BY THE WAY …

March 16th, 2010

Please vote for my blog on the March Madness Children’s Ministry Blog contest.

You need to look for apparently blogging under the South Conference.

Vote Here

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF …

March 16th, 2010

Whether you’re a parent or a leader, I thought it might be kind of fun to tell you what I do all day as Senior Curriculum Designer for U.S. Programs.

So as of this morning – this was my life.

1. Settle into my cubicle with McD sweet tea in hand. Grab my mail – mostly letters from kids who are doing one of the extra credit projects that requires them to send a copy to HQ. These are always fun to get and usually (if I can read their writing) results in a handwritten note back from me. This time of year, they can easily get backed up – 12 in my inbox just today and no time to answer even one.

2. Talk to Tami – the other program designer. Catch up on what she’s working on and talk through some strategy.

3. Write text that will go along with the Sparks stickers in the SkyStormer Book.

4. Meet about what we could put in a two-page magazine spread that we may be asked to do for a kids’ magazine.

5. Approve some last minute changes on illustrations for the Sparks Frequent Flyer cards.

6. Meet about the cover of the Sparks Game Book. Do we like the color? How will it tie into the T&T Game book?

7. Rewrite some text to meet the parameters of the available space.

8. Approve the new 3rd/4th grade awards.

9. Print out the submissions for the upcoming Creative Writing competition at Summit high school).

10. Talk through the words we want to use to teach a particular truth to Sparkies.

11. Realize that it’s lunchtime and I’m hungry.

(to be continued)

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JUST THE FACTS MONDAY – VIDEO GAMES AND BOYS

March 15th, 2010

Psychological Science has published a study that shows that boys who spend lots of time playing video games are delayed in reading, writing, spelling and other academic subjects.

Of course, this is nothing new – other studies have shown the same thing. But a new study was done because some studies show that video games effected performance, but didn’t state why or whether video games were truly the cause or did kids playing video games stuggle anyhow and therefore, simply quit trying.

The new study worked like this – the researchers found boys aged 6-9 who did not own a video game system. They then gave the boys a game system as a reward and watched them over a period of four months.  Boys who received the game system at the beginning of the study, showed decreased academic achievement over that time period. Boys who received the game system at the end, did not show that marked difference. (However they will now!)

Educators are particularly concerned about boys who spend a lot of time on video games as young kids, because not getting a good start on reading and writing skills can very much hurt kids as they move to the upper grades.  Another insight – math skills did not change.

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FUN FRIDAY – KIDS CUTTING UP

March 12th, 2010

WHAT IS IT: A way for kids to learn verses by thinking about each word.

WHAT DO YOU NEED: a verse, lots of tape, magazines, large sheet of paper/poster board, scissors, kids

WHAT DO YOU DO: Spell out the

verse by finding the words and letters in the magazines.

FUN FACTOR: The fun rating (according to the 7yo and 10yo who are in these pictures) is 9-10 (out of a 10)

MY THOUGHTS: Kept their interest and a good way to focus on each word.  If I were doing it with them again, I would have them do a verse they didn’t know, rather than choosing one that they already know. Then I could report on the actual memory factor.

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NEET (NOT NEAT) KIDS

March 11th, 2010

A new term is floating around children/youth research – NEET.

NEET kids are those Not in Education, Employment or Training.

A government agency in the UK has stated that the percentage of 16-24 year olds catagorized as NEET is climbing to an all-time high.  Some kids are labeled such because of the economy or because they truly couldn’t get into a university since there’s a high demand for the courses available.

However, the majority of these kids simply don’t want jobs that are actually offered to them or they out and out refuse training.

BUT NOW AN EVEN MORE DISTURBING STATISTIC HAS EMERGED (again from the UK) – the Nursery NEETs.

A study showed that 60,000 five year-olds in the UK are already disengaged. The Telegraph reports “… so badly behaved that they struggle to concentrate in the classroom or get on with other pupils.”

In discussing the problems, researchers have determined that many of the NEETS of the older generation, were disengaged by the age of five.

One educator reported, “One in 10 children lack the tools to benefit from education before they even get in the door.”

The young children are already having difficulty making friends and obeying the rules.

As parents, what can we do to guard against out own child becoming NEET.

