 Good morning everyone. Hope you all had a good weekend. Had a good restful weekend or was it a busy weekend? Enjoyed your weekend all of you? Yes? No? Yes, okay. So are you all meeting in churches or is it still online? Okay, online in Nepal. Okay, Erin, you're a meeting in church, okay, Prince also in church. How's the situation, COVID situation in Nepal? Dave? The, the ... and I, it hit the past few weeks was not very good. Okay. A lot of cases, but now it's going down. okay okay that's good to hear it's going down so in Kolkata also it's an in-person how is the situation in Kolkata yeah ma'am it's good it's a little bit good okay okay so anyone remembers what we did last class what are we basically studying what is the topic we are studying come on class at least a topic you've been studying that the last these three four classes no one knows the topic okay the developmental needs thank you Prince developmental needs of children we saw the developmental needs of the younger age groups and then last week we looked at the developmental needs of children six to nine years old okay today we look at developmental needs of children who are 10 and 12 11 and 12 years old okay and then we will look at those who are teenagers preteens and teenagers as well and we'll end with hopefully today's class will be the last class we're talking about developmental needs of children okay so we look at today the developmental needs of children ages 11 and 12 year 12 years those are those who are in sixth and seventh standard okay now what is the goals of this age they're basically people or children who are learning more about their strengths their talents their abilities they're learning to make friends and how to basically get along well with others they're able to they're trying to understand and trying to learn how to handle their own emotions basically these are preteen ages preteens so they're going to there in the transition stage from being children to growing into adulthood so you know it's a very very turbulent time difficult time challenging time and also a very time where they need to take a lot of care caution they need a lot of help or support and also you know exciting time for most of them all of us have been preteens all of us have been teenagers so we know the you know the the challenges the struggles and also the happy times that we had as preteens or as teenagers okay so they're learning basically how to handle their emotions because they're in a very moody their emotions are like a roller coaster sometimes up sometimes down and they're also learning how to resolve conflicts basically how to resolve conflicts with the friends or more so with their parents okay they are good readers so it's a good age for us to get children in this age group to basically you know read their Bibles practice reading their Bibles every day so it'd be good if you give them portions of you know to read each day in the week and maybe if they can just write down one or two things that they just learn from that will be very very helpful so you know get them into a practice more so like a habit of reading God's word because if it becomes a practice it becomes a habit a lifestyle you know they'll continue reading God's word and we know God's word is truth God's word is power God's word is life God's word is a fire that cleanses water that fire that purifies you know it's water that cleanses it's like a hammer that breaks the hard heart it also is the word of God that encourages and strengthens and will build them up okay so get them into practicing to reading God's word they're also able at this age to use information to write short reports and papers so it's a good time to get them to write down you know what they have understood about a particular passage or what you know you've taught them something but you can get them to just jot down points to write down what they've understood about what was taught give them you know because they're good at writing and they can write fast give them reflective questions you know questions that will reflect back on what you taught them theological truths truths from God's word truths about God his nature his ways of doing things so more reflective questions that can help to bring about the learning in a more better way and also to help them to really study the Bible in a in a in a more deeper way in a more better way rather than just reading it and saying okay I finished doing my responsibility it's like brushing your teeth and say okay I'm done with it you know it should not be like that but something that will get them into questioning thinking reflecting and then you know jotting down what they have really understood also writing down what they have learned and how they're going to apply ask them to practice it during the week and then then maybe they can write it down how they have practiced it okay now children in this age they love complex games they're very you know they love to play games but their excitement level is not as high as children in grade three four five you know six and seven are yeah there is a kind of excitement but there is they also kind of withdraw sometimes so you can a good age to get them to you know learn scripture potions have Bible quizzes and also teach them the importance of playing fair being honest and also how to play safely because you're so excited super excited they love to sorry play the fool at times which can you know hurt some other child they can hurt themselves so very important that you know they get too excited when playing the games especially when you're playing more complex games like running jumping you need to ensure safety measures are there for them and also give them you know guidelines on how they need to play the game they love to do art and craft complex art and craft and they also are learning new skills painting sculpture beadwork you know painting on t-shirts and and all