Training the young ones (age 5 - 7), any experience / tips?

[advfhorn]

Please do not take offense to this, but As a parent of a 7 yr old boy I would not allow my son do any kind of training without the ability to watch him. NOT that I always do, but if I am not given that option I assume something is wrong. our Dojo has a "back room" that is sometimes used and the kids do not go back there without the camera on in the parent viewing area. Forget about parental feelings ... think of the liability concerns!!!

[sensei8]

Please do not take offense to this, but As a parent of a 7 yr old boy I would not allow my son do any kind of training without the ability to watch him. NOT that I always do, but if I am not given that option I assume something is wrong. our Dojo has a "back room" that is sometimes used and the kids do not go back there without the camera on in the parent viewing area. Forget about parental feelings ... think of the liability concerns!!!

Solid post!!

Parent rights, and children protection, always trump dojo/CI/Sensei/Governing body...always!!

[DWx]

Please do not take offense to this, but As a parent of a 7 yr old boy I would not allow my son do any kind of training without the ability to watch him. NOT that I always do, but if I am not given that option I assume something is wrong. our Dojo has a "back room" that is sometimes used and the kids do not go back there without the camera on in the parent viewing area. Forget about parental feelings ... think of the liability concerns!!!

I agree with this 100%. To further safe guard children and in fact to also protect the instructor, care should to make sure that parents know what is going at all times. A viewing room is ideal as it let's parents watch but also keeps them from distracting and interfering.

Instructors should also make sure any physical contact is minimal and strictly kosher. That is to say that physical contact should be strictly for martial arts correction and personally I make it obvious I'm keeping my distance and only touching the hand to move it etc. Instructors should also consider making sure that they are never 1:1 with a child. Better to have someone else present, even if it's just on the periphery as a witness rather than run the risk of false accusations.

[ninjanurse]

These days you have to let the parents watch class (for liability AND building trust) however they can be very distracting to the students. Most of my parents feel comfortable leaving their kids with me for classes-those that choose to stay and watch have to follow the same rules the kids do....no talking during class unless they raise their hand!

[Nidan Melbourne]

I teach young ones (5 +) and as much as I am a stickler for technique. I have them doing it in a fun way whilst not being overly picky with how they do it as long as it resembles the correct form of the technique.

But normally I will play a game with them at the end to see if they remember the techniques that we had run through. And they love it.

Since they have short attention spans I normally make sure we change things up every few minutes. So we would say do blocks and strikes for 10-15 minutes then change to stances then to kicks then add them together.