Staying together
19/06/23 10:53
Should you separate the children into age groups or keep them all in one group? The pros say you should separate them, and I have always agreed until now. If it's a small group, and the kids are relatives, the smaller ones feel better with their siblings. It's more challenging for the teacher to accommodate their methods to the different ages, but I've always asked, "Should the teacher accommodate to the students or the students to the teacher?" I take the former. The burden is on the teacher, not the student. (In the indigenous communities we worked with, I have seen that the kids are comfortable with all ages staying together.)
So this Saturday, among seven kids, the ages ranged from 5 to 13. But they're all either siblings or friends. So they feel comfortable and work together. The challenge was mine to keep them all occupied and learning. We were reviewing the seven parables in Matthew 13. I avoid a verbal lesson. Rather I made flash cards, and we played matching games. Of course the bigger kids always win, but the smaller ones never complain. I have learned also that every age so far enjoys drawing and coloring, so we end the class with art.
Afterwords Anibal, our sponsor, asked me, "If more kids come, should we divide them into age groups?" So far my answer is negative, but we'll see.