1. Teach our kids that God is sovereign and that we are here for a purpose. (Philippians 1:21)

2. Teach even young children the importance of obeying authority. (Ephesians 6:1)

3. Teach our kids that God provided a world full of interesting subjects (whether that be ferrets or Fiji or frying fritters) and that we get to enjoy so many gifts of God’s creation. Boredom is wrong. (Don’t allow your kids to go there.  As my dad used to say to us, “You’re bored? Well, then go clean the garage or basement or whatever needs to be done.”  He was serious, too, so we learned to not even LOOK as if we were bored.) (Isaiah 40:26)

4. Encourage your child’s interests no matter how inconsequential. That doesn’t mean you need to put out money for a class on the subject or buy a lot of equipment, but take an interest in their interest.

5. Experience new activities, places or events WITH your kids. Make them excited about learning and give them opportunity to learn.

6. Introduce them to people who find the joy in serving the Lord with their lives whether that’s as a public school teacher, a plumber or a missionary to Ghana.

7. Teach your kids responsibility. Make your kids earn money toward that new game or skateboard. Don’t just hand it over.

You want your kids to be NEAT, but not NEET.

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ONE SENTENCE

March 9th, 2010

One of the workshops I taught this past weekend was on the subject of connecting with tweens.

We talked about the sensitivity of these young kids. Often one sentence by a parent or teacher can make a difference for the rest of their lives.

(Is there something a teacher or a parent said that has stuck with you all these years?) Amazing how one sentence can make a big difference.

The Apostle Paul writes over and over again that we are to encourage each other – who better to encourage than a young tween who is often awkward and introspective and unsure about life?

At the end of the workshop, I asked for questions. One lady raised her hand and told us all that when her son was in sixth grade, he had low self-esteem. The other kids all seemed to do well and to give the lady’s son a hard time because of what he couldn’t do.

The son particularly liked art. One day, while doing a project in art class, the teacher came around, commenting on the different students’ projects, giving them suggestions on how to do better.  When he got to her son’s desk, he stopped, looked at the picture and said, “That’s very creative. You have real talent.”

That’s all the son needed to hear to pursue his art.  Today he is a graphic designer for NASA.

All because a teacher took the time to encourage.

Maybe you think your child has talent in something – maybe she’s a great violin player or he knows how to create detailed graphics on the computer. Do you let your child know how much you admire their accomplishments or are you quicker to discourage? “I heard a mistake in the second line,” or “You’ll never amount to anything if you keep drawing pictures all the time.”

When’s the last time you complimented your child and gave him/her some encouragement?

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JUST THE FACTS MONDAY – SOME STATISTICS FROM A BOOK

March 7th, 2010

This past weekend I was in Castro Valley, California doing workshops at the BASS conference. (The picture is of one of our Awana missionaries talking to inquiring minds at our booth.)

Knowing I would be on a plane for eight hours, I took along several books.

One I read was Too Small to Ignore, Why the Least of These Matters Most, by Dr. Wess Stafford, president of Compassion. (By the way, a book I recommend.)

The book includes some interesting statistics.

Three out of five teens have televisions in their room. Surveys show that these kids watch five and a half times more hours of TV each week than those who watch the family television.

Seventy percent of kids get allowances.

Average?

Five year olds – $3.15.

Ten year olds – $7.15.

Fifteen year olds – $15.57. (Kids Money, www.kidsmoney.org/allstats

And here’s a frightening statistic – Americans spend more on garbage bags each year than 90 of the world’s 210 countries spend on EVERYTHING!  (Linda Kulman, “Our Consuming Interest,” U.S. News & World Report)

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“NO! I DON’T WANT TO GO! DON’T LEAVE ME!”

March 4th, 2010

You’re about to leave your toddler at Puggles or Cubbies or preschool or the church toddler nursery, but you know, absolutely KNOW, she’ll raise a fuss.

What can you do?

1. Recognize that by taking your child to the church nursery early in his life, you will get him used to being separated from dad and mom.  You will also be teaching him that Dad and Mom will come back. If you’re a little uncomfortable with leaving him in the nursery, offer to help out in the nursery yourself. That way you can become acquainted with the workers and see what the church requires in terms of child protection training, etc. When my kids were young, my husband was associate pastor at a large church who arranged their nursery schedule so that at least one of the four or five workers scheduled was a nurse.

In other situations, we couldn’t guarantee that, but would have a nurse somewhere in the building when children’s activities were happening.

Still … even your I’m-familiar-with-the-church-nursery child might have a massive tantrum when left at the door of a Puggles or Cubbies classroom.

