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CHILDREN'S MINISTRY
Understanding Older Children and Preteens
by Leon Castle
Older children and preteens are learning and developing necessary physical and mental skills and attitudes toward themselves, others, and social institutions They are learning how to get along with family, peers, and the adults in their world while striving for independence. They are earning what is "right and wrong" and are developing a value system.
Needs of the Children We Teach
Needs! What are they? Needs are dynamics which are essential for the individual to achieve his or her potential. As we explore these needs, we will restrict ourselves to needs that specifically relate to the classroom situation. These needs are not unique to the classroom, but they are needs that children constantly seek to satisfy wherever they may be.
Each child needs a positive learning environment.
Usually we think of a learning environment as the physical setting in which learning takes place. The messages children receive from the rooms in which they meet will be either positive or negative. Some rooms seem to say, "Go away! Run! You are not important! The subject matter is unimportant!"
Rooms that communicate such negative statements often possess characteristics of the "bare" family. A look into those rooms reveals bare walls, bare tables, bare bulletin boards, bare shelves, bare book racks. The room is void of any indication of preparation for an exciting time of learning.
Other negative-speaking rooms have the exact opposite appearance to those just described. These rooms seem to be a collection of clutter. Outdated and current materials clutter the shelves, the windowsills, and the top of the piano. Art materials lie in disarray. Books of all kinds and descriptions fill the bookrack. Remnants of past units remain on the walls and bulletin boards. Pictures of the past and present plaster the walls. Many times they hang close to the ceiling, far out of the eye range of the learner. Tables, which have the residue of glue, glitter, and markers, have no placement pattern. Perhaps too many tables, too many chairs, and too many other pieces of equipment leave too little room for children to move comfortably. A good rule of thumb for the number of chairs needed is your anticipated high attendance. Extra chairs and tables take up valuable teaching space.
On the other hand, some rooms communicate the message of "Stop! Come in here! Exciting experiences will take place today! A look into these rooms reveals neat and orderly shelves that are stocked with materials necessary for the learning experiences. Clean tables and chairs are arranged (or removed) so the children can move about freely and comfort ably. The "silent teachers" - pictures, banners, and other displays are current and relate to the content the children will explore. Carefully chosen pictures hang at children's eye level. Creative use of color highlights the room. The room is clean. Lighting is adequate and free from glare. The room temperature is comfortable.
Children, moreover, interpret and give meaning to the physical environment through spiritual, psychological, and social filters. For the learning environment to be positive, these factors have to be positive as well. Children will have a difficult time relating positively to the learning environment if their teacher is unpleasant, moody, difficult to relate to, unenthusiastic, unprepared, late, dull, and inconsistent.
Each child needs routine with variety.
We are all creatures of habit and when our routines become disrupted, we have difficulty predicting and anticipating. We move out of our comfort zones and adapt. Children will feel comfortable and more secure if they have a routine they can anticipate and predict.
"Routine" does not mean that we do the same thing the same way each time we meet. That becomes boring and ineffective. It does mean that there is a predictable schedule that has within its time frames certain types and kinds of learning activities. Teachers should plan a variety of learning activities that fit within the time restraints of the routine, carefully estimating the amount of time they plan to give to each planned activity.
Teachers should plan a variety of activities that will speak to children's various learning styles. Some activities, such as pictures, puzzles, banners, and printed verses, should speak to children who learn best through visual stimulation. Other activities should facilitate children who learn best through hearing. Still other activities should provide children the opportunity to touch and work with their hands by tracing, writing, and copying
Children need well-paced sessions with freedom from being hurried.
Many children are scheduled with activities that encompass most of every day. They rush from one activity to another, from one sitter to another and from one parent to another. They are hurried to grow up and take adult responsibilities. Children should find in Sunday School a relaxed schedule that does not require them to rush and hurry.
