WAG How to deal with kids who don't listen

[Deleted member 18037]

Ok so they are mostly old enough to be able to pay attention barring any issues.

Lots of good advice.

Catch them doing good.

Be their coach not their friend.

Set expectations and consequences.

And mean it. Seriously nothing worse then repeatedly saying if you don't , I will, I mean it over and over. All that teaches is you really don't mean it.

I tend not to bribe (promise a reward before hand). I tend to reward, you all did great so xyz

I would even type up expectations and consequences and have the kid and parent sign off. I would even have them help with the class rules.

 

[wh/gh]

Having a "problem child" is always tough. I have one kid in beginner class who just cannot pay attention even though she is 9; I really think she has ADD or ADHD but the parents have not mentioned anything to me. What's worse is she is very coordinated but will never move up because she cannot behave safely in the gym, and because of that she gets bored with the skills and makes fun of the other kids for being afraid of new things. She needs a lot of rigid structuring and external motivation that I just cannot provide in a group environment without neglecting the other 4-6 kids. One week I had two trainee coaches with me and it worked great - one coach directed the class, another provided corrections, and a third basically spent the entire class being her personal minder.

Here's some general things I do to keep them on task.
1. some sort of simultaneous group exercise at the beginning of the rotation. everyone has to pay attention and do it right before they move on. e.g. bars might be chin-up holds and pike hang holds, walks for beam, line drills for floor, running drills for vault. This gets them in the mood for listening to the coach and helps organize/calm the class.

2. no more than 5ish stations. it's hard for adults to remember more than 5-7 stations, even. it's also nice to have someone on each station at all times so they can follow a certain person instead of having to remember where to go.

3. constant correction especially when there are safety issues. I will drop everything (except a kid I'm spotting) to fix key safety issues like walking on beam with turned-in feet, throwing the head back on bars.

4. when the class gets crazy I make them do something like "put your hands on your head if you're listening to me" and everyone has to do it before we can do gymnastics again. This is sometimes rough if one kid is having a crazy day and the rest of the class has to do nothing until they can get it together. Also, the older kids in beginner classes get frustrated at being treated like little kids. But it can maintain order and safety if the class is getting out of hand.

5. ask the parents what they do at home or school. rewards work for some kids...others don't care about them. some kids need a lot of structure, some need to be able to make their own decisions (e.g. maybe they could choose between 2 different drills for the same skill).

It's also good to remember why it's hard to pay attention in gym. There are a billion things going on at once; everything is exciting. There's a bunch of different colors and sounds and people. And they only get one hour per week in that awesome playground - no wonder they sometimes want to play around instead of paying attention in class (if you gym does Open Gym that would be a good recommendation for them to have fun on their own terms in the gym).

 

[AgingHippie]

rope

The rope always works at our gym and it helps build upper body strength.