Anyone who has worked with preteens knows they are subject to mood swings. The preteen years are “the best of times and the worst of times”. How do you relate to your students in the midst of their emotional turmoil?

Suppose you talked with Sarah a few weeks ago about salva­tion and she prayed to receive Christ as her Savior. Now you’re wondering, Did she make a true de­cision? God alone identifies every true be­liever (Matt. 7:23). But we need to know the spiritual condition of our students as much as we can to help meet their real heart needs. Consider the following evidences as possible ways to recognize true deci­sions.

Why would a teacher use a time line in her first grade Sunday school class? I suspect she saw the idea somewhere and thought it looked like fun-not realizing this age group doesn’t understand time relationships!

When Robert started attending children’s church I posted enlarged song charts, used bigger story props and made picture memory verse cards. Robert had an eye disease that would eventually take his sight so I wanted to accommodate his visual disability. But a strange thing happened.

Recently a three-year-old asked, “What if Jesus had not been born?” Ironically that was the same question my adult small group had pondered and discussed at length. Teachers who spend time with children knows that critical thinking is for all ages not just adults Educators tell us, “Young children can think critically long before thinking symbolically; that is formally or abstractly”.