The Exploratory Phase of Tot-Sports Development
New Class!Today was Day 1 for our new session of Baby Dills (2-3) Jelly Bean Soccer. I have two very young boys and one very young girl. Something unique that I don't see everyday is the two boys had Mom and Dad both present in class. This is a wonderful way for children to be introduced to sports receiving the maximum encouragement possible from both parents. The little girl and her Mom were present, they both were enrolled with me in last session's class. Mom loves our Jelly Bean teaching method for her daughter.
The beginning of this mornings class got off to a bit of a rough start. Nothing unusual or alarming, maybe a little more extreme than I am use to. All-in-all it was kids just being kids inside what I call the exploration phase of development. This is 1 of 3 introductory phases of sports development for children: Exploration, familiarity, and collaboration. I've developed these stages to help myself and parents better understand how children grow inside our "Making Kids Coachable" development process.
The exploration phase is something all children experience, inside of it you'll find children, essentially, exploring, learning and growing while they hopefully are building a passion for sports. The environment includes many things we as adults often take for granted. Walk into a gym and you'll find the floor, the ceiling, lights, signs, sports equipment, other people, maybe sibling's strollers, Moms and Dads, and many other things as you'll find out. Remember what we take for granted is important and shines through in my next example. It takes into consideration how seemingly fragile the exploration phase of development can be and reveals how a simple change can sometimes have a dramatic affect children's behavior(s).
Today I moved to the opposite side of the curtain, that divides the gym, from the previous session I had taught. Now, the two boys in this class were new so they didn't know I had done this and never knew the difference. However the returning little girl saw the change much differently. She had made comment right away when she walked in because in her little mind, she remembered soccer class one way and it had changed. This change made a difference on her ability to get comfortable. Even though she knew me, and had already been to four classes what I saw was a little girl responding with much the same exploratory fervor as the two little boys. Had I not changed locations, I believe the little girl would be gravitating closer towards the familiarity phase of development. I, of course, did not switch sides of the gym to spite the little girl, it was done for logistical reasons.
The message here is it takes time to really make kids comfortable. If we change the rules or as I did, the environment, it can take longer for kids to adjust. Sometimes this is longer than many of us, adults, are willing to wait. Believe it or not, we are all kids inside and therein I can say kids are often no different than adults. They take their time, warm up and often ease into things. When things change, they don't go unrecognized. Kids have to reshape their thinking around change. Kids, whether we like it or not, will go when they are ready.
Interpreting the Exploratory Phase
While the three children each demonstrated different behaviors indicative of the exploration phase, none was exactly the same. For example one of the boys at the beginning of class wanted to play exclusively with the soccer balls. Unfortunately, I put them away because I needed to begin class and the way we do so is by doing fun stretching exercises. You could say he was exploring the limitations of the class. When his initial efforts didn't work, he worked Mommy to help him get a soccer ball. I know it sounds manipulative and funny coming from a three year old but this is just how ingenious kids are. The little girl, on the other hand, was completely uninterested in what I was saying or the rest of the group was doing. She, instead of exploring limitations, was more interested in the actual act of exploring, the curtain, the lines on the floor, the equipment closet and more.
At this point your saying to yourself, why does he subject himself to this type of torture? You would likely ask me why I don't get frustrated, impatient or sick enough of kids not listening that I'd move on and find other type of work? My best answer is, because this is what I do. If I don't learn about kids, I can't expect them to learn from me. I also can't share the invaluable insights about introductory sports classes with you because most of them are otherwise being taught be high school students who think of the work as a job and do it for the money. Hopefully you get that it is much deeper than that for me.
In case your interested, the third little boy was less obstinate but rather hesitant. This I picked up since he had entered the gym. He opened up during warm-ups and clean-up but as I asked him to join me on the colorful parachute laying on the floor for stretching, he would just stare at me unresponsive. I would ask him questions, no response. This type of behavior is very common. He, I believe, was more or less exploring his comfort levels around me. Needless to say, it is very interesting to watch how it all unfolds from the beginning of a class versus a span of classes where larger forms of development occur.
Don't Force It
The best advice I try to give to parents is not to force anything. Kids develop at their own speed and they develop their own sense of security in their own time. We must be patient. Once children feel secure, I, as a coach, know they will come around to finding everything I am about fun. Parents continuously tell me that kids who attend our classes talk about class constantly at home. This is attributable to our style of working with kids. We let kids develop in their own time, and by not forcing change upon them, we can keep sports simple and make learning fun.
