29/10/2021
to use the curriculums
There are no hard rules on how to use the curriculums when working with children this young.
Start with the first video of week 1 in the respective age group and progress from video to video, week by week.
Skip what you don’t like, is not appropriate for your setting or age group,
Add what you feel like adding, repeat numerous times what works well.
@ How to get the most effective results
Have children try as many of the games & challenges as possible, even if it is only once or for a very short period of time.
The goal is to expand their movement repertoire.
Vary all 7 skills frequently, ideally include all 7 skills in each session but don't keep it too rigid and go with the flow, fun is key otherwise you risk never seeing the children again.
Mix up individual challenges with group games.
@2. Lesson specifics
1-2 sessions per week are ideal for young children for them not to lose fun and interest, the key is regular participation, ideally, they participate in other active play programs as well.
20-30 minutes are more than enough to include all 7 skills in each lesson, some activities will only keep children's interest for a few minutes.
60 minutes lessons often make the most sense logistically for parents to bring their child for an afterschool program but "focus" time will be more like 30 minutes for 3-4-year-olds, 45 min for 4-5 and 5-6-year-olds, 60 min for 6-7-year-olds. The rest of the 60 minutes is either free play or activities with little need to focus as it is hard for young children.
Repeat games & challenges until they are mastered more or less or children lose interest then start to vary it and increase the challenge, but keep introducing new actvivities constantly.
Fun and motivated children are critical when they are this young so we wouldn't be rigid and do games for very long that children don't enjoy.
, Change or Adjust
One of the most important, if not the most important skill as a coach when working with children 4-7 is the ability to abort, change or adjust very quickly if needed.
A pre-defined drill or game does not always work out the way it was planned, in particular with children this young.
At this age children lose focus quickly and frequently and you need the ability or enough ideas to change activities quickly. Either by changing the game or challenge, changing the rules or goals of the game to run more smoothly or abort a game that does not work altogether and move onto another game.
Often it is enough to adjust a pre-defined game so that it suits the current practice session and situation, which gets easier with experience.
The great thing about children this young is that they are very forgiving, you can try out many ideas. Children 4-7 just want to play and have fun, they are not very goal oriented, just pivot quickly if it doesn’t work.
We would plan for at least 10 activities per 60 min session which can be variations of the same game or challenge to keep it interesting and active.
Children Guide the Classes
Take advantage of their interest. It is vital to be attentive as a kids coach. Listen to the children. Keep in mind that kids always speak their minds. You get immediate feedback if the practice is fun or not, and a fun practice session is, of course, a must for the learning process. Take advantage of their impulsive actions. If children would like for instance, jump up and down or run away from a monster, you have to put your own planning aside and take advantage of the interest the children are showing. There is nothing better than working with highly motivated children. Do what children want.
Take advantage of their impulsive actions. If children would like for instance, jump up and down or run away from a monster, you have to put your own planning aside and take advantage of the interest the children are showing. There is nothing better than working with highly motivated children. Do what children want until they tire of it, they will tire out fairly soon of the same, but don’t break their enthusiasm until they choose not to continue.
of Child-friendly Game Forms
=Little organization, game needs to be able to be explained in few =words/sentences
=no referee
=no elimination
=many winners
=short in duration
=lots of active movement time
=appropriate to age, level, individualized
=every effort counts
=small playing field size
=small teams
’t interrupt too quickly
Don’t interrupt or abort a game or challenge too quickly.
This might be a bit of a contradiction but it is not. It is not about a game or drill that doesn’t work or is not appropriate for the ages and situation you work in and should be aborted or changed, but about a game/drill that doesn’t work right away.
In this situation it is not good to abort too quickly otherwise you interrupt the learning process.
You want to find the “pain points”, children need to learn to keep trying and solve problems. Children should start to learn to fight and work with emotions when they get frustrated, angry, anxious..
At this young age you can’t stay at these “pain points” for very long or children will loose interest and it is no longer fun but find ways to encourage children to keep trying.
active
Especially young children don’t like to sit still for long periods and respond better to activities that change frequently.
==> Find drills where as many participants as possible (preferably the whole group) have meaningful assignments: Kids that are standing around during the course of a game/drill usually find the drill boring. Even if the coach concentrates on one child, he or she can give meaningful assignments to the other children.
==> Construct games or define rules that keep the flow/game going rather than finish quickly. This improves the quality of the practice considerably. The concentration and the fighting spirit increase and often the players think it is more fun to practice.
it into a game
Make every exercise into a game whenever possible. Almost all exercises can be made into games. Playing games is how children learn and way more exciting and fun than doing exercises and children will put in more effort when playing games.
Playing games include all components of what a sport is composed off: mental, physical, technical and tactical aspects.
Exercises only improve technical and physical aspects.
Even though skill building is the priority at this young age we believe it is important that children start getting exposed to games where there are a winner and a looser around age 6 to learn to deal with emotions.
Games need
rules
a playing field
a winner and loser
a scoring system
and a name, so you don't always have to repeat the rules.
Assessment of children in particular at a very young age is challenging and often controversial and depends a lot on your culture.
Assessment is often political and we cant avoid it as teachers. Principals and organizations often require us to assess and grade even the youngest children.
Here's our take:
It is important to communicate our assessment process to all stakeholders: parents students, school, organizations.
Assessment can be positive or negative depending on what you focus on, and we can choose what we focus on.
Skill development should always be a priority versus competition at this young an age.
Inclusion, that everyone belongs is a great measure of assessment. It is very important at age 4-7 that children feel safe and belong.
Focus on Improvement of the individual rather than comparing or competing with other children.
Cater the assessment not only to the majority but also to all individual with different levels.
Use an integrated assessment (application in a game situation, a sequence of tasks) rather than a segmented assessment (an isolated skill).
