I’ve seen a lot of kids in my after school care group reading this book the past few years. It’s very popular at school and many kids choose this book as their summer reading project.
Here’s a warning of the content of this book, not the best example for kids to read and from which to learn life lessons.
“Young people and older people exhibit marked differences in attitudes. Whether it’s the work ethic, religious beliefs, racial tolerance, the way they treat other people or the use of technology, the young and the old are not on the same page. What’s striking, researchers say, is that the differences don’t seem to matter anymore.”
Over the years, generation gaps have mellowed out. Generation differences remain but, according to this article, researchers have found that the differences don’t matter as much these days.
Anyone have any thoughts on differences between an over 40 year old and an under 21 year old?
I read an article about teens not using Twitter “Teens Don’t Tweet.” The main idea I received from the article was that teens under 25 don’t use Twitter.
I decided to do some research of my own to discover why teens don’t use Twitter. I polled many of my friends under age 21, asking them if they know about Twitter, use Twitter, and if they prefer Twitter or Facebook.
My results were that the majority of under 21 teens I asked have only recently learned of Twitter but do not tweet. They prefer to communicate with friends via Facebook or texting.
One college-aged friend said, “Twitter seems like a lot of mini Facebook status updates.” Therefore, she doesn’t use Twitter updates as it is easier and more of her friends are connected via Facebook.
One high school-aged friend said, “I don’t have Twitter because I never really understood how it worked (or the point of it)..so, no..I don’t tweet.” This friend only recently signed up for a Facebook account so she is new to the social media network.
One 40-something mother said her children (ages 14 and 16) only Facebook and text.
Texting is popular with my young college-age co-workers. When I asked them if they use Twitter, they looked at me like I was speaking German. They communicate with friends through Facebook and texting.
One 30-something friend answered my Twitter poll saying she prefers Twitter over Facebook. Interesting!
Through my poll and study, I have discovered that teens (age 21 and under) do not tweet, do not use Twitter because they do not know about it or have only recently heard of it and it does not meet their needs of communication. They prefer the communication of texting and Facebook because more of their friends use those social media tools. People are not interested in Twitter until age 30 and up.
TAMPA – Hillsborough County schools will do away with popular attendance-based exam exemptions this school year to curtail the spread of swine flu.
Superintendent MaryEllen Elia recommended the change, which the Hillsborough County school board approved unanimously this afternoon.
Students love the incentives, which allow them to get out of as many as four final exams in a semester if they have not missed any classes. But the policy has been criticized in the past for encouraging students to come to school sick, instead of staying home.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended people with flu-like symptoms stay home. Elia asked the board to stop the attendance incentives for the year to ensure the safety of students and school staffs.
“We all wish we weren’t facing a potentially very serious flu season with (swine flu) H1N1,” Elia said.
She said the board would take a strong position on students’ health and safety by suspending the exemptions and taking away the mixed messages, where students are both encouraged to stay home when they are sick but also to show up every day to qualify for the exemptions.
Last year Freedom High, Liberty Middle and Wilson Middle schools closed after a couple of students were suspected of having swine flu.
Although board member April Griffin supported the changes for health reasons, she said she would like to see the district set other criteria that could allow students to skip exams.
This year, classes are scheduled to start Aug. 25, later than in recent years, due to state mandates, and the timing has pushed first-semester exams until after winter break. Griffin said she was concerned about taking away students’ exemption privileges when they already are dealing with later exams.
The district will form a committee of students, teachers and parents to consider incentives supporting attendance and academics, Elia said.
Elia delayed her proposal to end the exam exemptions until the district had more information on the upcoming flu season from the health department. She said could not promise a committee would have alternate exemption plans developed by the start of school in two weeks.
This is only part of the article… the most important part in my opinion if you want the rest its at tbo.com.
The principal at a high school in the Florida Panhandle asked a friend to say the blessing at a luncheon. It was a school event involving former booster club members, not students. The principal attends a large well-known church in Pensacola and said, “My faith is who I am. I am a Christian. I am a believer. I am not ashamed of my faith.” He asked someone to say the blessing before lunch because “it is just something you are used to doing.”
Yay! for this principal for standing up for his God beliefs and blessing the food for lunch: a simple way to say thanks to God.
Here is the latest Children’s Ministry Think Tank question:
How should children’s ministry offer an urgent Gospel invitation without emotionally manipulating children? When does child evangelism cross the line and become abuse? What principles guide you in this area?