So you could …

2. Invite the Puggles/Cubbie director or your child’s leader (Sunday school/toddler nursery worker) to your house for dessert and coffee (or dinner). Let your child help with the preparations or make a card for the leader. Encourage interaction between the two, although the leader should be comfortable initiating interaction herself.

2. Be matter-of-fact about what is happening. “Tonight you are going to Puggles while Mommy helps out in Awana for the bigger kids. I will be in the same building that you are.”  Don’t be negative, “Tonight you’re going to Puggles. Don’t be scared. You won’t see me, but …”

3. Leave the child at the door of the Puggles/Cubbies room in the capable hands of a loving leader even if he’s screaming. Tell the leader you’ll be down the hall or in a nearby room and please come get you if the child continues screaming.  Be specific in how much time you’ll give the child to calm down – 15 minutes is good. (In eleven years of teaching preschool, we were able to calm down every child – once a parent was out of sight.)

4. When you leave the child, give a quick kiss and hug and say, “I’ll be back when Cubbies is over.”

5. Don’t stay with the child – you’re just prolonging the moment of departure and setting a precedent that you probably won’t want to keep.

6. Once you no longer hear crying or if 15 minutes has gone by and you can tell all is well, DON’T stick your head back in the room and say, “Bye, honey, I’m leaving now.”  Don’t even stick your head in the room to say “bye” to the leaders. The sight of you will just get your child going again!

7. Recognize that sometimes children do well during the entire class, but begin crying again when they see parents picking up their kids. So, when you return to the room, you see your child crying and  probably figure he’s been crying the entire time.  Trust the leaders (unless you truly have a reason NOT to trust them) when they say he did fine.

8. Be consistent with your child’s attendance, so you don’t have to go through this again after a break of two or three weeks.

9. Be excited about what he did at Puggles or Cubbies. For Puggles, continue the teaching by doing the activities on the Take-Home card. For Cubbies, make a big deal about any activity he brings home – which is what you also can do with any toddler nursery or Sunday school activity.

10. Realize that this, too shall pass and most parents have been through it one time or another. Don’t give in because you’re embarrassed. Know that others are empathizing.

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HEROES

March 2nd, 2010

MY HERO

I think we’d all agree that kids need role models.

The problem is, many kids today are looking at and learning from celebrities with less than desirable life styles.

Dr. James Houran, Ph.D., a Dallas phychologist, stated in Woman’s Day Magazine: “It can be a healthy part of identity development for kids to look to a star as a role model. ” But such adoration can also cause problems. “Celebrities are now more outrageous than ever, doing whatever it takes to gain attention, which potentially gives kids the message to do the same.”

Unfortunately, kids become obsessed with celebrities, spending hours reading the latest gossip or even interacting on a blog by or about the person in question – or following the celebrity on Twitter.

The Woman’s Day article continues by giving three warning signals. 1. How much time does your child spend tracking the star’s life? 2.How much money is being spent buying posters, clothes, videos, etc.? 3. What kind of life is the celebrity living? All are good questions to ask.

As Christians, we have even greater concerns. None of us want our children obsessing over a godless (and sometimes blatantly anti-God) celebrity. None of us want our children to be copying a lifestyle that totally contradicts the Bible. None of us want our children to become attached to someone in  an unhealthy way.

So, what can we do?

1. Honestly talk to our children about the subject. If we’re concerned about a child’s admiration of a certain person, we need to express that concern and tell our children why we’re concerned. (And remember, we’re the parents. If we don’t want a poster of blatantly-immoral celebrity hanging in our child’s bedroom, we have the right and responsibility to say so.)

2. Encourage activities which expose our children to other Christian adults. For instance, if your child obsesses over a basketball player whose lifestyle is not appropriate, introduce him to a high schooler at your church (with a good testimony) who plays basketball. Go to some of the high school games and cheer for the player. If your child is obsessed with a singer, encourage her to join a kids’ music group at your church.

3. Steer your child toward celebrities who do have good lifestyles.

4. Discuss with your child how even good role models can let you down. Psalm118:8 – It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. Although we can learn from other people, the focus of our trust needs to be in the Lord.

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JUST THE FACTS MONDAY – A SPORT STATISTIC

February 28th, 2010

With the Olympics happening this past couple weeks, many of us have had our minds on sports.

At Awana, we’ve been considering something we’ve heard about sports – that many tweens are dropping out.

Here is a statstic to back up what we’ve been saying.

Forty million kids play sports – but many aren’t all that excited. Thirty percent of them are quitting before the age of 13.

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