Here's a new one (for me, anyway)

[JR 137]

I finished taking class, and was watching my daughter take class. My CI was teaching when the phone rang, so I answered it for him...

Me: "(Dojo name), can I help you?"

Caller: "How do I sign my kid up for at your school for karate?"

Me: "The gentleman who handles that is teaching right now, but I can give you some information if you'd like."

Caller: "How do I sign him up?"

Me: "You can come before any scheduled class appropriate for his age to talk to our chief instructor and watch a class to see if it's a good fit for your son."

Caller: "How do I get him to your school?"

Me: "I don't understand your question." (Thinking to myself 'you get in your car and drive him')

Caller: "I don't want to watch, I just want to sign him up. When do the 4 year olds have class?"

Me: "We start at 6 years old."

Caller: "Huh?"

Me: "6 years old is our minimum age."

Caller: "That answers my question."

Click.

I was going to offer some friendly advice about selecting a school, but she hung up on me right after "that answers my question."

I told my CI about the conversation. He smirked and said "I get a lot of those calls.

Is this how the masses choose a school? Do they not care about who's around their kids? About what they'll do while they're there? What if we did full contact MMA cage fighting at 4 years old? What if my CI was a convicted sex offender?

[MAfreak]

there are indeed people who want instructors to nurture/discipline their kids.

for whatever reason (laziness, incompetence, no time for family...).

[DWx]

there are indeed people who want instructors to nurture/discipline their kids.

for whatever reason (laziness, incompetence, no time for family...).

That's what I was thinking, probably wanted a quick fix for a problem kid.

[JR 137]

there are indeed people who want instructors to nurture/discipline their kids.

for whatever reason (laziness, incompetence, no time for family...).

That's what I was thinking, probably wanted a quick fix for a problem kid.

If that was the case (which it very well could have been), shouldn't it matter who's fixing it and how the kid is dealt with?

Still shaking my head.

[ashworth]

Seen this before, sometimes parents view it as cheap childcare,

[Spartacus Maximus]

What a strange call. The instructor probably dodged a bullet here if this parent and child never called back or visited. Within reason, every potential student should be given a chance to prove that themselves ready and willing to make the effort to learn. Sometimes though, one can see a potential problem coming.

There are many solutions to deal with these types of issues. The simplest of course is to refuse to teach below a certain age group. Another one is to do some kind of pre-entry evaluation in the form of a few easy questions for the parent and youth/child. Something like these:

A: Is the child able to focus on a single task for at least 10minutes?

This requires an appropriate attention span/focus and concentration.

B: Is the child able to ride a bicycle without support or training wheels?

This requires a sense of balance and spatial awareness.

C: Can the child throw a tennis ball against a wall and catch it easily?

This requires coordination.

D: Whose idea was it to start training?

Ask both the parent and child separately.

Anything except a clear "yes" to questions A to C means the child is not ready and needs more time to develop those basic physical skills. All of these can be tested on the spot at the dojo within a short interview.

[Nidan Melbourne]

That is a very odd conversation, as that parent clearly didn't think to ask some simple questions about when their child could start training (in regards to age).

I find it interesting that they took the time to look up your clubs phone number but didn't take the time to look at your timetable.

Although I know my old club ran "Mighty Mites" which is for 3-5 Year Olds at the Hombu Dojo. Which ran quite successfully for a number of years.

At my current club we allow students to commence training at 6 years old. But we don't require parents to come and watch a class prior to enrollment. As they normally ask a lot of questions over the phone or through email.

Many of our students commence without wanting to watch due to 2 reasons:

1) Family Member currently Trains or has trained there

2) A friend of the student trains there.

But we still get those who call and sign their child up for their intro lessons. And those ones have usually come from word of mouth, the internet or having walked passed.

[sensei8]

Is this how the masses select a MA school? No! However, those who don't know any better are out there, especially those who shop in the fast food mentality of "I want it now" over the investigative manner.

Trust me, you handled it spot on....I'd be relieved that she hung up and not darken my door anytime soon. I'd give it no further thought.

[cheesefrysamurai]

Seen this before, sometimes parents view it as cheap childcare,

Exactly

[IcemanSK]

Yeah, I think it's like that a lot of places. Folks just don't think about what might go into training at X school, or what parents might really want to know beforehand about the school, the instructor, or the style. My guess is that the gymnastics & dance places have similar calls, as well.