The World of Fifth and Sixth Graders

The World of Fifth
and Sixth Graders

Once you get to know the children in your group, you'll be amazed at how different they are! No two of these imagebearers of God are carbon copies, that's for sure.
      Still, these unique individuals—like all of God's creatures—pass through fairly regular patterns of development. Knowing these patterns can help you understand and minister to the unique persons God has placed in your care for these few weeks and months. Here, then, are a few basic reminders of the world of fifth and sixth grade.

Intellectual Characteristics
Many fifth and sixth graders are avid collectors and classifiers of facts. Once they get interested in something, watch them go! They quickly become walking computers on everything from horses to heroes, dogs to dolls, rocks to rockets. A healthy craving for knowledge, adventure, and fantasy drives many youngsters to read more now than at any other time in their lives (though reading ability varies considerably). Memorizing, too, is easier now than later.
      While these children love to collect and classify facts, they are not yet able to reason with these facts in a fully adult way; that is, they have difficulty doing logical analysis, drawing conclusions, "thinking about thinking." It's easier for them to talk about thingsthan about ideas.When they attempt these higher mental operations, they typically refer to their personal experience: "Well, I know a Catholic who doesn't believe that . . ." or "You said it was impossible. I know someone who did it once. . . ." In addition, their thinking remains highly colored by emotion (especially by their great sense of fair play).
      In keeping with the high learning capacity of fifth and sixth graders, LiFE introduces them to simple questions and answers—written at a fifth-grade level—about our faith. But such teachings are not presented in the abstract nor are they rigorously analyzed; rather, the teachings emerge from biblical narratives, are carefully applied to the everyday experiences of the children, and are modeled by the leader. Please resist any temptation to make LiFE a beginning course in systematic theology. Keep things simple and down-to-earth. The less the sessions resemble day school, the better.
      Preadolescents have a fairly strong sense of what they're good at doing; in fact, they may be somewhat self-conscious when asked to do things they don't do well. Understandably, they don't want to be laughed at by their peers. So encouraging this age group to learn in the variety of ways recommended in this quarter can sometimes be challenging. A few suggestions:

--Recognize each child's strengths, and encourage everyone to enjoy various ways of expressing the session truths.
--Give leadership opportunities during art, drama, dance, and music activities, and utilize good readers, logical thinkers, and those with strong interpersonal skills to help you with some of the session activities.
--Let children know that you have strengths and weaknesses of your own—maybe your artistic abilities are limited to drawing stick people, but you love telling stories.
--Learn to laugh at your own attempts to try something at which one of the children excels. This can help set the stage for accepting everyone's best efforts.
--Offer a choice of learning activities, when possible. Check out the options at the end of each session or use your own ideas.
Let your sessions reflect the multiple ways in which we learn.

Social Characteristics
Most children of this age group are enthusiastic joiners of clubs, secret societies, family ventures, and group projects of all sorts. Group identity is stronger now than at any other stage of childhood. In the words of faith-development expert James Fowler, children of this age typically "take on for themselves the stories, beliefs, and observances that symbolize belonging to their community" (Stages of Faith, p. 149). LiFE seeks to build on this strong "communal" sense by opening each session with a variety of group worship experiences, by presenting the stories and beliefs our community cherishes, and by working cooperatively on a number of activities and projects.
      Because a sense of belonging to a group is so essential to these children, guard against the formation of cliques. Stress cooperation, not competition. Assigning children to small groups (rather than always letting them choose a partner or partners) can also help prevent cliques from forming. Vary the makeup of the groups throughout the year. For a comfortable working arrangement, pair boys with boys and girls with girls. For groups larger than two, mix boys and girls. Above all, try to be fair to all the children. They are quick to sense when one child is favored or given special privileges. A fair leader is highly respected.
      Generally, fifth and sixth graders do not have the excessive self-concern that younger children have. Thus they tend to project themselves into "ideal" adult roles rather easily. The anecdotal lives of heroes—including biblical heroes—still have much appeal, though now such material can be used to develop more abstract concepts such as faithfulness, love, covenant, and so on.
      As the children develop physically, they may become somewhat self-conscious. This is especially true of girls, who may tower over some of the boys in the group. In fact, most of the children you lead will be quite sensitive to their strengths and weaknesses. They don't want to be embarrassed. For example, a poor reader may try to cover his lack of skill with a show of indifference, not wishing to expose his failure to the group. (Asking for volunteers to read is one way to get around this particular situation.)
      To gain peer approval, some children may occasionally behave in disruptive ways. Girls may whisper and giggle; boys may be loud and argumentative. You may have to lower your expectations for tolerable quiet, especially during group activity times. You'll have to judge just how much noise is detrimental to learning, how much is bothering the group next door, and how much bothers you.
      One way to avoid disruptive behavior is to vary the pace and the activities. For example, most children in this age group cannot "discuss" an issue for more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time. Then the group needs to move on to other kinds of learning. When the children grow restless, switch to a silent reading or have them work on a written exercise or group project.

Spiritual Characteristics
Many fifth and sixth graders have high moral standards and are quick to recognize right and wrong, the latter more quickly than the former. In their rigid sense of fairness they often take justice and responsibility more literally than adults do.
      Recognize, however, that because of their situation, some children in this age group have a low moral standard and seem unable to distinguish right from wrong. They may demand instant gratification and exhibit a strong sense of the unfairness of life. You can help by giving guidance in making ethical decisions and by recognizing the authority of God, Christ, and the Bible. Frank, open-ended discussion and examples from life are useful in helping children develop morally.
      Fifth and sixth graders are able to deal (to a certain degree) with moral questions in terms of motives as well as consequences. They can discuss questions of morality and ethics in the context of love, loyalty, promises, and so on. Therefore, though you must use concrete anecdotes, you can tie morality into the great themes of the Bible.
      The openness of these children, combined with their growing mental ability, makes this a good age to begin exploring the inner, spiritual life. According to educator John Westerhoff III,

Some of us have forgotten or ignored the primal importance of the religion of the heart. We have become too concerned too early with the activities of thinking in Christian education. . . . We need opportunities to act in ways that enhance the religious affections. Opportunities for experiencing awe, wonder, and mystery, as well as chances to sing, dance, paint, and act, are needed by us all.
—Will Our Children Have Faith? p. 95

Please take advantage of the opportunities LiFE gives you to wonder with the children at the greatness of God, to pause and reflect quietly on a Bible story, to pray for each other, to create, to dramatize, to rejoice in God's goodness. Modeling your own sense of trust in God's love and care is one of the most important things you can do for the children.
      In accordance with a growing number of congregations that encourage children to profess their faith or make some other form of public commitment, LiFE offers you and the children a number of opportunities to think about, write about, and talk about your personal relationship to Christ. Remind yourself as you lead these children that their faith is every bit as acceptable and pleasing to God as that of an aged saint. While never forcing commitment, do what you can to help the children explore their faith and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. For some this may mean providing the necessary guidance to help them take the steps toward a public commitment. Please contact your denominational office for materials aimed specifically at welcoming and guiding young believers.

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