SUNDAY SCHOOL: Tips for Teaching Sixth Graders

Sixth graders are stunning!  Keep in mind that people grow and develop at different rates so nobody will be in the same place at the same time.  Sixth graders are about to step into the wonderful world of adolescence and may be preoccupied with physical and emotional changes.


Sixth Graders (11 year olds)...

• Have growing and changing bodies.  Females grow more quickly than males.
• Are curious about the opposite sex.
• May be impulsive and/or rude without realizing it.
• May be uncomfortable about people noticing any physical changes.
• Begin to have more of a need for personal hygiene.
• Need to make some choices for themselves.
• Rarely think of the future.
• Are looking for role models.
• Begin to be concerned with their appearance.
• Begin to want more independence without the responsibility.
• Are developing stronger intellectual skills.
• Are very self-absorbed, thinking nobody has ever been through what they are going through.
• Can increasingly think of the world from different perspectives.
• Still enjoy hands-on activities but are developing abstract abilities.

For Sunday School teachers of sixth graders this means students are beginning to develop greater abstract thought and beginning to wonder about their own moral standards.  This is a great time to start talking about why people believe what they do and why they do what they do.  Try some moral or ethical dilemmas and when discussing the Bible, try looking at stories or beliefs from different perspectives and allow them to struggle with them and come up with their own conclusions... with your guidance.