The Puzzle of Children

Posted by Simon on 23rd, July 2012 at 07:09:19

I don't think I ever really got the hang of youngsters, particularly what entertains, interests and amuses them.  Which is quite a concern when you're soon due to be teaching a couple of groups of them about writing.

I've spent part of the weekend thinking / wondering / agonising about how to do it (most of the rest I've spent along with the others of the English nation, staring in awe at the fiery newcomer to the sky.  And about time, too.)

I've come up with a conclusion, which is that probably the best way to teach them is to disguise the fact that it's happening in lots of fun and games. So goes the theory, and that's all very well - now it's a case of trying to make it happen.

I've devised some exercises which I hope will appeal, and interestingly they're much the same as the ones I play with the grown ups when I'm teaching them. Which I suppose is a good thing, or indeed tells you something in that they're just smaller versions of we lumbering adult things, after all.

I know it's something I should be doing, however much thought it's taking.  In this age of the internet, and video games everywhere, I think it's more important than ever to get youngsters interested in the magic of books and the kingdom of the imagination.

But it is the teaching of children that drags me furthest out of my comfort zone, forces me to think the hardest, and makes for the most apprehensive.  It's also the time when I do the most improvising, and sometimes in very strange ways.  You just never know what they're going to ask.

One session I did, a young lad put up his hand, right in the middle of the lesson. I thought it must be urgent so I asked what he wanted to know, and he said "Do you like ice skating?" Which wasn't exactly what I was expecting, to say the least.

(Not really is the answer - I'm not very good at balance and coordination and tend to fall over a lot.)

I reassure myself that I shall have excellent assistants to help me through, but also with this thought - as I'm a big kid myself, it surely can't be too much of an ordeal.

Right, music time, and this morning, as another Hall favourite, I'm choosing Price Tag, by Jessie J.  Partly because I was stung by a recent comment - do I like any modern music?! - but mostly because of the sentiment behind the song, and how it fits with today's ramblings.

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