Our program coordinator schedules a weekly teacher for each class. The coordinator chooses teachers based on skill areas, general interest in kids, and previous work in youth ministry. Each teacher receives a schedule, room assignment, supply checklist, and “overview” about tweens’ characteristics. We sometimes ask an adult volunteer to help with attendance, discipline, and continuity.
Helpful Hints for Teaching Life Skills to Kids
After you develop a life-skills program at church, continue to refine it to meet kids’ needs. Remember these points:
- Find out what kids learn in school. Some schools offer life-skills programs that focus on communication, leadership, and study habits. Don’t duplicate school programs unless you have an entirely different angle on the same issue.
- Maintain variety. Some topics may be serious, such as negotiating with parents, cheating in school, self-defense, or helping friends with problems. Other topics are more fun, such as dancing or fingernail-painting. Keep kids motivated by balancing serious and fun programming. By planning several months in advance, you can mix light and heavy topics.
- Use active learning. Whenever possible, teach through activities and experiences. We’ve taken trips to the mall to learn wardrobe and makeup skills. And we’ve toured a bank to learn checkbook skills. Remember: Teaching life skills for kids should be fun and informative.
- Finally, evaluate often. Track which topics best meet kids’ needs. Ask preteens how they enjoyed each class. Be willing to restructure or change programs, if necessary. For example, a suicide in our town prompted us to do a life-skills class on peer support and depression. Being flexible enough to tackle this important issue at a critical moment kept the program relevant.
Teaching Life Skills for Kids Yields Life-Changing Results
Our young teens appreciate learning basic skills in church. One junior higher said, “Adults expect us to just know some of this stuff, like the information somehow travels through the air! Life-skills class is fun. It has really helped me with my life and feeling good about myself.”
With the input of friends and experienced adults, working through elements of identity development helps young people see their church as supportive and caring. And a life-skills program eases some awkwardness of being in middle school.
This article about teaching life skills for kids originally appeared here.
