Phase Defined: A time frame in a kid’s life when you can leverage distinctive opportunities to influence their future.
- The phase that should matter most to you is the phase they are in now.
- The phase that matters most happens before or after this phase.
- Adults tend to assume, “They are like me now.”
- Adults tend to assume, “They are like I used to be.”
- Every kid at every phase is changing in six ways: physically, mentally, relationally, culturally, emotionally, and morally.
Your Role | Embrace Their Physical Needs
Read Their Mind…
So kids in the three phases of preschool will believe they can win.
- Know what can be expected of them and know how they think so they will hear what you say and know what to do.
- BIG IDEA: Preschoolers think like an artist.
- Preschoolers blend reality with imagination and learn best through their senses.
“Children are most like adults in their feelings. They are least like adults in their thinking. More information does not make them think like us.”
— Catherine Stonehouse
Discover Their World…
So kids in the three phases of preschool will feel they belong.
Zero to One: Am I safe? The Goal: Establish trust.
One & Two: Am I able? The Goal: Develop confidence.
Three & Four: Am I okay? The Goal: Cultivate self-control.
DON’T MISS THIS: The buffer in every crisis is love.
Interpret Their Motives…
So kids in the three phases of preschool will discern what they should do.
- Moral emotions are instinctive. Moral development is not.
- If you want to help a preschooler develop a moral conscience, you have to interpret and influence their motive.
- The ultimate motive is love.
- Preschoolers are motivated most by safety.
Play To Your Audience…
So kids in the three phases of preschool will discover how to relate to God.
- How preschoolers relate to God: God’s story is my story.
- When you embrace their physical needs you help a preschool know God’s love and meet God’s family.
Three Ideas to Help Preschoolers Mature in their Relationship with God.
- Ignite their imagination. Build their confidence in a really big God.
- Activate their senses. Help them see, feel, hear, and taste.
- Structure their experience. Have a predictable schedule.
