Understanding Your 4th/5th Grader

(This is the last of an 8 part series on Understanding Your Youngster; a series on age specific information on how to help your child's spiritual development and creating a godly foundation.)

"Being listened to is so close to being loved that most people cannot tell the difference." David Oxberg

I'm a fourth/fifth grader. Welcome to my world! I'm developing a sense of who I am and what I am able to achieve. Having friends and being part of groups is important. I know I belong. Join me and see what I'm learning and what I like to do!

• Listen to my questions, give honest answers and assure me of God's love. 
• Hearing personal faith stories helps me to know who God is and respond to Him. 
• I like to participate in discussions and listen to more adult conversations.
• I am beginning to learn that when I pray sometimes God says "yes," "no," "wait."
• I am beginning to understand biblical symbols and sacraments such as communion and baptism.
• I am learning that God wants me to grow, learn and follow. 
• I am starting to understand what it means to worship on my own or in groups.
• I am learning cause and effect for God forgiving us and us forgiving others. 
• I can pray out loud in a safe environment.
• I understand more deeply what it means to have a relationship with Jesus.
• I am learning about giving, saving and spending money from God's point of view.
• I make my own decisions and accept the consequences for those decisions. 

"If you talk to your children, you can help them to keep their lives together. If you talk to them skillfully, you can help them to build future dreams." Jim Rohn

(Information pulled from Willow Creek's "Thought You'd Like to Know" series.)