We
understand that COVID-19 is still causing many significant events,
schools, and other social gatherings to cancel their events. In the
wake of this extraordinary situation, many families are ordered by
the Governor to self-isolate. Therefore, we will continue our
two-week at-home training program for another two weeks.
If you didn’t see our previous post about the At-Home Training Program, that’s okay. You can still start anytime. However, our program runs another two weeks! That’s four weeks of training with our school.
You
don’t need to be an enrolled student to participate. Just let us
know you’re doing the course and we’ll make sure you get credit
for the work. When you do enroll at our school, you’ll get class
credit for all four weeks.
These training videos include age-specific lessons that are fun to follow while targeting your child’s stage of development. You can print the planner from the notes section of our Facebook page and follow along with the video for fun training with some of the best martial arts instructors in our industry.
Here’s how you access the planners
In
your browser, go to our Facebook page, and select the appropriate age
group for your child or children.
Download
the planners, take pictures (or videos) of your child training and
then email us or post it in our Facebook group, and your child will
get class credit.
Don’t
worry that these planners are different from a typical class. The
goal is to keep your kid’s body and brain learning while we are on
break! These planners can be taught by parents, grandparents,
siblings, friends, babysitters, or anyone at home.
Links to the Video Lessons
These
links bring you to the ‘On The Mat’ YouTube videos for each
planner. You can follow along with the instructor and students.
Repeat the lessons as much as you like.
Little Ninja Tots (3 and 4-year olds)
Week
3, Lesson
5:
Week
3, Lesson
6:
Week
4, Lesson 7:
Week
4, Lesson 8:
Little Ninjas (5 and 6-year olds)
Week
3, Lesson
5:
Week
3, Lesson
6:
Week
4, Lesson 7:
Week
4, Lesson 8:
Little Ninjas (7to 9-year
olds)
Week
3, Lesson
5:
Week
3, Lesson
6:
Week
4, Lesson 7:
Week
4, Lesson 8:
Ninja Warriors (10 to
14-year olds)
Week
3, Lesson
5:
Week
3, Lesson
6:
Week
4, Lesson 7:
Week
4, Lesson 8:
Benefits for You and Your Child
The
even better news is that your child will get class credit for
following each planner! Email our school or make a post in our school
Facebook group with a picture or video of your ninja training, and we
will add a class credit to your record for each planner.
Wait,
there’s more.
Weekly Challenges
Each
week, we’ll offer three challenges for Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday. These challenges touch on the physical, intellectual, and
emotional aspects of Kempo training. An additional challenge is to do
the lessons Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Then do the
daily challenges on the following days. Warning, this is only for the
best students at our school. Non-superhero students won’t be able
to keep up.
Share this with anyone else you know who practices martial arts. They can win too. Remember to post these videos on our Golden Leopard Kempo Facebook page, or tag them with #goldenleopard #kempochallenge #athometraining
On
behalf of our entire team, we thank you in advance for your
participation in this program and look forward to seeing all the
awesome pictures and videos!
Wash
your hands, and stay healthy. Don’t stop training! See you on the
other side.
With
schools and other activities closing due to the coronavirus outbreak,
many parents are finding themselves filling the roles of teacher,
coach, guidance counselor, and hall monitor as the kids try to
continue their studies in the home learning environment.
The
first few days were likely an exciting new adventure. Still, as we
continue to try to balance working from home, maintaining the needs
of the household, and serving as the frontline for our kids’
education, we will likely experience new stresses. Kids who sit still
for their teachers or listen to their martial arts coaches may not
want to exhibit the same studious behaviors for their parents. And if
there are siblings involved, you may even find yourself serving as a
referee as the battle ensues.
Fear
not, we are here to help!
You
most likely do not have the training that educators have. Kids will
naturally exhibit their worst behaviors around you because they feel
the safest expressing their frustrations, fears, and desires to those
who love them the most.
Your
homeschooling adventure does not have to be a perfect recreation of
the classroom or dojo. It only has to encourage kids to love
learning. Once you relieve yourself of this burden, things will be
much easier.
That
said, you must have the tools needed to help kids get the most out of
the time spent with you as their new teacher. The instructors at 4GK
Martial Arts in Patchogue go through extensive training to be able to
keep students engaged and enthusiastic, while also moderating
behaviors. Read on to see how you can use some of our favorite
teaching tips in your own home.
Here
are eight teaching skills our pediatric ninja specialists use in
every class to help keep kids engaged in the learning experience:
1. Healthy Competition
Competition
no doubt allows students of all levels to step up their game, and if
you prompt competition for your lessons in a fun way that splits the
class into teams, then it’s not only healthy – it’s FUN too! If
you have multiple children, this can be as simple as seeing who can
draw the most number of triangles in 30 seconds.
If
you have a single child, or your kids have a broad age gap, you may
have to step in as the competition. Kids love seeing adults in agony.
