Hey All, We are bringing a 3-5 Year program into our Youth Martial Arts and was wondering if there is anyone here that teach martial arts to this age group. I have worked with 3-5 year olds for almost five years so I have a good handel on them in general, I just have a few questions in reference to games and such. Let Me Know, Gruhn
Teaching that age group is kind of like trying to herd cats. It works well, but just for a second. Actually, I used to teach 4-5 year olds, it needs to be very structured and for me, worked best when teaching them to follow instructions rather than 'skills'.
Thanks for the post Kwajman, I am rather confident in being able to heard them This age groups is one of my favorites and I have loved it for the past six years. I am not planning on going anywhere near the martial side of the arts and rather build coordination, agility, etc. What kinds of classes did you run, what material did you present? Any negitives you found? Gruhn
We have a class for 4-5 year olds that is a load of fun. It is 1/2 h long (hard enough some days to keep their attention that long), and works through story telling. Every week there's a new story from the instructor (actually, I think there are around 20-30 total, then they recycle a bit), with the kids getting up at various points and acting through the moves from the story. Many of the stories involve Princes', dragons, animals, etc. and have been drawn from a wide variety of sources. It's a great way to introduce the little ones to some karate moves and such without the difficulties involved in testing, memorization, etc. Those come later, when the child can handle it a little better. A couple of times a year they also have "stranger classes" which teaches some rudimentary self-defence in a non-scary way.
fellow teacher We have a 4-6 year old program at our dojo as well, and I am one of the co-teachers of the group. It's very useful to have at least two teachers in the room, I've found. I can do the program by myself, but I find it's much easier when there's another person watching your back and helping out with unforseen situations (nosebleeds, etc) that can arise out of no where, esp. with this age group. We also use games and more coordination building than skill building. It keeps the kids interested, and they have a good time. I'm only 16, and my teaching partner is 15. I'm sure many people would probably wonder about the validity of a class taught by teenagers, but the parents watch every class, and our Sensei oversees once a month. The rest of the month, another instructor is always on hand just in case. It's a good class, and sometimes I think it's actually nicer to have it taught by some of the younger advanced students in the dojo...we still know 'how to be a kid', but without crossing the line into silliness. (at least my partner and I do....I don't presume to speak for anyone else in my age group... ) The stories approach sounds interesting...we have our 'karate promise' which entails the usual elementary stuff that the younger kids tend to forget, such as not misusing their karate with the few techniques they learn, and respecting others, so on. As I said before, we use skill/coordination/agility building activities and games and things like that, but any other ideas and things would be interesting. Respectfully, Miss Bethypoosan
Ok, let's see... one of the stories is the monk and the prince. A monk has been banished from one of the provinces in Japan, and is crossing a narrow bridge to leave when he is confronted by a haughty prince. The prince demands the lowly monk back off the bridge to let him pass. The monk reluctantly refuses, saying that if he returns to the province he has just left, he will be put to death. The prince draws his sword (a bokken or short staff held by the instructor at the front of the class... never actually in range of the kids - if you want them to get "real" practice, use a foam sword instead so it doesn't hurt if they miss) and threatens the monk. The monk still doesn't leave, so the prince decides to kill the monk and continue on his way. The monk sees what he's doing, and as he slashes downwards with his sword, the monk sidesteps the slice, then steps back to where he was (get all the kids doing this... sidestepping as the prince slashes down). He does this for awhile, but it doesn't work, so the prince changes tactics. Now he draws his sword back and slashes at the monk's neck. The monk (and all the kids) duck under the sword swipe. He tries this several times, but still can't hit the monk. Then he tries a low swipe to the legs. The monk (kids) jump over the slash. The prince starts to get frustrated, and starts combining the different slashes (so now the kids have to see which one's coming and either sidestep, duck, or jump). Eventually the prince goes faster and faster, wilder and wilder until he steps too far, and falls into the river. Weighted down by his armor, the prince sinks. The monk immediately jumps in and saves the prince, in spite of the fact that he was until recently trying to kill him. There are tons of other stories... involving dragons, shapechangers, different animals (each with a particular type of move associated with them), anansie the spider god/storyteller, and many many others. The above was one of the ones I remember best as my 7 year old still likes to play the monk and the prince (2 years later). Only limited by your imagination. Generally, the setup and resolution of the stories are told with the kids sitting down and listening, and most of the middle parts are acted out by the kids.
I like your ideas. I guess the main thing that limits a lot for my program is that we lean away from violence. So death, weapons, hurting others, etc is out of the question. I can see this opening a can of worms but I have been extremely successful with this format as many of the parents are looking for nonviolent activities for their children. I am not against fighting, only in my youth program. Are there any other fun games that you play with them? Gruhn
Can-O-Worms, . . . . Or the parents don't send their children to martial arts classes because they are worried of the violence. I am 100% positive this is by far the more prevalent situation. Gruhn
Generally, nobody ends up getting hurt in the stories (although violent acts may be done/attempted, the message is always strongly against violence). Another story was about a magnificent steel crane that the emperor wanted to add to his menagerie, and different ways to try and capture it (the kids do some of the moves from the crane; using their wings to slice open the net, etc.). In the end, the emperor has a change of heart and sets the rest of his animals free. When he does this, the steel crane rewards him by agreeing to appear in the emperor's garden for one day a year so the emperor can show him off to his guests.
