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| | | Junior Member
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 6/9/2008 12:46:34 PM
Posts: 10, Visits: 22 |
| | When I started here 7 years ago, no one wanted to do the mixed age groups, so we have continued to group by age and it works fine for us! |
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| | | Forum Expert
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 6/30/2008 6:21:34 AM
Posts: 104, Visits: 363 |
| | For VBS we do age groups, we keep 2-3's in there own area but the rest are broke up into groups K-4 and K-5, 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th. It works great. If an area is too large we just switch a few leaders. We start with 2 teens or preteens in each group--If early registration start showing the group to be too large I just pull another person to that group. In each area we have one leader but up to 3 helpers plus the 2 group leaders. We do at times do aged mixed in our kids church ages 4 to 5th grade. But our church is really growing and we feel it is important for the kids to be making friends with other kids there age. The boys seem to mind being mixed more then the girls (who are normally more cliquie). But both ways work. You just have to do what works best for your church Blessings, Jenn in PA |
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Forum Guru
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 6/23/2008 9:29:08 AM
Posts: 51, Visits: 63 |
| | We have always done the mixing. I agree with PJ and the others.. this way the pressure is not so bad on the crew leaders as well.. In our church we get between 150 and 200 kids.. so our crews are usually larger than 10 per crew. We have some adults that are leaders.. and then they have assistants that are either younger adults or teens that are above 6th grade that help them. The older kids sit with the younger kids.. and they help them. In crafts, snacks, games and everywhere else. We do have a separate preschool area.. but that is a different thing. But K-6th grade are together in crews.. and we love it! Best of luck whatever you decide!
Come Egore, to the Power Lab! We have crafts to make! |
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Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 3/19/2008 8:54:22 AM
Posts: 24, Visits: 46 |
| | We divide our kiddos by older and younger elementary: K-2; 3-5. This was the way I inherited things and they seem to work out every year, so we haven't messed with it. We usually have more younger kids, so we usually have 3 K-2 "pods" and 2 3-5 "pods". Each crew has 1 adult and at least 1 teen helper. It would look like this, for example from AR: Horseshoes (k-2)
Yellow
Blue
Red
Green Boots (k-2)
Yellow
Blue
Red
Green Cowboy Hats (k-2)
Yellow
Blue
Red
Green Spurs (3-5)
Yellow
Blue
Red
Green Wranglers (3-5)
Yellow
Blue
Red
Green So we have a total of 20 crews. The station leaders also get a copy of the daily schedule and know whether it is a "younger" or "older" pod coming their way so they can prepare too. Hope that helps you!
 northlakekids.blogspot.com
www.northlakeonline.org |
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| | | Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 12:58:18 PM
Posts: 8, Visits: 39 |
| | I've been directing VBS for 7 years now and we go back and forth on this topic. I understand the advantages of less competition, etc. and that sounds great! But then I usually get pushback from the folks who coordinate crafts because they plan age-appropriate crafts (what kind of craft a 5th grader can do is very different from what a Kinder or 1st grader can do) so they want same-age in rotations. This has helped the crafts to be more meaningful (we focus on crafts they will actually keep vs. become landfill). The folks who do the bible story also do activities more age-appropriate. Is there a happy medium? Debbie in Sacramento |
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| | | Forum Expert
Group: Moderators
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 4:31:03 PM
Posts: 194, Visits: 559 |
| I can't say this enough times...take a leap of faith and TRY mixed-age crews! Seeing kids interact with a new set of friends is great--it's part of the "secret formula" that allows deeper learning to happen. Your attitude is HUGE! If you're all for it and supporting it, it'll go miles in the kids' (and parents) attitudes. I've talked with child-development experts and teachers who lead workshops on cooperative learning. They echo the cry--it works!
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| | | Forum Expert
Group: Moderators
Last Login: Today @ 8:59:31 AM
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| Hi Angela - Mixed age Crews is the easier set up for walk-ins. What we do is start out assigning 4 children (mixed ages) to the crews. When walk-ins arrive we just add them 2 by 2 to crews. If a registered child arrives with an unregistered friend, usually we can put them into the friend's crew.
Lisa B from NC |
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| | | Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 3/22/2008 11:39:03 AM
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| | We've tried both mixed-aged and age-level over the past several years. I really like the mixed groups. The kids get to make new friends and the older ones can help the younger ones with crafts and other activities. Amy |
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Last Login: Today @ 7:45:04 AM
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