of those things so some of them even get into love to cook and to bake and to do a lot of things so at home parents could utilize this age group to get them into doing house chores or house you know get them get parents can get these children to help them in their home responsibilities or the work that needs to be get to get done at home okay so it'll also teach them and give them some skills that they can learn for life and will help them in the future so it's a good age to also train them when it comes to children's church or Sunday school you can teach them to take responsibility because they're very active enthusiastic at this age you know they're quiet but they love to take on responsibility so you can encourage them to do something in the children's church or Sunday school like cleaning up you know the classroom cleaning up the area or when it comes to when we have bbs or the summer vacation school Bible school that you have you know just serve snacks help the smaller children bring them from class take them back to class get them part of the worship team as well if they play any instruments or they love to sing of course they need training but you can guide and help them when you have a general session in children's church or in Sunday school they can do the opening prayer closing prayer they can pray for the offering they can take offering and they can just help in any which way you need them to okay so it'll be a good time to mold them to train them to give them responsibility so they can take it on and build on it later on and also because they are enthusiastic they learn love to learn new skills you can get them to serve others okay serve even church maybe serve tea or coffee or welcome people you can do this as you know once in a month or you know once in three months they'll be excited they love to do things in adult church because they're growing from they don't see themselves as small like children or kids they look at themselves like you know now young people adults so they love to do things so in adult church so you can get them to help out there as well and also take them for you know to visit the elderly the sick the needy just do some things to help them out and they will just enjoy it but they're praying for them or you know just having a meal with these people helping them out and things like that or spending some time they would like to do it okay they also like to pray together or individually so get them to pray in group prayers teach them the importance of praying teach them how to pray so that you know it will build in them up a pattern to to you know pray for others as well okay you can have a lot of quiz for them get them to learn bible passages like i said for the other age group last class no good to get them to learn the books of the bible some 20 some 121 some 90 some 91 all of those sums some 100 some one different portions about you know the fruit of the spirit the gifts of the spirit all of those things are good age for them to memorize things what is love the books of the bible so just get them to memorize also get them to memorize their favorite verses in the bible because these are times when they can learn and memorize or will come back into memory even after they have grown old okay so most of the things that i had memorized in scripture was was what i did when i was in these age groups and i still remember all of those scripture portions so good age for them to learn you know i remember that i went to this martoma camp in summer you know the martoma church basically has all their children from across all you know churches in banglore city and i think from outside banglore as well they attend a camp and then you know they have a competition where they have to recite psalm 119 you know such a long psalm but they say it word perfect you know they'll just stand in front of the audience and they'll just say the entire psalm 119 it will be word perfect if i mean word perfect it is word perfect so you see children at this age can really learn scripture don't limit them or think they can't do it it's a good age for them to learn okay encourage them to treat others kindly because they struggle in this area so you can discuss about first current is 13 about what is love love is patient love is kind that's not in me does not post all those things teach them the commandment that jesus gave us to love the lord our god with all our hearts so i'm trying to love our neighbor as our self discuss about how you can they can practice and treat others with love because this is an age where they are preteens they're getting very irritated emotional also their relationship with their parents how to treat others with love and also you can use so you know scripture patterns passages or narratives to help them discuss ways to resolve conflicts in peaceful and mature ways and how to speak the truth in love how they can express their frustration or their anger with calm words and how to seek resolution so you can use all of these topics because they basically are struggling in these areas and you can teach them how to love others basically love god first and then his love will sorry and his love will help them to enable them to love others okay so these are the areas where they really need help and building up good not to just keep on giving them all information but just throw it open to them to discuss to analyze things to see how the person in that specific narrative reacted why they did so how how can they do so the same or how will they react in a different way if they were in the same situation you know it's good to get them to think because they like to think make it more reflective for them don't give them all the answers because as preteens they don't like to be told what to do and what not to do so you know and they're capable in a position to answer to think um and you all you need to do is just you know guide them and