What do you include in a junior's grading?

[RJCKarate]

Hi all,

We all know there are the technical requirements, but outside of that, what do you require?

This question is for everyone, but in particular those martial arts that talk about character and personal development.

For example, I know some instructors who require their junior students (children) to fill in a report card about how they act at home, and even some that ask for their school teacher's assessment of behaviour.

What do you do, out what do you think of these extra requirements?

[ninjanurse]

I require parental approval in that they have been following the tenets and exhibiting good character at home and at school. I also test them on the philosophy we teach and require community service and leadership projects at certain levels to teach them to use what we are teaching out side the dojo too.

Some of these requirements extend to the adult classes too and those who desire to take their Black Belt Test have a year of preparation work that does not involve kicking or punching.

[Lupin1]

I like the idea of community service requirements.

We don't do any of that-- all our official requirements are technical, however I have seen our instructor tell children they're ready to be promoted but he's holding them at their current belt until they can behave better in class or in the club because he expects more from a blue belt or whatever (we're a free class at a Boys and Girls Club and most of our students are kids who spend their entire afternoon/evening there most days and our head instructor is the athletic director for the club. They probably spend more of their time with him than with their parents, anyway).

[CredoTe]

Requiring good behavior outside of the dojo, like at grade school or home, is a good idea. We don't have the resources and rapport with the local schools, yet, to do this, but I wish we did. Also, requiring students to keep certain grade levels on their school report cards is also a good idea; again, something I wish we could do.

The one thing we are able to do is we keep tabs on our youth students by talking with the parents when the kids aren't around. Are their kids behaving better if they were troublesome at home or school? Are their kids more helpful at home, or are they better at completing school work, if they were lazy before? How do their kids interact with them (their parents) and how do they interact with siblings and friends? Those kinds of things...

If a troublesome student is still troublesome, we talk to them about it and explain that no matter how good they get with their training, they won't go anywhere in promotions without an attitude / behavior change in all areas of their lives.

[Rateh]

I have made "home report cards" for the children to take home. There are 8 different themes. This week is responsibility. The report card has a list of various common responsibilities for children, as well as empty spots for the parents to add their own. Then the parents mark each day if their children fulfilled those responsibilities. On the bottom they circle "yes my child showed responsibility this week" or "no my child did not show responsibility this week".

The children turn in the home report card when they hand in their attendance card at the beginning of class. If the parent has circled "no" then an instructor will speak with the child and their parent to find a way to help them with their home behavior.

Each rank is required to have turned in a certain number of "home report cards" to advance. For example, to get white belt, they must turn in one home report card. (Other requirements to earn white belt are: to attend two classes, and to show in the second class that they are retaining information from the first)

[Nidan Melbourne]

Other than the technical knowledge we require our students to not only have demonstrated that they have actively learnt everything we have taught but also have grown as a person and to have developed a maturity that is worthy of promotion.

We also on grading day test our students with a written exam that covers terminology and various other questions that relate to Martial Arts and the persons spiritual and other developments.