PART 3

Three strategies critical to preteens' spiritual development...

(She gave us a list of important topics pertaining to the spiritual development of preteen and asked us to answer only three - here is the first of three that I answered)

Bible Teaching:

Preteens learn at a whole other level than younger kids and older teens. Preteens have the ability to learn and take God’s word to a deeper level – they can grasp some of the more abstract concepts of the Bible, but only to certain points. They are still limited on understanding and applying levels of the tangibility of God’s word. For instance, they know and understand the story of Moses, the deliverance of the Hebrews out of Egypt, and the Passover. They understand that this was a necessary part of the biblical story and they can even see how it fits into God’s bigger plan in the Bible. What they might struggle with is how this concrete, but also abstract concept fits into their daily life as they learn to follow God. Yet they want to know how to connect it to their lives, because they can sense that there is a deeper meaning for them. However, not all preteens are ready to physically or emotionally practice the biblical truth at levels like Jr. High age kids.

The day and age of asking 5th grade boys (And girls for that matter) to sit still and listen for an hour, while the teacher lectures them about a whole lot of Bible information is over! Preteens need to have interaction more than any other age group. They need to use all their senses to help them learn and grasp God’s word. Preteens also need to have fun and be physically active while they learn – they can become easily disinterested in what you are trying to teach them if they find that it has no relevance to their situation in life. Preteens need and want more than knowledge, they want someone to teach them how to move that knowledge to wisdom (Knowledge is information and Wisdom is that information moved to application). However, preteens still need to wrestle through and be reminded of the basics of faith issues as well.

Preteens need know information about the Bible, but what is even more important to them - they need to be taught how to put the Bible into practice.

Joe