channelize them in the right way okay encourage them about spiritual disciplines like praying giving offering reading their bibles they're able to understand abstract ideas now so you can teach them about trinity uh atonement for sin holy spirit about the person work of the holy spirit how the holy spirit leads us into all truth you can talk about the old testament prophecies um uh you know which foretells of the future the coming of the messiah also about the old testament prophecies regarding the uh signs of the you know rapture the end of age old and new covenants you can discuss about you can also give them uh an overview of the bible in terms of them finding out how the bible you know is one unified whole how everything is you know is happening in history but how everything is happening perfectly in unity in history nothing is contradicting history and how it all falls in line with the historical facts and the truths and how everything is um also going to work out uh you know to prove the prophecies um and it's going to happen in history okay um and also talk about what Jesus who Jesus is what was revealed about him the prophecies of Jesus's work his incarnation his beginning and um how he came he began became a human being how he lived on this earth so you can tell them about Jesus from beginning to end you can also teach them about the different books of the bible uh and um who wrote the different parts the bible and why okay now they are um this age group the spritians they're looking for a lot of answers so you can provide them um answers and uh to their specific questions like who is Jesus why did Jesus come why or how does God love me what am I supposed to do with my life okay so these are some things that they really are trying to get information about so you can help them the spiritual messages they'd need to hear a salvation message uh that they can accept Jesus um you know uh that God loves them uh and everyone else God knows all about them he loves them just like they are it's a wonderful plan for their life God will never leave them nor forsake them they can trust God God is all powerful all knowing and always present with them there's nothing they need to do to make God love them more or less Jesus is the way they're saved by grace and they can tell others about uh what Jesus has done for them okay so these are some things that they need to hear they're saved by grace um and Jesus loves them okay now mentally these children are very very curious they ask a lot of questions uh they love to reason and discuss so don't just you know um give them everything they'll be bored get them to reason to discuss the thing to analyze um uh they begin to develop longer attention spans but if you keep on talking it's not going to help you need to get them to discuss with you analyze give their opinions um okay so they can also memorize like I said uh they're developing self-confidence so you need to encourage them and build them up in that area uh they can think abstractly I've already mentioned that um they have a mature sense of time and the you know the the situations they are in the space they are in and they also know as the adults are not always right they also have their own faults their own weaknesses so they need to think they need to understand what they're trying to mean and say and sometimes they can also be wrong now as preteens they want a lot of independence so they try to make their own decisions uh so you know you can let allow them to but you know guide them and channelize them in the right way physically um they're growing uh they enjoy being active they want to participate rather than watch um they mature at different rates you know girls their growth rate is much faster than boys maturity as well um they love to compete um and they are now becoming very conscious about the opposite sex so girls are very conscious about the boys boys are also conscious of the girls okay spiritually they're asking a lot of questions about christianity um they kind of evaluate different points of view they enjoy participating in worship uh so you can get them to lead in worship or sing or just basically play the instruments or you know do actions some of them are very good at choreography so they can do actions for the song so that all the children are also able to follow them and do them because you know it's one among them who's doing the actions um they also learn to apply what they have learned from the bible or the bible biblical truths to their own moral behavior um they like to share in all the church activities and participate in the church activities um so you can get them to do that as well okay socially they're learning to um you know how they can be better friends how they can keep their friends not fight um they're also strong have strong feelings about what is right and wrong um so sometimes if they hold on to something that is wrong as right they'll be very strong about it uh so don't get um uh you know alarmed or don't get uh you don't feel cornered by them or don't get angry uh but just help them to think through uh you know help them to analyze and help them to see that what they're saying is right what this what uh no wrong they're seeing and they're saying is right is actually wrong and how uh you know help them uh analyze things and judge for them uh cells okay they need to belong to a group of friends so they can also get into their own small small groups and clicks so it's very difficult for you to move them out and you know even when they're playing games or having quiz they like to be in their own small small groups uh they like to belong to a group because that's kind of building their identity their values uh and who they are it's defined by their friends um and they're learning to actually relate both to boys and girls uh they're learning to become more responsible and dependable um so you can just give them responsibilities