What Do Our Kids Need at This Age?

NEW Teaching Module 

Our new 4 Sky Kings Curriculum Format is based on focusing in on age specific development and training. 

We have realigned our classes and content to be more conducive to the needs of each respective age grouping.  We have also narrowed our age categories so that we can focus on delivering material in the way that kids learn better and focuses on their needs from a developmental perspective. 

• Ages 5-7 = Blue Dragons
• Ages 7-9 = White Tigers
• Ages 9-11 = Red Phoenix
• Ages 11-13 = Black Dragons
• Ages 14+ = Black Tigers

Here are two excerpts from some articles written by both a children's hospital and established martial art school owner, that really help break down the benefits of this approach.

What is child development? 
Child development is a process every child goes through. This process involves learning and mastering skills like sitting, walking, talking, skipping, and tying shoes. Children learn these skills, called developmental milestones, during predictable time periods. 

Children develop skills in five main areas of development:

1. Cognitive Development
   This is the child's ability to learn and solve problems. For example, this includes a two-month-old baby learning to explore the environment with hands or eyes or a five-year-old learning how to do simple math problems.
2. Social and Emotional Development
   This is the child's ability to interact with others, including helping themselves and self-control. Examples of this type of development would include: a six-week-old baby smiling, a ten-month-old baby waving bye-bye, or a five-year-old boy knowing how to take turns in games at school.
3. Speech and Language Development
   This is the child's ability to both understand and use language. For example, this includes a 12-month-old baby saying his first words, a two-year-old naming parts of her body, or a five-year-old learning to say "feet" instead of "foots".
4. Fine Motor Skill Development
   This is the child's ability to use small muscles, specifically their hands and fingers, to pick up small objects, hold a spoon, turn pages in a book, or use a crayon to draw.
5. Gross Motor Skill Development
   This is the child's ability to use large muscles. For example, a six-month-old baby learns how to sit up with some support, a 12-month-old baby learns to pull up to a stand holding onto furniture, and a five-year-old learns to skip.

Reference:  http://www.howkidsdevelop.com/developSkills.html

Author:  Rady Children's Hospital San Diego

The Karate Kids Teaching Guide: What You Need to Know about Teaching Karate to Kids

By Jesse Enkamp

Divided by age, here’s the basics of what I really think you need to know about teaching Karate to kids:

7-9 Years Old:

Physical: Kids of 7-9 years of age have a huge physical need for moving around. Because, at this age, physical movements are starting to automatize in their bodies – meaning they will naturally feel inclined to move around as much as possible in all different ways. However, kids at this age still have a very minor amount of muscle growth, and their capability to tense their muscles is quite limited. The same goes for their anaerobic capacity. Gender differences too are almost nonexistent at this age.

Mental: When it comes to the social development of kids age 7-9 (remember, these ages are just general guidelines. Some kids might appear younger or older depending on their growth rate), their social capacity is not yet fully developed, which means they have a hard time seeing themselves as a part of a group of different people with different needs. In other words, they are pretty much egotistical and crave the feeling of personal security and trust. Still, their sense of right and wrong is starting to develop strongly at this age, along with the ability to follow rules and instructions, even though their auditory skill (trying to follow spoken instructions) is at a low level.

Advice: When you teach kids 7-9 years old, try to focus on play. Have great variety in exercises, movements and lesson content – and try to be as clear and non-confusing as possible by always giving brief and short instructions. It is more effective to clearly show (visually) exercises than speaking (verbally) to the kids. At this phase it is also important to emphasize teamwork, without sparking a competitive mindset. Make sure to lay down the ground rules and establish what’s right and wrong, how to behave in the dojo, when Karate can/can’t be used (dojo-kun) etc.

10-12 Years Old:

Physical: Kids at the age of 10-12 have a greatly improved coordination. This means you can teach them harder cognitive tasks, along with more demanding physical movements as their respiratory function now develops to a greater extent. At this age, differences in gender also start to show, although still not fully developed.

Mental: At the age of 10-12, besides improved coordination, the ability to think abstractly as well as logically starts to develop greatly. This means you can place more demands on these abilities in exercises, in order to take advantage of their improvements in these areas. Plus, at this age, the will to cooperate increases along with a greater hunger for more training and competition. In other words, the “tribe” mentality is now gradually taking the place of the former “self” mentality, although both still exist in the individual.

Advice: Again, as you teach this group, make sure to have great variety in your lessons (as in the case of 7-9 year olds) but without being confusing. Kids at this age generally trying many different sports, so your job is to make them stick to Karate. Also, try to incorporate more technical training at this stage, with more details in technique, along with lighter tactical training and scenario-based situations. It is vital to be consistent in your actions and words as you conduct classes now, since fairness and justice are important concepts for kids of this age.

13-15 Years Old:

Physical: Surprisingly to most teachers, coaches and instructors; kids at the age of 13-15 start to decline in several areas – mostly seen in coordination(which worsens) and agility (which decreases). At this point, kids who might have easily won Karate trophies before might start losing motivation, so its important that instructors understand that at this stage it’s natural for kids to change a lot, especially in their physical composition as they now get taller and weigh more. Maximum oxygen uptage (VO2), more commonly known as aerobic capacity, now increases massively too, as well as gender differences.

Mental: Additionally, a lot happens in kids’ brains when they’re 13-15 years old. At this stage it is common for kids to have emotional insecurity as they’re now gradually trying to identify their own “voice” (identity) in the crowd. This will be expressed in different ways depending on circumstances, but the most important marker is that kids now strive to become independent – and you need to cater for this need.

Advice: The group will now become increasingly harder to keep together, since big physical and mental differences emerge between individuals. However, luckily, the ability to solve problems and have theoretical discussions improves, which means you can talk more to/with the group. As a leader, this aspect of keeping dialogue is now more important than ever, since the kids will see you as a sort of pillar of trust and safety in their dynamic lives. So make technical exercises easier, don’t add too many complex movements, and don’t put too much stress on your students. However, do increase the tempo and intensity of classes

Reference:  http://www.karatebyjesse.com/karate-kid-teaching-guide/

P.S.  Look for more information about our new 4 Sky Kings Curriculum Launch next week.  Also, don't forget about the open forum we are hosting on Saturday, Feb 10th at 3:30PM after testing.

Questions?

Call:  614-899-9033

Email:  koguryomartialarts.hq@gmail.com

Visit:  www.koguryoma.com