows, abstract concepts become more concrete. For instance, to

a two-year-old the day after tomorrow is an extremely abstract idea, but for
a twelve-year-old, its fairly concrete.

But to expect children to hear a story and draw from it abstract concepts like
justice, love, or freedom is expecting a lot. Teachers need to help kids
bridge the gap between stories and abstract concepts. They do can do this
by thinking out loud with them:

By asking why and how questions, teachers can help students

develop explanations for events and discover patterns. As much as
possible, the teacher should be leading the child to the discovery
instead of presenting it.

By helping them draw inferences, we can help them reach certain

conclusions (If Jesus was able to forgive this person, what might he
forgive you for?)

By helping them see the story from the vantage points of other
characters, we can create alternative perspectives. If youre telling
the story of Joseph, ask them questions from Jacobs perspective
or from the perspectives of his brothers. Not only can this help them

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 The Science of Kidmin

understand the abstract concepts the story has to teach usbut it can
help teach them empathy at the same time!

By creating mental hooks, you can help children make an abstract idea
more concrete. For instance, to a child in Florida, a desert might be an
abstract concept. Using props like warm sand can help the idea of a
desert become more concrete.

4. Employ memory-building techniques

The development of memory is part of a childs developing consciousness. It
isnt easy for children to remember things on command, but there are ways
that you can boost their recall of information and events.

Keep things lively: As we said earlier, enthusiasm is important. The

more enjoyable an activity, the more likely a child will remember it.
As you adapt a curriculum to your classroom, look for ways to keep it
entertaining, high-energy, and fun.

Use music: When you pair information and melody, it becomes so

much easier for children to remember. Finding music to accompany
your lesson can help, but its important that they get to hear it multiple
times. If you cant find a song, make one up. Its not the musicianship
thats important here, its the mental hook of the melody.

Make a list: On a whiteboard or a piece of paper, make a list of the

important elements in the story. Have each student contribute some
story element that they remember. When you get to the next student,
they have to recall one of the previous things on the list and then add
one of their own.

Give them objects: A little significant object can help them recall an

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 Five Scientific Principles for Teaching Kids

element of the story. Maybe youre talking about David and Goliath.
Give them a smooth stone to take home to help remember the story.

Incorporate parental involvement: Parents need to be part of their

childs spiritual education. You should be informing parents every
week regarding what you talked about, and even giving them a list of
questions to ask their child about the lesson later. This can help solidify
the lesson in the childs mind.

5. Keep the kids active

For children, there is no difference between mental and physical activity.
Theyre one and the same. Cognitive learning and physical activity go
hand-in-hand and reinforce one another. Its important that your curriculum
emphasizes movement in learning.

One area that children respond really well to is using melody and rhythm to
increase other developmental skills. Incorporating worship and dance into
your lessons can make a childs mind more receptive to the mental input,
and allowing children to create their own music in response to a story or
lesson can take it to a whole different level.

Another helpful technique is finding ways for kids to engage in make-

believe play. This can be accomplished by allowing kids to act out certain
parts of the story. This not only gets them active, but it helps them to make
themselves the center of the storyand at this age, that makes all the
difference.

You can even add movement and a touch of fun to a class by designating
a particular spot in the room the question spot. If a child wants to ask a
question or you ask a question that the child needs to answer, they have to
go to that part of the room to ask or respond.

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SOME NOTES
ON HOW
CHILDREN
LEARN AT
DIFFERENT
AGES
 Some Notes on How Children Learn at Different Ages

Its important to have a working idea about how children are learning in
specific age groups. This can help you know whether your lesson plan is
truly age-appropriate or not. Lets look at childhood abilities broken up by
grade level.

Preschool

At ages three and four, children are beginning to recognize cause and
effect relationships. They notice when they put a ball on a slanted surface
it rolls down, or that pushing the green button on their favorite toy turns it
on. Theyre also beginning to understand number and space concepts like
bigger, more, and under. And they can follow simple, multi-part commands.

This season is when they really begin engaging in fantasy playsometimes

having a hard time distinguishing what they imagine from legitimate
experience. Theyre acting out every day experiences with dolls and people.
This includes talking on pretend phones, acting out grocery shopping, or
other mundane stuff theyre familiar with.

At three and four, children begin to shape their views about learning. The
messages that they pick up from others will inform the kind of student they
will be. So teachers should be as encouraging and excited about the childs
development as possible. You want to reinforce that they are a good student
who can handle difficult tasks and challenges.

Kids this age are very hands-on in their learning. They need an extremely
tactile learning experience with plenty of activity and interaction. Remember
that their understanding is going to be more limited to hearing simple truths
about God and Jesus, recognizing that the Bible is a special book, and
enjoying the attention and love of their teachers.

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 The Science of Kidmin

Kindergarten

At this point, kids are becoming more curious about the world around them.
Theyre enthusiastic about the idea of school, and are excited to show off
the things they are learning. Words and language are becoming interesting
to them, and theyre showing greater interest in learning to read. Theyre
able to focus for longer periods of time and begin to enjoy hearing more
complex stories.