Child evangelism must be age appropriate. We must think and speak in ways in which children can understand and comprehend. If they best understand the ABC’s, then use the A-Admit, B-Believe, C-Choose model for sharing Christ with them. If they live in a region where there is a bridge that crosses over a river or lake, then explain the bridge metaphor of how water flows in the river, picking up pollutants (sin) along the riverbanks and from the ships but Jesus offers a bridge to cross over that sin to get to the other side.
The important aspect to remember when choosing a technique or method for child evangelism is to remember to be age-appropriate. And let the children take the first steps toward asking questions. If they begin asking the questions, then generally that shows they have been thinking and pondering the concept and are ready to move further in the discussions and decisions.
In my experiences in CM, I have not offered an “invitation†in children’s worship sessions. Children are too likely to follow their friends and do what they do. Things work out better if each child is discipled on a one-to-one basis. It is preferred when CM leaders observe children and through relationships with each child they have knowledge of when the Holy Spirit may be working in the heart of that child.
When I was in the 5th grade, my church showed a church-wide video on the second coming of Christ. The video was not age-appropriate for every member of the family so the church offered a young children’s class; however, it was more of a babysitting group so I didn’t want to go in there. I opted to stay in the video room with one of my best friends. After all, we were 5th graders; that’s almost youth age.
I don’t remember much about the video, except there was one scene where a young boy was holding a red balloon, then a guillotine come down, then the red balloon floated up in the air. Yikes! Now that’s abuse…scaring people into choosing Christ.
Choosing Jesus’ way should not come out of guilt or manipulation. It should come from children having a full understanding of Jesus’ involvement in their lives and Him drawing them into a personal relationship. We must reach others as Jesus reach them, including children. We must teach that Jesus is the Way. He’s the only way. He’s the gentle way. We must teach Jesus as He taught people. He was gentle. He was kind. Scriptural examples of Jesus interacting with children show Him loving, playing, and relating to them on their levels, not pressuring or manipulating them.
Here’s the link to responses from other Children’s Ministers.
Keep doing and going where God guides; it’s worth it after all and God will train you. Read on for encouragement…
From Psalm 66:
Didn’t he set us on the road to life? Didn’t he keep us out of the ditch? He trained us first, passed us like silver through refining fires, brought us into hardscrabble country, pushed us to our very limit, road-tested us inside and out, took us to hell and back; finally he brought us to this well-watered place.
I called out to him with me mouth, my tongue shaped the sounds of music. If I had been cozy with evil, the Lord would never have listened. But he most surely did listen, he came on the double when he heard my prayer. Blessed be God: he didn’t turn a deaf ear, he stayed with me, loyal in his love.
I received this prayer request from some family friends (Ken and Pat) who are missionaries in Taiwan:
Please pray for Taiwan just now as we are experiencing heavy rains from a tropical typhoon, Morakot. We are experiencing the second day of typhoon Marakot. They are predicting that we could experience about another 24-48 hours of rain! One report we heard said that some places in central Taiwan have gotten up to 40 inches in the last 36 hours with at least much yet to come!! Praise the Lord we live on the 4th floor!
There is wide-spread flooding in the Northern and Central parts of Taiwan. We could begin experiencing flooding in the Southern area before the day is over since we are getting very heavy rains at this time. Mud slides are already being experienced up island and we expect that here soon.
Pray for those who are in harms way and those rescue workers trying to get to them.
I read a similar question in The Lakeland Ledger blogs. This question made me think about music and how much music I plan in my early childhood lessons and children’s ministry lessons.
Music is great for teaching purposes. There are many songs available to teach on almost any subject or thought. I’ve been gathering songs for the various themes in summer camp. The students love it and they frequently ask to put the music on and dance in the classroom. This week’s theme is space and I chose songs about the solar system; the kids have been learning the names of the planets …and in order, too.
Music is good for students with developmental and learning disabilities as well. I had one boy diagnosed with a severe learning disability and almost the only thing to calm this first-grader down during homework time was music. He listened to music through headphones while the others did their homework. The music teacher at the school helped me with how to approach this boy because her music class was the only class in which he had little to no behavior challenges.
Music is great for children’s worship, too. Even if the students aren’t singing or participating, they are listening in their own ways and they are retaining the message you’re striving to get across. They like the rhythm and movement and any variety of methods works to teach your subject matter.
I love music!
What are your church’s policies on babies in their classes? Are shoes required? Probably not since babies under a year old rarely wear shoes and don’t really need to wear shoes anyway since they aren’t walking.
Have you heard the news from this Burger King that told a mom her 6 month old baby should wear shoes in the restaurant? Really?? Will she visit this BK again?