Just think of the shows your kids watch, and when they laugh the
most, usually it’s an adult getting hurt or making a mistake.
Challenge
them that if they can write their sentences in five minutes or less,
you will do five push-ups, but if they take more than five minutes,
THEY will have to do the push-ups. The challenge is not about
punishment; it is about FUN (and the extra boost of endorphins will
help break the stress).
2. Choices
When
your kids get to choose the activity at hand, they become more
motivated to put forth more effort. Kids tend to feel as if they have
little control over their lives, and this can lead to some major
tantrums. As parents, we sometimes don’t trust our kids with
authority because they will make less than favorable decisions.
Stripes and polka dots!?! No Way!
By
providing choices, we let the kids feel a sense of control over their
lives. The choice is essential for their development as someday they
WILL have to be the one making the decisions. It is even more
critical for their mental well-being as they are trapped at home,
isolated from their friends because of social distancing practices.
When
setting up the lessons for the day, have the flexibility to provide
your child with a choice. If you tell them spelling is next, you may
get pushback. But if you ask whether they’d like to do spelling
first or math first, they will feel empowered; and since both of the
choices you provided were acceptable options, your stress levels will
go down, as well.
3. Re-directing
We
can all agree that many kids will not have the very best discipline
all the time. To increase the level of discipline and effort in
class, we must continuously be catching and rewarding students that
are trying hard and leading by example. The simple act of setting
your kids up for success is the key to maximizing good behavior in
class.
Focus
on what is going right rather than what is going wrong. For example,
imagine you have two siblings, and one is on task, but the other is
dawdling. Most of us would try to correct the dawdler. Instead,
praise what you like about the focused child. “I love how focused
you are, Johny! That shows me that you are a person with good
discipline.” A natural reaction will be for your other child to
seek similar praise by modeling the behavior you said you liked.
You
can also use a similar technique for a single child. The goal is to
“catch them being good.” When you see the behavior you want, even
if it is for a split second, praise it. Positive recognition works
even better if they don’t think you are watching. It is a slow
process, but you will start rewiring their brains to exhibit those
positive behaviors.
4. Trickery
Trickery
is a humorous way to help build focus, engagement, and connection.
The concept is to try and trick your students into ‘going’ or
‘starting’ by using words that sound like the word ‘go!’
We
use this in class mainly for physical movement activities. For
example, when starting a martial arts drill that has two or more
teams competing against one another, we may count down, “Ready…Set….
GOOSE!” The kids get a laugh, it breaks the tension, and encourages
them to be ready to perform, but not to over anticipate.
You
might use a similar bit of trickery when encouraging your kids to see
who can collect the most amount of different kinds of leaves in 2
minutes.
Side
Note – thinking outside the box about conveying lessons is also a
subtle form of trickery akin to sneaking onions into the meatloaf.
Collecting different leaves can teach about shapes, math,
biodiversity, or even cooking if they are edible leaves. Not every
lesson needs to be about notes and textbooks.
5. Up the Rep
Most
students become tired towards the last few reps of activity,
particularly in high rep drills, or activities which include a lot of
physical or mental exertion. This tip consists of a strategy for
promoting mental toughness throughout each rep. So that the student
becomes better at every rep.
If
your child has to write a set of spelling words five times each,
penmanship will likely decline, and errors will increase as the child
goes through the motions. One way to use the Up The Rep concept would
be to encourage the child to have the first set of words be the
sloppiest and worst spelled, the next set a bit neater, and so on
until the last set of words is the neatest and best.
Penmanship
provides them an achievable goal beyond merely completing the
assignment, and helps them learn to practice mindfully rather than
just going through the motions.
6. Neurobics
The
concept is to get the left and right hemispheres of the brain working
together by challenging the brain to ‘think’ more during lessons.
Neurobics improves cognitive performance, which is how well a student
can think and remember what they learned in class.
In
the martial arts environment, we will perform exercises while
counting by colors, or count our repetitions with names of foods. The
reason this works is twofold. First, the addition of physical
movement to the activity increases blood flow to the brain, which
carries additional oxygen and nutrients to improve cognition. Second,
by forcing the brain to think in unique ways, neurological activity
spikes, which allows the brain to take in more of those nutrients.
By
reciting vocabulary words while doing jumping jacks, for example, the
increased neurological activity helps make the memory more concrete.
As a bonus, the endorphins released during physical activity help
reinforce that learning is a positive activity.
7. Intrinsic Motivation
This
concept works by giving the kids options for performance, and then
they chose the hardest option because they want to. We use this in
our martial arts classes with great success. This tool works best if
you can tie it to a character trait that the child wants to exhibit
naturally.
For
example, if a child has to write an essay, you could give them three
options about how long that essay will be. This option is similar to
the Choices tool mentioned above. It is empowering for the kids to
have some control. By then tying each level of choice to a level of
awesomeness, the kids will more likely choose to perform at the
highest level.
