Women's History Month for Kids: Running It With a Mixed Class
Women's History Month for Kids: Running It With a Mixed Class
Primary teachers run March programming to a class that's roughly half boys, and the sessions that go wrong tend to go wrong in the same way: somewhere in the first few minutes, half the class decides this is about somebody else and quietly stops paying attention.
That's avoidable with a few small choices. I'm Magical Katrina, an award winning magician and mentalist, and I want to set out how Women's History Month for kids works in a mixed primary classroom, where the children are young enough that this is all still being formed.
Primary Age Is Not Teenage Age
Start with the useful distinction. Teenagers are alert to being managed and resist anything that feels like a predetermined conclusion, whereas seven and eight year olds mostly take the world as it's presented to them.
That means primary is the easier audience and the more consequential one, since what children absorb at that age about who does what becomes the assumption they carry. It also means heavy framing is unnecessary. Presented without emphasis, a woman who did something remarkable is simply a person who did something remarkable, which is the whole lesson.
Teach It as History, Not as a Category
The approach that keeps everybody in the room. A session introduced as being about women invites children to sort themselves into whether it applies to them, which at primary age they will do within seconds.
A session about explorers, engineers, codebreakers, or doctors, which happens to feature women, holds the whole class. The children learn exactly the same thing and nobody has been told in advance whether it's for them. That's not avoiding the subject, it's recognizing that a seven year old's attention follows the framing rather than the content.
Boys Need to See Themselves in It Too
Worth saying plainly, since it determines whether half the class engages. If every story is about a woman overcoming men who stood in her way, boys at primary age hear something about themselves, and they disengage or get defensive.
That's not an argument for softening history. It's an argument for including the men who taught, supported, collaborated with, and worked alongside the women you're teaching about, which is accurate as well as useful. Children of both sexes should finish the session able to imagine being in the story.
Avoid the Overcoming Frame
Worth examining, since it's the default. Most primary material presents remarkable women as people who overcame obstacles, which is true and is a slightly discouraging thing to hear repeatedly at seven.
Children find the work more interesting than the obstacles. What the person actually did, how they did it, what was difficult about the problem rather than about the circumstances, is more engaging for the whole class and leaves girls with a picture of the job rather than of the barriers. Teach the achievement and let the context sit behind it.
Use Living People
Practically effective at this age. Historical figures are interesting and finished, whereas somebody working now, in a job a child can picture, suggests something a child could do.
A scientist, an engineer, a pilot, a surgeon, or anybody with a visible job lands differently from somebody from a century ago. It also sidesteps the overcoming frame entirely, since a person doing a job now is simply doing a job. If you can get a visitor, that's better again, and a parent in the class is frequently the easiest route.
Let Them Ask Difficult Questions
Worth being ready for, since a mixed primary class produces them. Somebody will ask why there weren't more women doing these jobs, somebody will ask whether it's unfair, and somebody will ask why there isn't a boys' month.
All three deserve short, honest, undefensive answers rather than being deflected. At this age children are genuinely asking rather than challenging, and an honest answer satisfies them. The question about a boys' month in particular is not a provocation at seven, and answering it plainly matters more than the lesson plan.
Show Rather Than Tell
The principle that works across ages and works particularly here. Children of this age absorb considerably more from watching somebody do something than from being told about somebody who did.
That's an argument for visitors, demonstrations, and anything where the thing happens in front of them. A woman doing something difficult in the room is a different kind of lesson from a woman in a book, and it needs no framing at all, which for a mixed class is precisely the advantage.
Keep It in the Curriculum, Not Beside It
Worth considering, since March programming frequently sits apart from the teaching. A standalone session in March teaches children that this is a special topic, which is the opposite of the intended lesson.
Women included across the year in science, history, and reading, without announcement, does considerably more than a week of focused material. March is a reasonable prompt for checking whether that's happening rather than the whole of the work. If the only women in your curriculum appear in March, that's the thing worth changing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is primary different from secondary for this?
Considerably, since teenagers resist anything with a predetermined conclusion while seven and eight year olds take the world as presented. That makes primary the easier audience and the more consequential one, because what children absorb at that age about who does what becomes the assumption they carry.
How do we keep the whole class engaged?
Teach it as history rather than as a category, since a session introduced as being about women invites children to sort themselves into whether it applies. A session about explorers, engineers, or doctors that happens to feature women holds everybody and teaches exactly the same thing.
What about the boys in the class?
Include the men who taught, supported, and worked alongside the women you're teaching about, which is accurate as well as useful. If every story is about overcoming men who stood in the way, boys hear something about themselves and disengage, and children of both sexes should be able to imagine being in the story.
Should we focus on obstacles overcome?
Less than most material does, since children find the work more interesting than the obstacles and hearing repeatedly at seven that remarkable women had a hard time is slightly discouraging. Teach what the person did and how, and let the context sit behind it.
Historical figures or living ones?
Living, where you can, since historical figures are interesting and finished whereas somebody working now in a job a child can picture suggests something a child could do. It also sidesteps the overcoming frame entirely, and a parent in the class is frequently the easiest visitor to arrange.
What if a child asks why there isn't a boys' month?
Answer it plainly and briefly, since at seven it's a genuine question rather than a provocation and an honest answer satisfies them. The same applies to questions about fairness and about why there weren't more women doing these jobs, all of which deserve short undefensive answers.
Why does demonstration work better?
Because children of this age absorb more from watching somebody do something than from being told about somebody who did. A woman doing something difficult in the room is a different lesson from a woman in a book, and it needs no framing, which for a mixed class is the advantage.
Should this all happen in March?
No, since a standalone March session teaches children that this is a special topic, which is the opposite of the intended lesson. Women included across the year in science, history, and reading without announcement does considerably more, and March is a prompt for checking whether that's happening.
Teach the Work, Not the Category
Women's history month for kids lands best in a mixed primary class when it isn't announced as being about a category at all. Teach explorers and engineers who happen to be women, include the men who worked alongside them, focus on what the work was rather than what the obstacles were, use people who are alive now, and answer the difficult questions plainly when they come.
And if the women in your curriculum only appear in March, the most useful thing this month can do is prompt you to change that for the other eleven.
Reach out if you're planning something for March, and I'm glad to talk about what works with a mixed class.