Motivating Parents

[JiuJitsuNation]

I'm trying to understand exactly what the kids are getting out of having their parents help them? Personally I want the parents out of my way all together. They hinder the process more than anything.

[Lupin1]

I'm trying to understand exactly what the kids are getting out of having their parents help them? Personally I want the parents out of my way all together. They hinder the process more than anything.

That's a very good point. I think most people work under the assumption that kids are inherently lazy and won't work without their parents pushing them, which is, of course, usually erroneous. But many times I think you're right. Of course, the parents have to be involved enough that they think it's important to take the time and effort to get their kids to every class and pay the tuition and stuff.

[DWx]

My parents used to just dump me and go home/shopping. Friday nights and my dad still sits in the car listening to the radio rather than sitting in the warm watching my sister train and at any tournament you can guarantee he'd be sitting in the back row reading the paper instead. Don't think either of us has been disadvantaged because our parents didn't want to be there in the class too. If anything it might have made us stick at it longer because we were training for ourselves and not just to please our parents. I also think we fared better compared to the other kids we went up through the ranks with whose parents watched. For starters I think we were a whole lot more attentive to the instructor; not looking over our shoulders to check if mummy and daddy were still watching because they weren't there to watch! And a whole lot more independent in the sense that we were fine being left alone with a bunch of adults and other kids not to mention also in the sense of independent study skills because our parents weren't going to remember the sequence or combination for us.

You know its great if parents want to be involved and show an interest but you can't make them if they don't want to be. There's also becoming too involved. If anything, the one thing I hate is pushy parents and parents who try to run your class for you. Its up to the instructor and senior students to tell the kids to shut up and pay attention so it really irks me when parents try to do this.

[MartinPhillips]

We have a bit of a problem in our dojo. Last year we expanded our dojo training space and as a result, we moved the parent viewing area next door with a live streaming video link up. The problem is most of the parents are so interested in what's going on, they still want to come into the dojo and watch what's going on. Right now it's a bit of a nuisance, becuase we don't have any seating in the dojo and parents are sitting on the floor on the side of the class becoming a bit of a distraction to the students.

But, we have a plan... for the parents that just want a closer look, we have some removable furniture that we can put outside to view into the dojo when the weather is fine. For those who really want to get more involved, we are working on implementing a "parent as coaches" program. This will involve doing a few induction seminars to teach parents more about dojo rules, how we would like them to interact with students and how to conduct themselves on the dojo floor. It will work along side our already existing leadership program that we already have in place where older and more senior students come back into the beginner classes and participate in the class primarily to be a good example, hold equipment, organise students into lines and depending upon experience of the leader teach small segments of the class to small groups under the direction of the main teacher. The "parents as coaches" will more so be helping hold equipment keep students lined up as required and offer encouragement (not to be confused with technical feedback, that's the teacher's job).

I'm really excited about the posibility of get this new program off the ground because we've already received quite a bit of interest in the idea. And anything that helps give me more time to focus on teaching and connecting with students rather than sorting out the logistics of the class has to be a good thing.

I'd love to hear from anyone else that does something similar.

[Lee M]

I think you've got to instill the self discipline and desire in students from day one, focus on the attitudes as much as the technique - building a black belt.

The more parents are involved and interested in their childs progress the better.

But you've got to trust the child to do it themselves but pre-frame parents and students whats required and what they need to do in terms of home practice and prepare for gradings.