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jlzotto
Dec 8, 2004, 11:22 PM
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I was recently offered a job at the local wall to teach a class of kids how to climb. It'll go on once a week for six weeks. I've already written down the basic jist of what I want to do each day (Day 1: Safety, learn the gear, et cetra). I'm also going to throw in the who's who of climbing, what the grades are, the ethics and so forth.
I've never been in a teaching situation like this before (showed some inexperienced friends some stuff, but never ten and twelve year olds), and any sort of advice would be welcomed. I'm really excited about this and want to make an unforgettable class. There aren't many people out here who climb and I figure that if I do well with this then we'll get a new generation of people going outdoors when they are old enough.
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rkhali
Dec 9, 2004, 12:02 AM
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I'm guessing you are going to teach kids indoor toproping.
I would probably stick to the basics:
- safety
- putting the harness
- tying a figure 8
- standard belay commands.
- diffrent types of climbing
... I probably forgot a few things too.
IMHO 12 yr olds just want to climb, they don't care about grades, who's who or ethics. Ethics specially is something I would keep for the first time outside.
Anyway, that's just me but if you want them to enjoy don't bore them with too much talk.
Good luck,
Raymond
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bergo
Dec 9, 2004, 12:41 AM
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My 11 years old son is climbing since August 2003. I've seen his interest in rock climbing, his abilities and strength growing on. He started climbing with me and I showed him the first steps in rock climbing. Now he is training with the local province team and his coaches are really good but somewhat excessively demanding (actually my son has had two injuries because of the demanding of the training). My son is climbing better now, of course, he is training hard. He's still in love with climbing but he is not advancing as fast as when he was learning. Why? First of all he was interested in climbing because it was fun. I don't mean it's is not fun now, but he is less interested than before because the training has been developed for older people, 15 and older. I talked to the coaches about all this and now they are developing a new program for children, a program with more games involved, less physical training, not as hard as before and, the most important thing: FUNNIER!
Kids learn faster when they play. Look for some climbing games and adapt it to your training plan. Always be in good mood with your young pupils and don't be too rigid or demanding. Be a friend for them. Listen to them. Make them feel comfortable with you. Play with them. Let them enjoy the climbing and you will enjoy them. They'll become better climbers. Trust me.
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furrymurry
Dec 9, 2004, 1:00 AM
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If I learned one thing teaching kids to climb this summer its that you can never overstress the importance of footwork, footwork, footwork. Especially guys, they have that idea that all they have to do is pull themselves up like Sly Stalone.
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myst
Dec 9, 2004, 1:09 AM
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I agree with the above posts. I worked at a climbing gym teaching kids the basics of climbing. Basically, they come to the gym to climb and since they're kids, they have a short attention span. The combination of those two factors means they won't have the patience to sit for much talking. I would suggest going through what rkhali listed for all the kids. This is enough information for most of the kids who just want to get on the wall. But, there will probably be at least one in the group who has the bug. He (or she) will be the one who not only picks up on the sport really well, but is also interested in the other aspects of it. You'd actually be surprised by how good some kids can be. There was an 11-year-old in the day camp I worked and he was incredible. He had amazing technique and was able to send almost anything we threw at him. He was also very humble about his skills, and was absolutely rapt with attention with regards to climbing. Him I would talk to about grades and would encourage him to try harder things. To him I would mention a few of the well-known climbers. Him I would tell how to advance in climbing (different courses he could take, or people he could talk to), and I would explain outdoor climbing to him, the different techniques and styles, and the ethics, etc. What I'm trying to say is go through the basics with the whole group. Then, as you get to know the kids, watch for the ones who can't seem to get enough of climbing as a whole, both the climbing and your talking about it. Those are the kids I would talk to further about climbing.
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polarwid
Dec 9, 2004, 1:12 AM
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Read THIS ARTICLE by MOTHER_SHEEP, it should help you out quite a bit...
It was recently published in our own E-ZINE...SPRAY!!!
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summit_plumit
Dec 9, 2004, 3:09 AM
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I was at a summer camp that taught kids to climb I don't really have any advice, all I can really say is that when you teach them knots (if you teach them knots) use stories figure 8 for example is make a snow man wrap a scarf around the snow man than poke him in the eye stuff like that. Really just have fun with them, climbings fun that will make it memorable enough for any kid. good luck
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jlzotto
Dec 9, 2004, 4:29 AM
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Registered: Mar 13, 2004
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It may sound a little goofy, but I haven't any clue as to what kinds of games there are out there for kids to play on the wall. I know that the kids loves racing each other, but other than that...?
Thanks for all your suggestions. Honestly, they've all been really helpful. And believe me, these guys won't have to worry about being bored to death with rambling conversations. I've never been good at them. :wink:
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