and guide them and help them to be responsible and dependable okay now when you are providing activities give them more challenging activities uh give them time to reason to think uh to solve problems so it's good to give them various situations scenarios okay you can say like you know uh Robert uh you know if you're talking about sin you can talk about uh Robert who was in school you can give them uh you know uh a scene or you can present a scene or you can give them a situation which Robert was involved in and then you can get them to discuss what do you think Robert should have done what do you think Robert shouldn't have done why did he behave like this why did he behave and so when they're you know give them time to think and reason and bring out their viewpoints and then get them guide them in the right way they're able to take information better uh rather than you saying this is the way you should do it this is what how you should be this is how you should live it's going to not go down well with um them okay um important to provide an atmosphere of trust and acceptance that they're accepted uh and also a place where they can be trusted with what they're going through what they're experiencing their challenges their difficulties because their preteens they're going through a lot so you know giving them that place of acceptance or trust or building relationships of acceptance and trust will really help okay give them a variety of activities to do creative activities uh avoid or any kind of comparison or competition between girls and boys uh get them into groups where boys and girls are part of each group it will just help encourage them to read the bible and apply it in their their own lives help them to understand the plan of salvation guide them in expressing their own faith okay and making when you're finishing each lesson make sure that the application is something that they can do here and now in today's time uh through the week it's not something that is very vague for example if you're talking about love just don't say we need to love everybody we need to be kind we need to be compassionate and caring just like Jesus was well that's a very general kind of an application but get them to specifically apply how they are going to practice or how they're going to love others for different people showing love can be in different ways for one child it'll be I'm not going to back answer my parents that's how I'm going to show love another child it can be I'm going to you know share with my friends that is love for another it can be you know I'm going to care for my grandparents that is love so different children have different ways of expressing their love so you know get them to write down how they are going to apply it okay and also try making prayer worship and reading of God's word a natural part of their time together at children's church okay they understand that God is real he's eternal and he is supremely powerful they know God cares for them here and he acts on their behalf so help them to develop a consistent relationship with God a real relationship with God a consistent prayer life and also encourage them not to run to their friends or to their parents or you know when they need help or they're in a difficult situation or when a struggle arises at home or you know on studies wherever but you know they can just lean on God they can just speak to God anytime ask him and get his help okay so we see that you know these children 11 to 12 years of age like I said they move from childhood to adulthood they're becoming slowly adults in a few years time so they would you know some of them want to become adults some of them are forced to you know join or become adults in the near future so everything around them is beginning to turn complex even as you know they are changing physically there's a lot of changes that are happening emotionally spiritually socially intellectually there's a lot of changes there are a lot of things that they are to cope with so what do we expect in this age you know the boys in this age are very very competitive the girls physically are maturing faster than the boys and we need to be very sensitive about that make them feel accepted trusted love for care for and ensure that other children are not making fun of them you know children at this phase begin to have best friends with whom they share their activities but at the same time you know their relationships will become more complicated and competitive and also is begins to change this is particularly true of girls so we need to help them in this whole area of relationship and also whole area of choosing friends choices okay because they become easily affected by their friends standards lifestyles values because they want to be more like their friends so they accept it I told you they like to be part of a group that gives them basically their identity their self-worth so very important for us to talk about choices basically about choosing people friends you know and guide them in that ways it's otherwise it's you know it just brings about a whole change in personality because they're just there in children's church for one and a half hours but the rest of the time in school they're having friends who are non-christians non-believers you know unbelievers sorry and you know they can influence them with a lot of things of the world so you need to get them to and help them to choose the right kind of friends okay they develop a capacity to reason and they try to work things out by their reasoning so sometimes they can get very a little cheeky or they can you know they can give you a smart talk they can talk very smartly but you know don't take it too offensively that is who they are but they can also at the same time be very interesting and funny to be with so just help them understand what they're really trying to say you know sometimes they can get cheeky and