A kindergartner is more aware that there are people with different

experiences than them, and theyre interested in hearing about them.
When they hear Bible stories, theyre starting to really remember them
and showing an affinity for certain ones over others. Theyre beginning
to develop a sincere affection for their teachers, and see the church as a
special place where they get to come and hear about God.

Its very important that they have an opportunity to take part in helping out
around the classroom, and they need to hear that theyre helpful. Their
conscience is more developed, and theyre beginning to feel a sense of
pride or guilt in correspondence to their behavior.

First Grade

At this age, children are beginning to think of themselves as autonomous.

This independence is related to all the new experiences and expectations
theyre discovering, and theyre growing the ability to read. They
desperately want others to know that theyre no longer a baby.

As first graders become more comfortable reading more fluently and

spelling things out phonetically, they become better students. Theyre able
to sit for longer periods of time and are growing comfortable with more
routine-based education. Theyre also acquiring a better grasp of concepts

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 Some Notes on How Children Learn at Different Ages

and enjoy discussing ideas from stories theyve heard.

However, theyre not as developed as theyd like to think, and they require a
lot of encouragement as they struggle to understand ideas. Its easy to think
theyre better at conceptualizing principles from stories or making abstract
leaps from Bible stories to personal experience. Be patient with them.

Second Grade

Second graders are moving beyond their need to learn from personal
experiencebut that doesnt mean that they can completely grasp
unfamiliar concepts or ideas. So for instance, if a second grader has
seen locusts, she can create a mental picture of locust devouring crops
in the story of the Egypts plagues. But if she has never seen a locust or
grasshoppers, shell have a hard time picturing it, even with a completely
detailed description.

Theyre becoming more adept at understanding social rules and are learning
about the compromises needed to resolve conflict.

Their ability to process information is growing and theyre able to pick up on

subtleties like sarcasm or annoyance. Theyre also becoming more aware
of their social standing, and become worried when theyre singled out. In
a group of their peers, theyre just as likely to become uncomfortable with
praise as they are with criticism.

Third Grade

Growing more confident in their abilities, third graders are courageous

learners. They want to understand why things happen and start to develop a
real love of certain subjects over others.

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 The Science of Kidmin

Its during this period that theyre starting to develop more personal
independence from their parents, and the influence of other adults becomes
even more important.

As their logical-thinking and problem-solving abilities catch up with their

mastery of language, theyre beginning to love conversing, debating, and
arguing like adults. Theyre also growing in their ability to see the world in
more abstract ways.

Teachers will notice friendships becoming more integral parts of the third
graders life, and theyll benefit by creating opportunities to work in groups.
Smart Sunday school teachers will take advantage the strengths of some
kids to help mentor others. If you have a third grader who excels at reading,
have him work with a student thats struggling.

Fourth grade

Where the third grader began to enjoy certain subjects over others, the
fourth grader will actively seek out their interests. Strong readers will want to
read all day while active kids might focus more on sports. Its getting harder
to encourage students to focus on areas that they have little interest in.

This makes it imperative for teachers to have a strong understanding of

each of their kids and where their interests lie. If you can help to move
discussions toward topics that interest them, theyre going to be more apt to
pay closer attention.

Fourth graders are starting to really notice cultural and socioeconomic

differences in students. Theyre also starting to focus more on attracting
the attention of the opposite gender. (Yes, its happening a lot earlier than a
couple of generations ago.) This makes the fourth grade year one packed
with a lot social awkwardness.

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 Some Notes on How Children Learn at Different Ages

Fifth grade

This is when you begin to see a real divergence in maturity level. Up until
this point, kids were very similar but many social and physical considerations
are creating marked differences in their development. Educators find
themselves adapting to the maturity level of students on the fly.

As social concerns begin to take over a fifth graders attention, teachers

have their work cut out for them in keeping discussions focused and on
topic. As difficult as this sounds, students are actually becoming more
interested in the areas where their faith is intersecting with their personal
lives. Theyre open to discussions about their personal lives, friendships, and
how it all fits into Gods big picture.

Their understanding of Christian ideas is becoming more sophisticated,

and discussing spiritual ideas, progress, and principles is a joy. Theyre also
paying closer attention to the example of their teachers as well as their
words.

Instructing teachers to instruct children

Creating a childrens program in your church thats dynamic and powerful

isnt that difficult. It simply requires that those involved really see themselves
as educators and not simple Sunday school teachers or kidmin helpers.

Instilling an understanding of the long-term value and importance of

childrens ministry, and training teachers to feel empowered and equipped
to do it is the key for churches to make volunteers and staff members feel
like theyre really contributing something of kingdom importance in the lives
of our childrenand to the spiritual maturity of tomorrows adults.

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 The Science of Kidmin

Creating a childrens program in your church thats dynamic and powerful

isnt that difficult. It simply requires that those involved really see themselves
as educators and not simple Sunday school teachers or kidmin helpers.

Instilling an understanding of the long-term value and importance of

childrens ministry, and training teachers to feel empowered and equipped
to do it is the key for churches to make volunteers and staff members feel
like theyre really contributing something of kingdom importance in the lives
of our childrenand to the spiritual maturity of tomorrows adults.

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