How do you feel when someone who is larger than you stands over you and rushes you to complete whatever it is that you are doing? Learning takes time and it cannot be hurried. Care and attention should be given to the tempo and pacing of the session. Active times followed by passive times should alternate during the period. Such pacing tends to relax the children and helps them to maintain deeper interest and involvement levels for longer periods of time. Time to children is different from what it is to adults.
As a rule of thumb, the most important thing to remember is that the needs of children come first. You should, at all times, place the children's need to work at their own pace in a non-threatening environment ahead of your need to teach the entire lesson. The pace and attitude with which you teach often has more effect on children than the content of any lesson can ever hope to have.
Children need to succeed.
Some psychologists refer to children at this age as going through a crisis of "industry verses inferiority." What this means for you is that many of the older children with which you work are seeking a chance to feel like they contribute something by being there. Children need to feel after every session that they have achieved something. Through offering them choices and allowing them the freedom to explore, create, and express in their own way, they will succeed.
To succeed, children have to feel good about what they do and find a personal fulfillment and significance in doing it. Providing activities and using methods that the children enjoy will help them feel a sense of accomplishment and contributes greatly to their positive self-image. When you honor children's work and refrain from "touching it up," you feed their feelings of success. "Touching up" or "correcting a child’s work communicates that the child's work is unsatisfactory, and does not meet your standards. It also says that your ideas and ways of doing things are "superior" to theirs, which can be harmful and undo much of the good work you may otherwise do.
Boys and girls need guidance that is tempered with a heavy dose of encouragement. Encouragement comes in the forms of sincere praise and positive reinforcement. It is expressed through things said, facial expressions, body language, touch, and tones of the voice. It is reinforced through recognition of work well done and effort well spent.
Remember the purpose of the learning activity or project is not the "finished product" but it is the experience the learner has while working on the project or learning activity. The learning activity or project merely becomes the vehicle for teaching and learning. In teaching, the only requirement for "success" among children should be that they try.
Children need choices.
Children are happiest when they can influence what happens in the learning situation and when they have a variety of choices from which they can choose. Their creativity and spontaneity is stifled when their teachers require everyone to do the same thing at the same time all the time.
When teachers overly regiment their class they assume that:
• Everyone likes to do the same thing at the same time.
• Everyone learns the same thing by each doing the same thing at the same time.
• Everyone produces the same product by everyone doing the same things at the same time.
• Everyone has the same likes, the same abilities, and the same needs.
• Everyone is motivated by the same thing.
Children need acceptance.
To accept someone is to know that person and to care for that person just the way they are without trying to change them. For older children and preteens, teachers must know some general characteristics of the age group as well as each individual. Such knowledge helps eliminate the danger of having unreal expectations of the boys and girls.
Accepting children and preteens means to refuse to label them; call them names; reduce them from persons to things; or require them to be or do something to win your approval
Children need clear communication.
To communicate there must be a sender and a receiver. For true communication to take place, the receiver must receive the exact message and meaning that the sender sends. When that is not achieved, communication breaks down.
Despite their increasing ability to deal with less concrete images, older children may still lapse into literal-mindedness from time to time. It is not enough just to tell an older child or preteen something, you need to make sure that the message has been heard and understood.
Children need listeners who listen with empathic understanding. As we all know, there is a distinctive difference in hearing and listening. Hearing is being aware of sound. Listening is giving attention to the sound you hear.
Children and preteens need teachers who will not only be aware of the sounds the children and preteens make, but give undivided attention to those sounds. Children and preteens need the opportunity to finish their sentences without the adult to whom they are talking jumping to conclusions as to what the response will be. Teachers need to listen to their class members so intently that they could pass a test on the content of the conversation. Listening must always be active and intent.
Children and preteens need teachers who listen with empathic understanding. Like adults, children and preteens sometimes need someone who understands their feelings whether they agree with them or not. Children and preteens need teachers who can participate in their feelings and points of view - who can "walk in their shoes."
Children need love.
Love is trying to do, with God's help, what is best for each boy and girl. Love is bringing out the best in each child and preteen even though it may be painful. Love is treating each individual differently because each individual is unique.
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