Working with mixed-age groupsEsthers Chilvers |
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'Help! The children's group that I lead has lovely children, but the youngest is 4 and the eldest is 11. How can I teach them all well, altogether?' Many of us all across the country who are involved in leading children's groups are in this situation. There are so many great schemes of work on the market that can help us facilitate our children's worship and learning about faith and the Bible but a complicating factor is that each one of us is faced with different dynamics and a wide range of ages and abilities within our groups. For many of us, we have just a few children each week and the age range is vast and the range of the children's interests is broader still. So, how can we meet each child where they are in their faith and learning journey and help them to grow? Here are six areas that may be helpful as we seek to include all the children in our groups. For thoughts on each area, click on the link (this will open a PDF). It is important to say that it is unrealistic to expect ourselves to be extending all of the children all of the time. However, it is vital that each child feels valued and catered for at their own level and for who they are within our groups. We are facilitating the children to learn together with us as a group while accessing the learning at their own level, growing in our love for God together whilst still impacting each one as an individual. These areas that we have thought about are only a starting point to stimulate our thinking and encourage us to continue to think of working with mixed age groups in terms of opportunities rather than difficulties. We are ambassadors for Christ to these children and are a way in which he shows them how important they are to him. There are many ideas for games and activities in the ideas section |
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