“For
your ELA homework, you have to write an essay about how much you love
martial arts. Now, if you want to have good writing skills, you’ll
write three paragraphs. But if you want to have rockstar writing
skills, you’ll write four paragraphs. And if you want to have super
ninja black belt writing skills, you’ll write five paragraphs.”
Make
sure that all three levels are acceptable for the assignment, and
within the stage of development for your child. Don’t prompt the
kindergartner to write five paragraphs, because no matter how super
ninja they want to be, it is unrealistic.
8. Extrinsic Motivation
This
concept is when a person puts forth more significant effort based on
external rewards such as prizes, praise, making others happy, etc. It
is easy to overuse this concept, so be mindful of how you apply it.
This
one is the simplest. “If you do your homework, you can have ice
cream.”
We’ve
all bribed our kids at least once in our parenting lives. To make
this tool even more productive while maintaining a healthy boundary
of control, tie it together with one of the other seven ideas.
Instead of “If X then Y,” try something like, “If you can get
your art homework done in 15 minutes, you can have ice cream, and
I’ll do five push-ups.” Or, “If you finish your science packet
by 10:30 am, you will get to choose the movie tonight.”
By
tying multiple ninja teaching techniques together, you can create a
learning environment that is full of fun, but which also encourages
kids to love learning. Remember, when all else fails, step away from
the kitchen table and find a way to have fun. To a child, play is the
path to knowledge, experience, and wisdom. If you can make the
lessons fun and interactive, there will be less stress for everyone
involved.
Let
us know which Ninja Teaching Tool worked best for you!
We understand that COVID-19 is causing many significant events, schools, and other social gatherings to cancel their events. In the wake of this extraordinary situation, many families are choosing (or ordered by the Governor) to self-isolate. Therefore, we are taking pro-active measures to help students stay on course.
Our
school has partnered up with one of the leading children’s martial
arts organizations in the world to participate in an International
At-home Training Program! Over 1000 schools all across the globe are
participating in this 2-week event!
These
training videos include age-specific lessons that are fun to follow
while targeting your child’s stage of development. You can print
the planner from
the notes section of our Facebook page and follow along with the
video for fun training with some of the best martial arts instructors
in our industry.
Here’s how you access the planners
In your browser, go to our Facebook page, and select the appropriate age group for your child or children.
Download
the planners, take pictures (or videos) of your child training and
then email us or post it in our Facebook group, and your child will
get class credit.
Don’t
worry that these planners are different from a typical class. The
goal is to keep your kid’s body and brain learning while we are on
break! These planners can be taught by parents, grandparents,
siblings, friends, babysitters, or anyone at home.
Links to the Video Lessons
These links bring you to the ‘On The Mat’ YouTube videos for each planner. You can follow along with the instructor and students. Repeat the lessons as much as you like.
Little Ninja Tots (3 and 4-year olds)
Week
1 Lesson
1:
Week
1 Lesson
2:
Week
2 Lesson
3:
Week
2 Lesson 4:
Little Ninjas (5 and 6-year olds)
Week
1 Lesson
1:
Week
1 Lesson
2:
Week
2 Lesson
3:
Week
2 Lesson 4:
Little Ninjas (7 to 9-year olds)
Week
1 Lesson
1:
Week
1 Lesson
2:
Week
2 Lesson
3:
Week
2 Lesson 4:
Ninja Warriors (10 to 14-year olds)
Week
1 Lesson
1:
Week
1 Lesson
2:
Week
2 Lesson
3:
Week
2 Lesson 4:
Benefits for You and Your Child
The even better news is that your child will get class credit for following each planner! Email our school or make a post in our school Facebook group with a picture or video of your ninja training, and we will add a class credit to your record for each planner.
Wait,
there’s more.
At-Home Training Point Challenge
True champions find ways to succeed while others find ways to make
excuses. Our goal for this challenge is to help each child reach an
entirely new level in their personal martial arts journey by going
the extra mile with their training. Each week has specific training
challenges that will help every student to earn points. The more
points your child receives, the more entries they get to win!
Week
1 Point Challenge Total:
Participate in class (10)
Post a video practicing your form (5)
Post a video doing the Week 1 Instructor Challenge (5)
Post a video practicing kicks and combs (5)
Post a video of you practicing your favorite move (5)
Week
2 Point Challenge Total:
Participate in class (10)
Post a video practicing your form (5)
Post a video doing the Week 2 Instructor Challenge (5)
Post a video teaching your combos to a family member (5)
Post a video of you practicing your kicks ten times (5)
Week
3 Point Challenge Total:
Participate in class (10)
Post a video practicing your form (5)
Post a video doing the Week 3 Instructor Challenge (5)
Post a video practicing kicks and combs (5)
Post a video of you practicing your favorite move (5)
Week
4 Point Challenge Total:
Participate in class (10)
Post a video practicing your form (5)
Post a video doing the Week 3 Instructor Challenge (5)
Post a video practicing kicks and combs (5)
Post a video teaching your kicks to a family member (5)
Share
this with anyone else you know who practices martial arts. They can
win too. Remember to post these videos on our Facebook page, or tag
them with #goldenleopard #kempochallenge #athometraining
On
behalf of our entire team, we thank you in advance for your
participation in this program and look forward to seeing all the
awesome pictures and videos!
