Teaching Kids

[Guest guest]

its not about "dumbing down" its about making it fun. Maybe kids over 12

could pull off some serious ashtanga, but not much younger. In Ameria we

don't have Indian Yoga academies like Patabhi Jois went to.

 

Also, Amanda, have you ever taught yoga to kids? If so, please discuss your

own experience, because if you are teaching them Ashtanga, then I would be

intrigures. If not, well, then by all means go out there and give it a try.

 

 

BTW, I don't appreciate the reference to "Simon Says BS" -- believe me, kids

love games and ANYTHING creative and fun.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

ashtanga yoga, Bill Gray <billg wrote:

>

> its not about "dumbing down" its about making it fun. Maybe kids

over 12

> could pull off some serious ashtanga, but not much younger. In

Ameria we

> don't have Indian Yoga academies like Patabhi Jois went to.

>

> Also, Amanda, have you ever taught yoga to kids? If so, please

discuss your

> own experience, because if you are teaching them Ashtanga, then I

would be

> intrigures. If not, well, then by all means go out there and give

it a try.

>

>

> BTW, I don't appreciate the reference to "Simon Says BS" --

believe me, kids

> love games and ANYTHING creative and fun.

>

>

>

>

My Grandaughter is 7 and has gone to mysore class with me. She

generally does 45 mins of Asanas and 10 min of Shavasana. She has no

problems at all. It has the same effect on her as me or any other

person. Kids are people too.

[Guest guest]

Hi Diane,

 

I teach kid's yoga weekly. My class is for 5 year olds but I

sometimes help at our local public school where an ashtangi has set

up a class for kids at the elementary school.

 

Here's some notes from my experience:

 

1. The kids LOVE the Sanskrit names. They find it challenging to

try to say them. I do not tend to give them the full description

but I always say the sanskrit name and they always try to say it

themselves. In particular, they love SAMASTITHI! Said with

authority They understand this is to bring them to "attention"

and we consistently do a "Is Samastithi like this?" (as I do some

funny body movement) or "like this" (again a funny) and they'll go

no no and show me.

 

2. The kids LOVE to jump so I do traditional Sun Salutations for

them. They have no issue, even at age 5, jumping back and forth...

I say things like "Jump your hands to your feet!"

 

3. With the younger kids I definitely do some Simon Says stuff and

animal related stuff. We do lots of animal poses and there are a

couple good books for learning what these are. I use Kid Yoga by

Juliet Pegrum a lot. With the older kids we don't really do this as

much unless there are a lot of kindergartners in the class.

 

4. We do do standing first, then seated, we always do backbends.

With the little kids I do assisted backbends unless they can clearly

do it themselves and get their head off the ground (which most of

the little girls who also do gymnastics can do). SOme classes we

concentrate on backbending. Bear in mind most little kids have

surprisingly closed hips and forward bends don't seem to be their

favorite which I still haven't figured out.

 

5. Unless I have a class of experienced kids (especially in the 5

year old class), I never do head or handstands. Some of the kids

ask for it but it is very difficult to ensure safety of their little

heads unless you know you have lots of time to assist those who

aren't experienced with them (again, lots of little girls do

gymnastics and they are the ones usually begging for them).

 

6. With the older kids I notice them a little unruly and needed

some good focus, we might do some partner work. The little kids

love this on a regular basis but I've found the older kids don't.

Juliet's book has some good partner poses -- stuff like Navasana

feet to feet, a partner twist... I might also throw in some carnival

act... like swinging Dhanurasana (a big hit with kindergartners).

 

7. My teacher told me when I first started out on this path of

teaching kids... to never ever force them... so sometimes some kids

will run circles and other times they participate. My only rule is

that they not disturb the other children.

 

8. ALL kids LOVE LOVE LOVE savasana. In fact, my little kids often

want to stop class 15 minutes early and just do savasana. I always

do a little bit of guided meditation to get them started. I say

things like "Lay down, close your eyes and make your belly like

jelly." If someone is having a hard time I might shake their belly

and ask where their jelly is. I often then talk about maybe feeling

like they have a cloud under them and the cloud can take off and fly

them anywhere. Or sometimes I ask them to imagine their favorite

place in their house, a big comfy couch with a fluffy blanket... and

imagine feeling like they were there. Then I'll give them 5 minutes

to lay and then bring them back "now imagine the cloud coming back

to this room..." The kids also LOVE when I use bells to wake them

up... and often, if we have time, I give them each a turn to ring

them (another favorite).

 

9. Recently I decided to try introducing them to chanting. I

taught them OM one week and tried to keep it really "benign" so I

said that OM meant, I honor you and you honor me. I try to be

really careful to not get into anything deemed religious or

spiritual as the classes have all different backgrounds and since I

don't often know the parents very well, I don't want to offend

anyone. After teaching them OM, I taught them to chant "OM, shanti,

shanti, shanti." and explained this means peace. They LOVE this

more than I could imagine and if I forget or try to skip it, they

will definitely ask for it. They especially love to sit in a big

circle and hold hands while doing it.

 

Teaching kids has been really really fun. I don't count in Sanskrit

as this does seem to confuse them. There are definitely poses that

kids seem to really love universally and some they seem not to. I

don't play music though they've asked a couple times. For the

little kids I keep the class to 30 minutes. For the older kids they

can do about 35-40 easily. I usually "plan a class" but sometimes

it just doesn't work out. When I start with a new group I usually

give two kids in the class the opportunity to "show us a pose" and

we all do it. This helps everyone feel integrated I've found.

 

In my younger kids class I did a wholesale order fromG Barefoot

Books of the Baptise book... they really loved it. I found the

older kids weren't so into it.

 

As for parental reaction, I've had nothing but positive. I get

parents coming up to me on the street nad thanking me. They tell me

their kids practice "the poses" at home and can tell them what they

all are.... even those kids who don't actively participate in

class.

 

Good luck... and have fun!