Blog

Infants

Bonding Stage:

Parent’s Goals:

•     Infants’ needs are met by forming an attachment to their parents.

•     To help your child feel secure with tender caressing and cuddling

•     Infants cannot understand spiritual concepts but can be influenced by the overall spiritual atmosphere within the home.

•     To provide a spiritual atmosphere by praying over your child and filling your home with Christian music

Toddlers

Exploration Stage:

Parent’s Goals:

•     Toddlers are intensely curious, unaware of danger, and eager to explore their world.

•     To encourage your child’s curiosity in a protected environment instead of being annoyed or harsh

•     Toddlers begin to separate from parents by being independent and saying no.

•     To support your child’s separation by not overreacting or squelching the child’s spirit

Preschoolers

Testing Stage:

Parent’s Goals:

•     Preschoolers push against the rules to test the limits.

•     To establish structure, set limits, and hold the line with love

•     Preschoolers begin to be deceitful, realizing that their parents are not omniscient and can’t read their minds.

•     To reflect the compassion of God while correcting your child

Elementary School Children

Desire for Acceptance Stage:

Parent’s Goals:

•     Children seek acceptance from different groups through performing various activities and roles.

•     To reflect acceptance—enabling your child to see their God-given worth

•     Children want to please parents and teachers, and they adopt their parents’ morals, whether good or bad.

•     To help your child memorize meaningful Bible passages that show God’s holy standards and His plan for eternal life

Examples:

“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (James 4:17)

(Also read Romans 3:23 and 6:23; Proverbs 14:12; 1 John 1:9; Romans 10:9; John 1:12 and 14:6; Matthew 16:24 and Psalm 119:11.

Teenagers

Identity Stage:

Parent’s Goals:

•     Teens seek to define their own set of values rather than mindlessly parroting their parents.

•     To increase your teen’s exposure to godly role models (pastor, youth leaders/ youth camp counselors, biographies of Christian leaders)

•     Teens are idealistic and begin to search for their purpose for living.

•     To reflect the character of God, explaining that God’s purpose is that you both become more and more like Christ^[1]