Wash
your hands, and stay healthy. Don’t stop training! See you on the
other side.
The Little Ninjas Program is a detailed curriculum that focuses on improving children’s necessary motor and listening skills. These skills will help them enter society with a more confident and enthusiastic outlook. They will become better students at school, better listeners at home, and more ambitious towards the future. We believe the time between the ages of 3 and 6 are the most critical years of a child’s development.
Our program will enhance positive development in a fun and motivating way. The Little Ninjas program will also prepare your child for our Juniors Program. The skills taught are composed of physical and mental benefits. The following are the skills with the benefits of participating in the Little Ninja class.
Skill 1 – Focus
Skill 2 – Teamwork
Skill 3 – Control
Skill 4 – Balance
Skill 5 – Memory
Skill 6 – Discipline
Skill 7 – Fitness
Skill 8 – Coordination
In our Little Ninjas classes, we make learning fun and educational. Our goal is to help your child be the best they can be at everything they put their minds. Our motto is “Little Ninjas today, leaders tomorrow.”
Skills
The eight Little Ninjas skill requirements are composed of physical and mental benefits.
Focus – This skill will help your child’s aim, listening skills, and reaction skills. They will excel faster in any physical activity. Your child will also become a better listener and a more focused student in school.
Teamwork – Teamwork is necessary for any young child to develop. The more confident your child is willing to work with others, the more he or she will accomplish. Your child will build character, which will help your child make new friends and become a better leader in life.
Control – Having control means making the right decisions. Whether your child is handling a pet or handling a problem, he or she will learn to make the right decisions. Control builds confidence.
Balance – This skill is crucial to develop at an early age. Your child is beginning to participate in many physical activities that are challenging, like riding a two-wheel bicycle. Your child will develop great balance and a better posture.
Memory – Developing a good memory is an exercise for your child’s brain. The sooner your child exercises, the smarter he or she will become. Our drills are always helping your child think and make intelligent decisions.
Discipline – Our instructors use the Little Ninja drills to help create the vision that discipline is fun and rewarding. Your child will take pride in doing the right thing. Your child will also follow directions better.
Fitness – Children need to understand the importance of being healthy and physically fit. If your child does not burn off excess energy exercising, how will he or she burn off all of that energy?
Coordination – Your child will learn left from right. They will become better physical participants in sports and activities. The better coordination your child has, the fewer injuries your child will sustain.
In our Little Ninjas classes, we make learning fun and educational. Our goal is to help your preschooler be the best they can at everything they do.
How Your Child Will
Advance Through the Program
After every first skill lesson, the instructor will place a sticker within the Little Ninjas Achievement Record Card. On the completion of the second skill lesson, your child will be awarded a skill stripe for developing that skill. Each skill stripe is a different color. Your child must earn all eight colored skill stripes to qualify to advance to the next level. Each ninja with all eight skills stripes will perform at the Little Ninjas Belt Promotion are every nine weeks.
The Little Ninjas Belt Promotion allows your child to show the instructors and parents how developed each skill has become. A panel of judges will be evaluating each ninja to monitor his or her progress.
After the performance, an awards ceremony rewards the ninjas with their new rank. Their rank advancement gives your child a new challenge for each skill. Your child again begins to collect the colored skills stripes as they set their goal for the next belt performance. This visible progress keeps the program exciting and challenging. Your child will learn how to set goals and achieve them accomplishing their new ranks.
The following is a list of each skill with the color of the skill stripe
Focus = Red
Teamwork = Blue
Control = Green
Balance = Yellow
Memory = Orange
Discipline = White
Fitness = Black
Coordination = Purple
Little Ninjas instructors monitor your child’s progress by his or her skills stripes. Make sure your child is consistent with his or her attendance so that he or she earns each skill stripe before the Little Ninjas Promotion. To avoid excess time at each rank and prevent boredom, follow the curriculum calendar.
If your child has difficulty with a specific skill, the instructor may ask you to work with him or her at home to improve the skills. Homework assignments allow your child to be the best that he or she can be. Our goal is to develop the eight skills in the Little Ninjas Program thoroughly. With your help, your child will learn and grow with commitment and dedication to excellence in everything that he or she does.
Enroll your 3- to 6-year-old at our school today. The first ten receive a free uniform.