VIOLA - ages 10 to 13 - expanding their WORLD
Now we move on to ages ten through thirteen, the later elementary and middle school years. It's a time of immense physical change, but also real changes in how children think as they begin moving toward adulthood.
Carrying on with our string ensemble, these are the VIOLA years, marked by the aspects of Verbum, Intersection of ideas, Organizing, Language and Literature, and the trifecta of Arts/Attitude/Apologetics. Let me unpack those for you here. |
Verbum
Verbum is Latin for "word", and is used in the Latin translation of John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." The living Word is, of course, Jesus, and it is both the written Word of God and the living Word of God that must take center stage with our children in these years. Whereas we have modeled the fatherhood of God and our children have mimicked our faith since birth, during the VIOLA years, they begin to establish more independence from us, including in matters of faith, and we must continually point them back to the Bible and to a personal relationship with the Lord Himself.
Intersection of Ideas
During these years, our children are approaching the world like a puzzle and putting the pieces together in a way that makes sense to them, whether that is how history impacts literature, or how math and science interact. With regard to their faith, they may begin asking questions about how what they hear at church fits in with what they hear in school or from their friends or on television. They need to see that the Bible addresses today's issues with truth and relevance, and they need to see that faith is not in a compartment that is separate from the rest of life. Just as the previous years needed others to faithfully model Christian habits and attitudes, the VIOLA years need mature believers to model how to walk the Christian life with relevance and courage in the twenty-first century.
Organizing
Though you might not know it by the condition of their bedrooms, children this age have a need for order in their physical world along with their mental world! They are able to have a deeper understanding of systems in math, science, history, and literature, as well as in their faith. As our children begin to put the pieces of their faith together in a personal way, they also begin to organize those ideas in their mind - a kind of early version of what Bible scholars call systematic theology, as well as an understanding of how the Bible itself is organized.
Language and Literature
The early years were focused on vocabulary development; language is important during these years as well, but in a different way. The study of Latin, if pursued, makes their brains work in a different, more analytical way. Literature choices become more demanding and more challenging thematically. Academically, children this age are learning how to read for information, how to study, and how to express what they know and understand through writing. Spiritually, these take on special meaning as well, as children transition (if they haven't already) from a children's Bible or paraphrase to an adult translation of the Scriptures, and as they learn to study and understand the Bible for themselves, using what they know about language to help them do so.
Arts/Attitude/Apologetics
These are years when children can not only begin exploring the fine and manual arts more, but can see how they can use those talents in ways that glorify God and contribute to the church. These are also years of attitude, as any middle school parent can attest! But in those "attitude" moments are also moments of opportunity to point out children toward the Lord, and to the power of the Holy Spirit to mold their hearts to follow Him. The final "A", apologetics, is the defense of the faith. While a formal study of apologetics may be best saved for later years, this is an important time for our children to begin understanding that the Christian faith, and the gospel, are reasonable, and that the Bible is reliable.
Summing this up
The VIOLA years are a time of deepening awareness of the world and their place in it. It’s a time when they are ready to dig deeper into the Scriptures and into their personal relationship with the Lord. This is a time of seeing how their faith impacts other things in life, and how one thing impacts another. It’s a time when they can explore new talents and discover how even at this tender age, they can use those gifts to bring glory to the Lord. It’s also a time to continue to bring those hormone- and emotion-impacted attitudes under the Lordship of Christ and to begin to see that the faith of their parents does indeed stand up to intellectual and cultural attacks.
Click here to read about the teenage years.
Click here to read about the teenage years.