See you in class,
~Coach Pickles
The beginning of this mornings class got off to a bit of a rough start. Nothing unusual or alarming, maybe a little more extreme than I am use to. All-in-all it was kids just being kids inside what I call the exploration phase of development. This is 1 of 3 introductory phases of sports development for children: Exploration, familiarity, and collaboration. I've developed these stages to help myself and parents better understand how children grow inside our "Making Kids Coachable" development process.
The exploration phase is something all children experience, inside of it you'll find children, essentially, exploring, learning and growing while they hopefully are building a passion for sports. The environment includes many things we as adults often take for granted. Walk into a gym and you'll find the floor, the ceiling, lights, signs, sports equipment, other people, maybe sibling's strollers, Moms and Dads, and many other things as you'll find out. Remember what we take for granted is important and shines through in my next example. It takes into consideration how seemingly fragile the exploration phase of development can be and reveals how a simple change can sometimes have a dramatic affect children's behavior(s).
Today I moved to the opposite side of the curtain, that divides the gym, from the previous session I had taught. Now, the two boys in this class were new so they didn't know I had done this and never knew the difference. However the returning little girl saw the change much differently. She had made comment right away when she walked in because in her little mind, she remembered soccer class one way and it had changed. This change made a difference on her ability to get comfortable. Even though she knew me, and had already been to four classes what I saw was a little girl responding with much the same exploratory fervor as the two little boys. Had I not changed locations, I believe the little girl would be gravitating closer towards the familiarity phase of development. I, of course, did not switch sides of the gym to spite the little girl, it was done for logistical reasons.
The message here is it takes time to really make kids comfortable. If we change the rules or as I did, the environment, it can take longer for kids to adjust. Sometimes this is longer than many of us, adults, are willing to wait. Believe it or not, we are all kids inside and therein I can say kids are often no different than adults. They take their time, warm up and often ease into things. When things change, they don't go unrecognized. Kids have to reshape their thinking around change. Kids, whether we like it or not, will go when they are ready.
Interpreting the Exploratory Phase
While the three children each demonstrated different behaviors indicative of the exploration phase, none was exactly the same. For example one of the boys at the beginning of class wanted to play exclusively with the soccer balls. Unfortunately, I put them away because I needed to begin class and the way we do so is by doing fun stretching exercises. You could say he was exploring the limitations of the class. When his initial efforts didn't work, he worked Mommy to help him get a soccer ball. I know it sounds manipulative and funny coming from a three year old but this is just how ingenious kids are. The little girl, on the other hand, was completely uninterested in what I was saying or the rest of the group was doing. She, instead of exploring limitations, was more interested in the actual act of exploring, the curtain, the lines on the floor, the equipment closet and more.
At this point your saying to yourself, why does he subject himself to this type of torture? You would likely ask me why I don't get frustrated, impatient or sick enough of kids not listening that I'd move on and find other type of work? My best answer is, because this is what I do. If I don't learn about kids, I can't expect them to learn from me. I also can't share the invaluable insights about introductory sports classes with you because most of them are otherwise being taught be high school students who think of the work as a job and do it for the money. Hopefully you get that it is much deeper than that for me.
In case your interested, the third little boy was less obstinate but rather hesitant. This I picked up since he had entered the gym. He opened up during warm-ups and clean-up but as I asked him to join me on the colorful parachute laying on the floor for stretching, he would just stare at me unresponsive. I would ask him questions, no response. This type of behavior is very common. He, I believe, was more or less exploring his comfort levels around me. Needless to say, it is very interesting to watch how it all unfolds from the beginning of a class versus a span of classes where larger forms of development occur.
Don't Force It
The best advice I try to give to parents is not to force anything. Kids develop at their own speed and they develop their own sense of security in their own time. We must be patient. Once children feel secure, I, as a coach, know they will come around to finding everything I am about fun. Parents continuously tell me that kids who attend our classes talk about class constantly at home. This is attributable to our style of working with kids. We let kids develop in their own time, and by not forcing change upon them, we can keep sports simple and make learning fun.
See you in class,
~Coach Pickles
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