What is a tweener?

As recently as a decade ago, ministry specifically to 5th and 6th grade students wasn't even on the radar. Very few people saw the value in it as these students seem to fit naturally into either children's ministry or junior high ministry. While adolescence was once considered a journey between ages 13-18, the transition from child to adult is now considered a 10-15 year process spanning age 10 or 11 to the mid-20's. Kids are beginning to experience "symptoms" of adolescence younger - socially, physically, and emotionally - making 5th and 6th grade "tweeners" feel too old for children's ministry, yet they are still jarred at the notion of jumping into junior high with the 8th grade students.

At Horizon we have come to recognize this fact and last June we set out to help both students and parents of this age group connect and have a place to belong. We started a program specifically for the "tweeners". Just what is a "tweener" you ask? Here are a few characteristics:
* kids between 10-12, moving from childhood to teenage-hood.
* Hitting puberty...or not!
* Concrete thinkers: don't get metaphors and abstract word pictures
* Still like childish things, but often don't want to admit it
* More aware of culture and society than parents think...but face it without critical thought
* In transition! 5th graders are at the top of the elementary food chain...6th graders are flirting with middle school life.

We want to celebrate these differences and love 5th and 6th graders for who they are today, not only with visions of who they were as children or who they will grow to become as teenagers. Caring for 5th and 6th graders is not "heavier" children's ministry or "dumbed down" youth ministry. In this transition students are in between: they will question facts they've always accepted. For the first time a tweener will say, "the Bible is boring to me now" and express frustration with mom or dad, and yet may still play with American Girl dolls and be upset about not being in the children's musical. Parents of 5th and 6th graders are often not ready to start their kids in traditional student ministry - and rightly so- but they will still begin facing adolescent challenges with their kids.

We are excited about these students because they are the future of our youth ministry and our church. And we want to make sure they find their place early and often. We also want to be a resource to parents of tweeners because we know that it is a time of transition for you as well. The unique needs of a tweener parent need to be met in a different way than those of a parent of a child or a teenager. My hope is that more people will join us in the effort to help these students and parents through the transition period.