Teaching to different age groups

Let Kids Lead

Empower your kids to individually make choices about what they get to do, and how. You decide the why, when and where. To keep kids of different ages engaged independently in parent-approved activities, Fister suggests that parents specifically look for learning opportunities that align with their children’s interests.

To grapple with competing interests between individuals, borrow this concept from theatrical improvisation and embrace the “yes, and” technique. This principle invites children to accept each other’s ideas and preferences and expand upon them. For example, your older child loves dinosaurs and your younger child loves trains (by the way, there’s a PBS Kids show for that: “Dinosaur Train.”) Explore this opportunity to introduce your kids to the concept of the “mash-up.” Combining their interests to challenge them to create, make, build, or do something together can be a great way to inspire creative problem solving, while also building key social/emotional skills such as collaboration and empathy.

When you can approach learning subjects by topics of shared interest, sustain engagement by differentiating instruction between learners. “Start with a subject and then adjust your parameters based on kids’ ages,” recommends PBS SoCal Early Learning Content Specialist Suzie Hicks. Accommodate differences in knowledge, skillset and attention span by providing a diverse amount of stimulation for the activity on that topic. For example, if your kids are working on stories about mythical creatures, give non-writing students an opportunity to tell the story by drawing pictures or acting it out with toys. When the youngest is done, encourage independent play while you check back with the older student on their writing. Extend the older children’s independent work by asking them for illustrations, or to prepare a more formal presentation to share and celebrate their completed piece. This could give you a chance to play with the younger child, or take a work break.