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STARTING A CLUB - THE BASICS 2. Determining Your Audience It is important to think about who the target audience for your club will be, and develop an appropriate club focus. Here are some things to think about: Age: Will your club be for everyone, K-6, or geared towards a specific age range, such as grades 1-3 or 4-6? Younger kids may require you to place a greater emphasis on maintaining attention and interest. They are less independent, and you may have to work more closely with their parents and teachers to ensure that everyone is having a positive experience. Older kids, on the other hand, may have higher expectations regarding club content, and you may need to spend considerable effort designing curriculum that will be both stimulating and appropriate for the wide range of abilities and personalities you are likely to see. If you are serving a large age range or ability range, you may want to think about splitting your club into several groups. Focus: Even within the realm of science clubs or math clubs, there are many directions in which you can take your club. For a math club, you may target your club towards students who need help in keeping up with class, or you may want to simply promote math enjoyment or creative problem solving. At the other end of your spectrum, you could gear your club towards kids looking for a mathematical challenge, or those who like solving the types of problems typically found in math contests. For a science club, you could focus on in-school science material, specific science topics, advanced science topics, or fun and wacky science. You should also think about what proportion of the club you want to devote to hands-on experiments and activities and what proportion will be spent on traditional presentations or worksheets. And should you want to emphasize the focus of your club, you could advertise it as the “physics club,” or the “astronomy club”! School context: You could also tailor your club audience and focus to match or complement a school’s particular focus. For example, if a school has a stated emphasis on creative learning or back to basics education, you could focus your club material likewise to fit this emphasis. On the other hand, you may decide to focus your material outside of the school’s emphasis, to supplement the primary school environment.
Page last updated 06.06.08 by Serena Yeung |
