What Can I Do to Engage Children?

Children attend better and learn more when they are actively involved. This means that they are engaged in the teaching and learning process. Engaged means more than that they are sitting quietly and listening. (Think about what real listening is. It is more than looking like one is paying attention. It is attention: applying the mind to what is being said and done). For children, the ability to sit quietly and really listen has limitations, depending on the different age groups. And while one goal of our teaching should be to stretch and grow children in terms of their ability to sit quietly and listen, it is unfair and inappropriate to demand that of them and then ignore the actual capabilities of their age group.

So the question becomes, what can teachers do to increase the active involvement of children during the lesson in order to keep their attention? One option may be for the teacher to become more active and dynamic in his/her presentation. That is helpful, but not all of us have the personality or teaching style which is totally compatible with that solution. So while we willingly work on voice dynamics, gestures, or visual aids, we are who we are and need to be genuinely who we are when we teach.

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