FourFiveSix.org: Great Ideas for your Preteen Ministry

Sometimes when preteens misbehave, we are responsibility (in some measure) for the misbehavior. If we haven’t set up our environment as a place where preteens can thrive behaviorally, then how can we expect that behavioral excellence from them?

In this episode of the podcast, Sean shares 4 ways to set up the space and program of your ministry for success. He discusses:

By the way…

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/

Sometimes when preteens misbehave, we are responsibility (in some measure) for the misbehavior. If we haven’t set up our environment as a place where preteens can thrive behaviorally, then how can we expect that behavioral excellence from them?

In this episode of the podcast, Sean shares 4 ways to set up the people in your ministry for success. He discusses:

By the way…

The Launchinar, with Patrick Snow, is coming up on December 1st. Get the details HERE.

Are you signed up for FourFiveSix’s 2016 Online Conference yet? Get all the details HERE.

Are you receiving the weekly newsletter yet? Get added to the list HERE, or by texting “preteen” to 66866.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Today Sean’s mom, Carol Sweet, gives tips on a very effective discipline technique: REDIRECTION. Instead of directly addressing a behavior issue in the moment, Carol suggests simply redirecting the student to something else and then revisiting the behavior at a later and more appropriate moment.

Today you’ll hear more about how redirection works and a couple of examples of how this might work in your preteen ministry.

By the way…

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Imagine trying to teach a bird to climb a tree. Do you think you might have some “behavior issues” from the bird? Would they succeed? Would you, as the teacher, be frustrated? When we don’t consider where preteens are developmentally, we are setting them up for a similar failure, and setting ourselves up for a similar frustration.

Sometimes what we think is a behavior issue in a preteen is just an outflow of where they are developmentally.

Understanding preteens’ development can help to approach their behavior with empathy and peace, as opposed to judgement and frustration. It can also help us to structure our events, environments, and services in ways that set them up for success.

Here are three ways you can begin the journey of understanding preteens:

Do you have a great resource for understanding preteens? Share with us in the comment section on the bottom of the webpage where this episode is posted. Please. :-)

By the way…

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

The squeaky wheel gets the oil. Yes, but the squeaky wheel is the one that NEEDS the oil. OK, but how do we balance that with the fact that there is a room full of students with needs?

Do you ever find that one misbehaving student is getting all of your attention? Do you think to yourself, “That’s not fair to the rest of the group.”? But then you think, “Well Jesus told me to leave the 99 for the 1.”

Relationship Based Discipline takes time, energy, and focus. However, if we focus on one student who is having issues and misbehaving, to the point of ignoring the rest of our group, we’ve allowed that student to become a thief. Today’s podcast is about balancing our compassion for the individual with our responsibility to the whole group.

By the way…

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Part of good discipline involves consequences. Today on the podcast, Sean discusses three types of consequences, and why people use each.

By the way…

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

You’ve probably heard the phrase: “Pick your battles”. But how do we pick our battles? Sometimes, we fight a behavior that is simply annoying in the same way we’d respond to a student committing a sinful, hurtful, or unsafe act.

Today on the podcast, Sean and Chris encourage us all to consider the behaviors we are disciplining, and whether they are “crimes against humanity”, or simply annoying.

By the way…

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Consequences can be a good and necessary part of your discipline plan, but are systems-based consequences (i.e. first infraction, you get a warning, second infraction, you get a time-out, etc.) consistent with the concepts of relationship-based discipline?

Today on the podcast, Sean talks about why you should throw out systems-based consequences, and instead focus on consequences that are specific to THIS preteen and THIS situation.

By the way…

Are you signed up for FourFiveSix’s 2016 Online Conference yet? Get all the details HERE.

Are you receiving the weekly newsletter yet? Get added to the list HERE, or by texting “preteen” to 66866.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Heather Dunn took some time out to sit down with Sean today to talk about looking beyond the behaviors of our preteens to what’s REALLY going on.

Listen to today’s podcast and find out why “good discipline begins with questions.”

This is part 2 of a 10 part series about Relationship Based Discipline. Check out the whole series starting with episode 1: “Punishment vs. Discipline”.

By the way…

Are you signed up for the “Onference” yet? Get all the details HERE.

Are you receiving the weekly newsletter yet? Get added to the list HERE, or by texting “preteen” to 66866.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Today we begin a 10-part series about Relationship Based Discipline, which really is a GREAT idea for preteen ministry. To start off the series, we take a look at punishment vs. discipline.

In this podcast we’ll cover:

By understanding the difference between punishment and discipline, you can start to identify your interactions with the students in your ministry and begin to think about how to adjust course.

By the way…

Are you signed up for the “Onference” yet? Get all the details HERE.

Are you receiving the weekly newsletter yet? Get added to the list HERE, or by texting “preteen” to 66866.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to [email protected]. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.