mad kids

crosstrainer1

at the moment im teaching about 60 kids kickboxing and im finding there to be a few mad ones turn up. who are droped of by parents who think your a running a baby sitter club . adh, ocd you name it they have it how long would you give if you are an instructor. before you have to ask them to leave. as an instructor we are helpful and understanding but ithink theres a point of no return

youllneverknow

Kids are and kids will be kids. If you do not have patience to show them then why teach them.
i have a few kids like that but i still give them time. you just have to be stern and fare with them

Pride Fighter

People have different attention spans, upbringings, levels of fitness and a multitude of differences. You cannot only teach the ones you want to, you're going to have to be flexible and teach everyone as much as you can.

Even if they dont seem interested, you'll get through eventually, you're making good citizens of them, and not world champions, although maybe you will make them champions someday too.

I teach kids as well, they're great. Although they used to make me feel like tearing my hair out, I just realise how old they are and that I was like that at their age.

irateghost

In my experience if they are disrupting class make them do burpees. In my kyokushin class when im teaching (rarely) one or two of the kids dont want to do classical training so i get them doing strength training instead. Its nice because the other kids who are there to learn get what they want and the naughty kids (one specifically) are doing 60-80 burpees )

RoboRat

make them do burpees

should be called fartees...

Spideog Rua

irateghost wrote: »

In my experience if they are disrupting class make them do burpees. In my kyokushin class when im teaching (rarely) one or two of the kids dont want to do classical training so i get them doing strength training instead. Its nice because the other kids who are there to learn get what they want and the naughty kids (one specifically) are doing 60-80 burpees )

Making excercise the punishment is a bad idea.

cambridge

crosstrainer1 wrote: »

at the moment im teaching about 60 kids kickboxing and im finding there to be a few mad ones turn up. who are droped of by parents who think your a running a baby sitter club . adh, ocd you name it they have it how long would you give if you are an instructor. before you have to ask them to leave. as an instructor we are helpful and understanding but ithink theres a point of no return

doesn't sound like you have much experience or training coaching kids, but yet seem more than happy to take money off parents to provide that service. What club do you run so I know not to recommend it to anyone.

youllneverknow

irateghost wrote: »

In my experience if they are disrupting class make them do burpees. In my kyokushin class when im teaching (rarely) one or two of the kids dont want to do classical training so i get them doing strength training instead. Its nice because the other kids who are there to learn get what they want and the naughty kids (one specifically) are doing 60-80 burpees )

that's the most idiotic idea i Have ever heard they are there to train in a sport and you are punishing them by doing strength stuff, that will turn the kids of training and make them not enjoy it in future.
time out is the best thing i have come across.

irateghost

At no point did i insinuate the children werent enjoying their training. But considering most people who posted in this thread are more intrested in telling me or the op what incompetent monsters we are rather than awnsering the question originally posted. Maybe you boys deserve a 'time out'.

Oh also a question for the op, exactly what kind of behaviour are we talking about?

silverharp

Just speaking as a parent here and observer when my son is doing his class but where his club draws the line is any form of bullying of other kids. His club is in town so some of the kids are more difficult to manage then you might get in a leafy suburb but they are a decent bunch none the less.
My main observation of my son's teacher while very well regarded, is that on a regular basis he threatens to send particular kids home for disrupting the class but never follows through "parenting noob error" . Be consistent and reward good behaviour and be aware (as DS's teacher expained to me once) you might be the only positive male role model in their lives and you are probably more important than you think for them.

Zen65

crosstrainer1 wrote: »

....how long would you give if you are an instructor. before you have to ask them to leave. as an instructor we are helpful and understanding but ithink theres a point of no return

Asking a child to leave the club is a very serious step that you should try to avoid at all costs, unless their behaviour is unsafe to themselves or to others in the class. I regularly teach kids and while there are many who test my patience, only one or two have acted in such a manner as to make me want to ask them to leave the class.

Like yourself, Op, I do find parents will introduce their kids to the class without explaining that they have some form of learning disability (ADHD, Dyspraxia, mild Asperger's syndrome, etc) in the belief that disciplined training might help them. In fairness, looking at things from the parents' view, I can understand why they would do so. When I discuss the issue with the parent, they will tell me of the problem (though in some cases they fail to mention it on the application form, or mention it only in vague terms).

There have been two kids in particular who did not respond to the "stern sensei" approach, and who continued to be disruptive. Oddly though they did appear to be enjoying the class, so when their behaviour reached unacceptable levels I would make them sit out a particular part of the class. One of them has since left the club without my having to take any action, but the second continues to train and I struggle to find ways of dealing with him. Recently I caught him kicking another student behind my back while I was demonstrating the next set of exercises, and I made him sit it out, beside the door. I told him that if there was a repeat of that then I'd speak to his mother to take him out of the club.

Sure enough there was a second instance, and I asked him to tell his mother I wanted to speak to her. I have not seen him since, but then again in summer the attendance is usually fragmented.

His mother used to drop him and run, almost literally and rarely ever acknowledge me, so I'm guessing there may be a pattern of behaviour there at home which makes her glad to get shot of him for an hour. I'll await to see if she shows up for that chat, but I would have no qualms about telling her in no uncertain terms that I will not teach students who bully others in the class.

Many kids are cheeky, inattentive, uncoordinated, or just over-talkative. This does make teaching a class more difficult, but there are times when it's also pricelessly funny. I try to balance the two outcomes in my head, tolerate the annoying in search of the few gems that emerge. At times it can be hard not to laugh (and you must never laugh in the class or they'll eat you alive). On one occasion I smiled when a student repeated my instruction to the class out loud, and I paid the price as they then all repeated every word I said for the next 20 minutes.

Running a MA club without kids is next to impossible financially. I'm involved in a number of clubs where the instructors are all voluntary (i.e. no instructor fees) and it can be hard to keep those clubs going at times. Moreover, the best karateka we produce are those who started young, so it's worth the effort to see this talent emerge.


Best of luck,

Z