Now that we know how important virtue for 5 year old Karate instruction is, does this apply equally to boys and girls? Is a Children's Karate class good for both boys and girls alike?
Children's Karate is excellent for 5 year old boys and girls. They both develop different needs as they grow. Yet at age 5, boys and girls are very similar in their physical and mental development. This even makes what they can get from Karate the same in most cases.
At this stage, as with younger children the CDC has outlined major milestones that we can expect most 5 year olds to reach some time during their fifth year. We can look specifically at many of them and see explicitly how Children's' Karate classes can help them even surpass most expectations.
These milestones are a great indicator if a child is able to grasp and follow virtue related thoughts and actions, as well as Karate techniques and instruction. There is a mental, physical, and social element to these short and long term goals.
Let's look at some of them and how a well run Children's Karate class can help a 5 year old address these benchmarks.
- Follows the rules of games and takes turns with other children naturally.
- In a play as learning environment like mine at Master Booe's Karate Kidz in Knoxville, techniques and concepts are all delivered in game format. This affords 5 year olds ample opportunity to develop the sense of boundaries and giving others respect.
- Can act out parts for spectators.
- This happens regularly in a martial arts class for children. A good portion of their time is spent acting out scenarios with partners as they help each other with situational actions and reactions. There are also demonstrations in front of strangers that happen periodically that they can participate in for much more concentrated practice.
- Can handle simple chores at home.
- As students progress to intermediate belts and make martial arts a larger part of their lives, chore lists are required of students to instill a sense of helpfulness towards their families.
- Can answer simple questions about a story or scenario after hearing it for the first time.
- Roleplaying is a central theme in a children's Karate class. Kids tend to help one another by playing the aggressor, bad guy, or others in order to help partners learn how to deal with potentially dangerous situations.
- 5 year olds can use simple rhymes and even come up with basic ones of their own.
- In my Knoxville children's Karate classes, everything is delivered to the children in the form of games. My motto is Fun, Fit, and Functional. The games even extend to hellos and goodbyes. I give a string of rhymes when they enter the dojo and when they leave connected to hellos and goodbyes. The kids quickly start trying to come up with their own.
- Can count to 10 or higher.
- Not only can my 5 year olds count well past ten, I teach them in several foreign languages. This not only helps their mental development, but also gives them a sense of connection to the languages and cultures of the founders of some of the styles we study.
- Attention spans on a single activity reach above 5 minutes.
- I teach on a 4-6 minute rotation cycle. Most martial arts instructors simply make class progression models up as they go along. I have deliberately tested out many different patterns of time and found that changing the technique, game, and teaching method every 4 to 6 minutes works the best.
- Not only can my students at this age and younger hop on one foot, they can jump off of one foot and kick with it before putting the other on the ground. We race on one foot, throw our throwing dummies while on one foot, and even act like chickens hopping on one foot.
As you can see, my children's Karate class in Knoxville goes way beyond the basics in virtue, cognition, sociability, and physicality for 5 year olds.
If you want your 5 year old to thrive, set up a FREE class today and I can help you start them on their martial arts journey.
