Trying to get my daughter into karate

[smckeown]

Any tips on getting a 7 year old girl into the martial arts?

I have tried taking her to a school that specializes in kids.

She was super excited about it for 2 weeks prior to going and would not stop talking about it but as soon as we got there she became extremely shy and did not want to participate in anything.

Perhaps she is just a bit young still, but I have read several posts about members with younger kids who are training.

Any helpful suggestions to get her more interested are much appreciated.

Thanks

[Montana]

I taught children for around 20 years (I no longer do this) as young as 6. In my experience, kids between the ages of 6-8 (any younger and you're just babysitting IMO) can either get excited about it and do pretty well, or be a waste of time. I'd say she's not really interested...pull her out and wait a couple of years and try again if she shows interest. You should NEVER force a child to go to that sort of class if they really don't want to.

[lordtariel]

You should NEVER force a child to go to that sort of class if they really don't want to.

Definitely. Talk to her, see if it's the martial art she's not interested in or if it's intimidating to her. She may just need a little time.

[smckeown]

Thanks for the replys.

I would never force her to do anything. I stayed there the entire first class with her and talked to her afterwards about it. I think she is a bit intimidated about there being only one other girl in the class.

We havent been back to class again.

Every now and then she sees me practicing something and asks about it so I know there is some interest there.

I am just looking for any helpful suggestions to "fan the flames" of her interest.

[DWx]

My younger sister started MA when she was 8 and was a lil put off by her first couple of weeks too. I made her stick at it and helped her outside of class, she has now been training for 4 years. I would recommend talking to your daughter and encouraging her to be excited again. She may have felt daunted by the other kids, especially if she doesn't know anyone there and she's the only beginner.

[bushido_man96]

Montana has some very good points. It also may be that she is just a little scared, and it will just take a little extra time to get her into it. Maybe you could work with her a little bit at home, and see if that sparks her interest.

[marie curie]

When I started (at 11, quite a bit older) my mom and I had a deal, that she would allow me to (pay for) an activity that I was in as long as I would commit to 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, if I really didn't like it I could quit, but kids have short attention spans, so it's not always the best thing for them to get to start and stop activities based on what they think about it "today". Just MHO.

[dragondad76]

my daughter is 7 years old and she has been in ma now for about 6 months. She is doing very well and I am helping in her class at times so it makes it that much easier to keep her excited. I really think that taking a active roll in it if possible is a very strong way to insure that they remain interested.

[smckeown]

Thanks for all of the great tips.

Now that she is out of school for the summer she may be looking for more things to do.

I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks

[ninjanurse]

Sounds like a normal reaction to me. Some kids will be watchers and should be encouraged by the instructors to participate by choice until they gain confidence. Pretty soon they'll be jumping right in like they own the place!