Frequently asked questions about...

Age Range Considerations

Preschoolers and Younger Youth in Rotation?

Broadly Graded Groups

Age Range Considerations

Grades 2 through 5 are the "sweet spot" for Rotation Sunday School. Adding 1st and 6th grades can depend on your numbers in those grades. 

In your first year, it is better to keep the age-range tight until your teachers get comfortable.

Many Rotation churches routinely include Kindergartners and some even Preschoolers. Obviously, these younger kids need some adaptations.

Older students are often the most resistant to change and more challenging for new teachers to work with. Over time, as students grow up in your program, they will get better acclimated to the Rotation Model and ways of interacting.

Some include their Middle Schoolers in some of the workshops and rotations (again, with adaptations). Rotation Writing Team lessons come with "younger and older" adaptations. See the Pre-K and Middle School discussion topics for more information.

Broadly Graded Groups

Many smaller Sunday Schools are used to broadly-grading their groups. "How Broad" is often a function of "who that older kid is, and how they relate to the younger ones."  Many Rotation churches have found it helpful to turn their "older" students into classroom helpers, rather than treating them only like students.

Many learning activities naturally adjust a broadly graded group. Art and Drama, for example. Some videos skew too young or too old for part of a broadly graded group. Choose wisely. In workshops or with lessons that seem "too old" or "too young" for your broadly graded group, be sure to have EXTRA TEACHING HELP so you can give one age or another the extra attention they need to adapt the lesson for them.

As Rotation Students get older, they get more "used to" being with younger kids and more amenable to having to adapt.