try to fool you but you need to be very smart and help them through that okay they like to be independent so you know they're changing their their relationship with their parents is significantly changing so there's a lot of conflicts that are also arising because they want to be independent their parents are still telling them what to do what not to do so you can help them also how to you know resolve conflicts how to deal with their relationship with their parents through various narratives in the bible okay what you can do for them so what we can do for them is be conscious of the fact that they're going through a lot of physical mental emotional social and spiritual changes be extra understanding sensitive and help them and guide them you know give them you know a certain limit or a certain degree of independence so that they know that you know yeah they have the independence but also you can guide them and how they can use their independence in the right way important to hear and understand their point of view and not make fun of them and put them down or laugh at their viewpoint if you do that they will never speak up for the rest of the classes and if you listen to their viewpoint acknowledge it even though it might be totally contrary but you can guide them and lead them in the right way you can hear them out they will show interest in speaking and giving their opinions the suggestions and their viewpoints and I'll also show that show them that you care because you listen and you're not overriding their opinions okay also have safety limits and take interest in what's going on in their lives and what they are doing you know mentoring is very very important at this age for this age group because you need to be involved in what they're thinking what they're watching where they're going their friend circle what are their viewpoints okay so that is basically about children or preteens in the in this age group of 11 and 12 year old six and seven standard okay any questions anyone has any questions any questions if not we'll move on to the last age group that is 13 to 18 years old seniors who are basically more teenagers will move on to this section if there's no questions no doubts okay now these 13 to 18 year old who are seniors and basically you know they are the early adolescent years there's a lot of changes that happening physically emotionally spiritually intellectually they're transforming or there's a transition from being a child to an adult so from childhood to adulthood now what to expect you know they begin there'll be a shift that you will notice from them following rules of authority you know if you're a teacher or if you're a children's church pastor there will be a shift from them following your authority or the rules that you have laid down to doing things that they think are right they value they want to do that will define themselves basically what they feel what they think rather than doing what you know is required of them so even as they do this we need to be very sensitive we need to help them we need to guide them and enable them to see why rules are important so it's good to go through you know come the 10 commandments the laws the various rules why did god have all of these why was all of this instituted in the first place not to make life difficult for the Israelites not because he wanted to get them to do what he wanted but it was just for their own benefit for their own life well-being wholeness that he gave them these laws so help them to see it in that way now they're beginning to live independently so they like to do things their own way you can allow them to a certain extent but sometimes when you they have to follow certain rules which everyone are doing it you can just encourage them you know say it in a more positive way and help them and guide them okay they begin to develop a capacity to think in much border terms they begin to you know understand issues and see how things are connected to each other even difficult abstract ideas they're able to think through reflect so it's good to get them to reflect and to take responsibility to share their viewpoints get them to see parallel views contrasting views and let them help them make their own judgments and guide them okay now we know emotionally they're very turbulent so they can get very moody they can get very sometimes they can just not speak up they'll be very shy because in this in the senior class basically it's very difficult for them to get answers out compared to the younger classes where they're quick to answer quick to tell what they feel what they think because they are always conscious about what others will think about them if the answer wrong or say this or say that or people will laugh at them so be sensitive about that you know frame your questions in such a way that you know you get answers more than you know just if you have questions which end up you receive end up you know and just receiving yes or no answers then it's going to be difficult for you but frame your questions as such a way that you know they have to reflect think and give their own viewpoints okay they are powerful peer group relationships they need to belong to a gang or group so it's a good thing to get them into you know you know into good relationships with each other also you know not just get them to stay in their own cliques but also meet and talk with the rest in the class not just do things with their own friends or their best friends but you know in a class setup relate with everybody discuss with everybody play with everybody and learn from each other okay even though they are struggling in their relationship with their parents because they are asserting their own independence but we see that the family is still the strong social support for an adolescent so we need to get them to build meaningful relationship with their parents at this age so use different passages