New Here. Have a question--stubborn student.

tone loc · White Belt

Hi. New here. I did a search but didn't find anything close to my situation.

I have been teaching the lil dragons for a year. I have one 4 year old that acts like he is asleep when he doesn't want to learn or do the drills I have planned. He stands there with his eyes closed and is non responsive. I have tried time outs but they don't seem to work. I know he is smart and capable of performing the drills but is very stubborn.

I don't know how to reach him. I don't want to kick him out because his older sister is in the regular class and since we are a small startup school we need the student base and the money.

Thanks.

JohnASE · Yellow Belt

Maybe you should try a dose of Funky Cold Medina! Sorry, Loc. Couldn't resist.

I wouldn't think timeouts would work if he's non-responsive. He WANTS to do nothing. Maybe have him do something active, like pushups or jumping jacks.

That's probably not much help, but I wanted to at least try to make up for the bad joke.

Good luck!

Throwdown0850 · Green Belt

The BB of C · KF Sempai

Personally, I would remove him from the class entirely.
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Kieran-Lilith · Brown Belt

Younger kids are much more difficult to train, I agree. We have a few five year olds, and they can be a handful.

I've noticed the younger they are, the more one-on-one attention they need. Also, if they don't want to be there, then it's very hard to get them to do anything. Most of the time, I can get the little ones fired up. Talking to them in a really excited voice helps. Those who just don't want to do anything, though...they push, or they leave. There's not much you can do until they're a little older.
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He who gains a victory over other men is strong; but he who gains a victory over himself is all powerful Lao-tsu

Rateh · Green Belt

How bout you try doing a game when he does that. But still putting him in timeout. So then when he desides he doesn't want to participate in the more difficult things, really he doesn't get to particiate in the more fun things. Make sure then when he does participate in the more difficult things then you give him lots of praise. Good luck
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KarateEd · KF Sempai

One thing that might help you is the elimination or minimization of drills/practice where the really young students have too much time off task. For example, if you have kids line up to individually go through a kicking drill, those that are not kicking at the moment may be distracted by the older students, or the parents that are watching, or the lights, or the floor, etc. Keep as many (preferably all) active as much of the time as you can.

I discovered, when coaching 7-8 year olds in soccer, that my best practices were those where the kids scrimmaged the whole time. I didn't get a lot of real soccer instruction in, but at that age I couldn't really teach them much, they just wanted to play. I quickly removed "line up and practice this" sessions from practice.

Hope this helps,

Ed
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"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness."
-- James Thurber

NewEnglands_KyoSa · Pre-Black Belt

to make sure everyone's always moving and hustling, whenever i ask the class to proceed to a certain position or place in the room, i'll yell, "hustle, lets go or we'll do push ups" or usually before that i'll be like, ok this is what we're going to do and where youre goign to go, now if the whole class doesn't hustle and work hard we won't play ______ game, or we'll do _____push ups. hope this helps. good luck, kids, are well...lets say and interesting species!

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"Smile. Show everyone that today you're stronger than you were yesterday."

ninjanurse · KF Sensei

I find that ignoring these kinds of behaviors works the best as most kids this age are seeking attention. As long as no one is in danger let them play possum-they will eventually figure out you are not going to bite and join in the fun. Praising their good behavior is also key as they do want to please!

Four and five year olds are a funny bunch...you never know what you are going to get day-to-day! They are all capable of learning basic concepts like standing still, waiting turns, raising their hand to speak, following directions-all skills that we wish all our 7-12 year olds have-so why not teach them these "martial skills" so that our job is easier later? There is nothing more satisfying than when they finally get it after all your hard work!

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Heidi-A student of the arts
Tae Kwon Do,Shotokan,JuJitsu,TaiJi

Bushido-Ruach · Yellow Belt

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