Teaching kids

Originally posted by GraemeK
I'm a really crappy player, but I started to 'give back to my community'. Not sure if this is useful, but I wrote a bit about my experiences:

http://www.aurorachessclub.ca/?p=902

Good luck! It's fulfilling!

Reading your blog was both fun and encouragement!

I gave my first lesson on Wednesday. There was group of 5 kids. They all already knew the rules quite well except for one smaller boy who was making "strange" moves sometimes. We worked on basic mates: 2 rooks, king and queen, king and rook. Then they just played against each other. Biggest problem was to pay attention to what happens on every board.

On next lesson I plan to continue with mates and also to teach them notation and make them write down the moves while they play. Hope it doesn't kill the fun!

Originally posted by iru
Reading your blog was both fun and encouragement!

I gave my first lesson on Wednesday. There was group of 5 kids. They all already knew the rules quite well except for one smaller boy who was making "strange" moves sometimes. We worked on basic mates: 2 rooks, king and queen, king and rook. Then they just played against each other. Biggest problem was to pay ...[text shortened]... em notation and make them write down the moves while they play. Hope it doesn't kill the fun!

Fantastic! Good on you! The most important thing I have learned IS to keep it fun. Be ready to modify your lesson if you find that any of the kids start to get bored. If they don't want to learn one week, then don't teach them anything - just let them play. Sometimes they will be receptive, sometimes not - it's important to be aware of this.