Teaching kids

[Canadian77]

In my son's class when it is a large class the instructors will sometimes throw in a quick and enthusiastic game of "Sensei says" to pull them back to focus. Or, put them into two groups, and the group with the best focus wins, or the group where someone loses focus may have to do a few push-ups, etc. The big thing seems to be enthusiasm. It keeps their attention and snaps them back when they lose it.

[Nidan Melbourne]

I completely agree with a lot of the posts above. I would also add that you should ask your students lots of questions in a group setting. Nothing keeps their attention like an opportunity to show off what they know. Also, show a lot of enthusiasm and give praise when they perform well - remember they look up to you so what you think really matters - BIG TIME.

That is so true. Get them to interact with you and answer questions they will enjoy it.

Whenever i ask them a question to demonstrate a technique or tell me what i am doing or even what i'm doing wrong (on purpose).

They seem to get excited.

[Archimoto]

Nice. I like that - in particular where you demo and ask what you're doing wrong. Oddly enough I've read that these are the same techniques they recommend to people teaching or presenting to adults in a corporate setting!

[Nidan Melbourne]

The funny thing is in one of my demos on my dodgy technique they got one i didn't think off. So i was very impressed and that they felt proud and their technique improved so much since then

[Archimoto]

Very cool

[Nidan Melbourne]

In my son's class when it is a large class the instructors will sometimes throw in a quick and enthusiastic game of "Sensei says" to pull them back to focus. Or, put them into two groups, and the group with the best focus wins, or the group where someone loses focus may have to do a few push-ups, etc. The big thing seems to be enthusiasm. It keeps their attention and snaps them back when they lose it.

If you want another game we do one called "Elvis" but you do need a fairly big dojo to do it safely. But you can add rules but the 4 listed are the ones that can't be removed

General rules:

- "FIRE" you RUN in a Anti-Clockwise Manner in a Circle

- NO overtaking

- MUST STAY ON THE MATS (if you have them)

- "WIND" You have to TOUCH a WALL or the MIRROR

- BUT YOU CANNOT TOUCH a parent, other student, weights etc)

- "EARTH" you have to TOUCH the GROUND and stay down until another command

- "ELVIS" you have to DANCE like Elvis.

How you get out (eliminated)

- "FIRE" you can't get eliminated

- "EARTH" last one to touch the ground

- "WIND" last one to touch a mirror or wall

- "ELVIS" WORST dancer

The WINNER is the last person standing

This game was a favorite among students but we do it for last class of term and during holidays.

Also the students keep excited for that and games.

[AdamE3]

So, I have to get back to this thread, as I completely forgot it. I started using a few of your techniques a month ago, and things have been better.

But still. There are always this 1 little group of 3 and this other annoying child who aren't listening (not that I am cursing him, I just believe he has some of the symptoms of ADHD due to the unusual low attention span and the: "I don't want to do anything attitude). I try using their extra energy for something positive, such as push ups, but it feels kind of like punishing them, which feels very bad.

As the sensei is typically nearby, I cannot make games with them. I am usually set to do some kata or similar with them, for half an hour. I try to spice it up, as I am sure that's what my sensei expects from me as well, but it can be very difficult sometimes.

So is there any alternative to push ups when dealing with them ? Games are usually out of the question, unless I am teaching them myself (alone). When I am teaching them alone, it's usually easier to keep the attention of the students, even though there are typically like 20 - 25 children from the ages of 6 - 12.

[ninjanurse]

With small kids you have to change activity every 7 minutes or so-otherwise they lose focus. You can do the same piece of curriculum but change it up, for example: Do your forms in a line by the count, then run to the other end of the dojo (or do a few laps) and make a single file line-everyone does the first 3 moves of thier form one at a time and then runs to the other end of the mat to form a new line, then have them pair up and watch each other do their form-making one positive comment and giving them one thing to correct, then do one or two techniques from their form gaianst a blocker, etc. Breaking up the class with spontaneous bursts of physical activity will help the ADHD crowd as well.

Another tactic I have used is to have the ADHD kid in the class come in a few minutes early and have them run laps-or give them extra things to do during warm up because the extra activity gets them engaged in class sooner.