I’m still catching up on notifying you all about articles I published over on Ministry-to-Children.com. The article titled Bible Verses for Father’s Day was published on June 9, 2010.
Brief Synopsis: I originally wrote this for Father’s Day, but Dad’s should keep this verses in mind 365 days a year!
This site has been known as Dad in the Middle for quite some time now. It is a name which causes some confusion, but it is based on my position as a father, and a more specifically a Christian father, who is stuck in the middle of what I used to be before Christ and what God is turning me into. As the father of four in a technological age, one of my constant struggles is to keep track of what my kids are doing online. As a Christian Dad in particular, I face the added struggle of explaining to my kids why they are not allowed to do “what everyone else is doing.” As a Dad in the Middle of it all, I appreciate resources that help me in that endeavor, and today I am going to review one such resource. Togetherville.com provides kids under the age of 13 a fun and engaging alternative to Facebook.
The Problem / The Need
Every good product serves a need or solves a problem. Here is the problem we are going to talk about today – Facebook has become a bit of an institution in our society. More and more people join every day, and that means more and more kids are exposed to Facebook every day. And let’s face it, Facebook is fun! It’s fun to connect with people, there are plenty of cool games to play, and keeping up on trendy things is just generally fun. That means kids will also want to be involved, and the problem for them is that Facebook does not allow pre-teens to be members. In reality, I do not actually view the fact that pre-teens are not allowed on Facebook as a “problem” because I don’t think most kids under 13 should be on Facebook to begin with, but it does present a problem from the kids’ standpoint as they increasingly desire to enjoy the same internet driven social networking that their parents and friends are using. For parents who have signed their kids up for Facebook when they are not yet 13, there was an interesting discussion on CMConnect.org about the implications of allowing kids to lie about their age in order to obtain access to the site. That alone should give us pause for concern as Christian parents.
The Bible is clear that the principle responsibility for the spiritual development of children lies with parents. In children’s ministry, and as a church, we must work to encourage and equip parents in this role. To that end, Group Publishing has developed a small group curriculum that engages both parents and children. The press release accompanying this curriculum explains:
The new small group curriculum, which launches this fall in churches around the country, is part of Group’s FaithWeaver® line of resources, which includes classes for all ages and has been successfully used in more than 25,000 churches nationwide since 1999. While parents are attending their small group, their children attend classes designed for them. Each week, everyone studies and discusses the same Bible point at an age-appropriate level.
“For example,” says [Christine] Yount Jones [executive editor of Children’s Ministry magazine], “one week the children might learn how they can rely on God. At the same time, the parents are taught how to help their children rely on God. Parents learn how to do this in practical ways and share ideas with other parents in their group. Now they can go home and weave faith teaching into their children’s lives throughout the week, focusing on this particular area.”
Here is my next installment of notes from the CMTelesummit.
Several months ago, I sat down to read Connect With Your Kids by Jim Wideman. The book was so practical and engaging that I finished it in one sitting. Not only that, I wore out a highlighter noting all the quotable passages from the book. Unfortunately, the format of this review will not allow me to share ALL of those. Needless to say though, I think this is a book that any parents, and everyone who works with kids, should move to the top of their reading list.
About the Book
The quip on the back of the book describes its purpose quite clearly: Continue Reading…
Here is another synopsis of an article which I published over on Ministry-to-Children.com. The article titled TALKING TO KIDS: 100 QUESTIONS TO START A CONVERSATION was published on May 17, 2010.
Brief Synopsis
I love talking to kids! I really do. It just comes naturally, but I know that is not the case for all people. In this article I offer a list of 100 conversation starters in a variety of categories that you can use to start talking to kids.