in the bible where you can help them okay now what you can do is you know get them to you know write down the rules okay once you get them to write down the rules then it's easier because they have to follow it now if you say these are the rules you better do it then they're going to you know get a little stubborn and adamant and they might not like coming to a children's church so you know in the class setup you get them to basically set their own rules but you can always you know have the final say or the final word and tell them why you're having this and get them to see it and do it in more in a fun way so that you know it's more exciting than just something that they have to follow okay and once you make those rules just ensure that you know you get them to stick to those agreements that they have made for example if a rule like you know if they have a lot of this age group they'll have a lot of things to say but they won't say it to the teacher or to the whole class they'll keep on talking to their friends okay so that can be very disturbing so one rule is if they have something to say they have to say to the entire class and not just personally talk with their own friends and when you're having group games that they're not in their own groups or cliques they have to join with others and play with others or you know have competitions with others as well so simple things like that you know when a teacher is talking they don't talk when they are talking a teacher doesn't talk everybody listens to them when they are talking you know everyone respects their opinion we don't laugh we don't mock we can see a point of view but we respect the other person's point of view so you know to negotiate some fair rules where it's easy to work with them otherwise it'll get very very difficult okay don't criticize them for their hairstyle their clothes so what you know how they addressed and all of those things because they get very very sensitive there's a lot of changes they're kind of trying to adapt with the physical changes that are happening they're trying to you know be accepted be loved so you know don't make fun of them or don't criticize them keep talking to them even when you get only one word answers you know sometimes you think they're not listening they're not interested they're being very arrogant no they just give one word answers yes no I think so that's the way it was or I really don't know you know so answers like that so maybe you can give them different scenarios once you give them scenarios real-life examples of different people get them to share their viewpoints then maybe you will have a better response or you can have a short quiz short quick debate you know where they are you know debating on a certain issue where you get all their points and information okay you know when you when you are teaching them be very positive encouraging and you know be very honest with what you are telling them don't mince word don't compromise with things compromise with values don't compromise with with rules don't compromise with how they their behavior because those are the things that we need to you know be very be a little more strict about and not strict we can say firm about firm because if you are not going to be firm about those things then they will not learn to value the things of God they will not value you know or they will not have a code of conduct in God's house and that is why it's it's very sad to see that many adults who come to church when they were in children's church you know they were treated as just kids it's okay to do anything in everything so you see them come to adult church they don't carry their Bibles they come late it's okay for them not to come to church on Sunday but it's okay for them you know to go outing or attend a function or travel but it's not okay for them to do on Monday no because they have work they have to get to work it's not okay for them to go to their office without carrying their ID badges or their laptops you know but it's okay for them to come to church without their Bible they can walk in late but it's not okay for them to walk in late at the workplace or walk in late to the movie theater so we need to ingrain certain standards when it comes to the house of God they have to carry their Bible they're typing they're offering you know reading the word of God they kind of behavior dress code you know all of those things in the house of God is very very important if we are kind of compromising on these standards then it's not going to help and we are going to raise up a generation that's basically not going to value things of God because we've taught them not to and they will compromise on those things because we have a compromised okay and also be very positive and encouraging but don't compromise stay honest all the times and don't do things because you know you want them to love you and feel accepted and they'll come to children's church no sometimes we need to be a little firm and it'll just help them okay listen to their viewpoints and their opinions but don't just leave it you know in in thin air but bring it to a conclusion draw a conclusion you know and give them what is right and what they need to be doing okay give them the opportunity to reply or to participate in discussions then they feel that they heard out they're accepted and then you know they will state their viewpoints so this is a few things that we can remember for the ages 13 to 18 any questions any doubts with this with this we finish the developmental needs of children in different age groups I hope it was helpful if anyone has any questions you can ask no questions I hope all of you are in class okay thank you thank you Aaron thank you Dave okay if there are no questions then we'll end class and have a good day ahead and a good week ahead as well okay I'll see you tomorrow for our next classes okay thank you everyone thank you