Last time, we talked about how, as our kids get close to the teen years, we need to be teaching them “biblical principles to live by,” in addition to the “rules” they are to obey. This week, we will explore how we can help our pre-teens and teens get one of the things that they most desperately want. What is it they want so badly? Ah, yes … FREEDOM. Think about it for a minute. If you have a teen at home or if you can remember back to your teen years, you know that freedom is an extremely important commodity during this time of life. It is also a…

Yesterday, Sandra and I attended a 6th grade graduation ceremony for our daughter and foster daughter, and next Tuesday will be their last day as elementary school students. They are now being launched into the wonderful world of Junior High. Jean Piaget became famous in the realm of child psychology for his theories of developmental stages in children. He would say that right now, they are going through a transition from the “concrete-operational” stage to “formal-operational” stage. They will begin thinking more and more in abstract concepts and less in concrete terms, they will begin showing more logical reasoning skills, and drawing their own conclusions from information they receive. Whether…