This year I'm coaching my daughter's under 7 hockey team. I have eleven 5 and 6 year olds in the team and let me tell you, coaching junior sport is up there with childbirth, particularly when they all have a lump of wood in their hands.
I never realised how difficult it is to teach children really basic skills like dribbling the ball, passing and trapping, while at the same time trying to teach them how the game works. Each skills has to be introduced and then broken down into as many steps as possible and practiced over and over and over again. The difficulty of teaching such young girls is that while doing this I need to make sure that everyone is busy and that we stick to a good routine, but have different ways of practicing the skill. I'm absolutely worn out by the end of each training run and game!
I never realised how difficult it is to teach children really basic skills like dribbling the ball, passing and trapping, while at the same time trying to teach them how the game works. Each skills has to be introduced and then broken down into as many steps as possible and practiced over and over and over again. The difficulty of teaching such young girls is that while doing this I need to make sure that everyone is busy and that we stick to a good routine, but have different ways of practicing the skill. I'm absolutely worn out by the end of each training run and game!
It made me realise how much we as adults take for granted the learning process that our kids encounter at school each day. Learning to read involves the same skills as learning to play hockey - individual strategies are taught in the context of overall reading, followed by lots of practice. We can help our kids learn new skills by helping them to see the small steps in each skill, whether that's learning to cook, multiplication or how to tie shoelaces.
In the meantime, I've a game of "What's the Time Mr Wolf-with-hockey-sticks" to get ready for....
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