Ay-yah!
Or however you spell it.
The boys attended their first karate class tonight. They are SO in love.
This local studio has a class just for three and four year olds. A co-worker of mine has been taking his son for a couple of years, and we chatted about it for a while. We decided to stop by tonight, we weren't quite sure if we'd just be able to watch a bit, or what.
The instructor met us at the door, introduced herself to the boys, and asked them their names and ages, and then to take off their shoes. We were a bit early, so they started by whacking balls around the practice area with little bats. Henry claims to have liked this part best, but he didn't stop grinning for the next half hour.
I *really* like the instructor. She jumped right into it, was enthusiastic and energetic, and engaged with positive encouragement and energy. (I can't think of any more ens to include.) She kept them going at a quick pace, so they mostly didn't have time to get distracted.
Henry seems to be a natural. My lithe little athlete boy. His kicks were great, he followed directions, and stayed pretty focused. Eddie did better than I thought he might. He was enthusiastic, though! Over-achiever - he had run all the way across the room before anybody else started, somehow kept ending up in the front of the line for kicking, etc. :-) He did have a little trouble staying in line for some of the exercises; the funniest was when he crept away, started tip-toeing stealthily behind the instructor with his finger to his mouth, saying "shhhh!" Stinker. :-) She managed it well, patiently asking him to return, not getting frustrated.
The other kids all seemed really happy, too. All of those little girls were fierce! They were adorable. One other little boy was even more distracted than Eddie, but they were still really good at keeping it positive.
At the end, she did a little belt ceremony, where the boys each got their white belts. They were So. Proud. Henry wants to wear it all of the time. I think we'll have to find someplace special for them.
We signed them up to continue. The studio doesn't have a contract, and I didn't get the feeling that they were just bleeding us for money. If something comes up that we don't like, we'll just leave. Uniforms, which are just t-shirts and cotton pants, are included. They have a pretty good second child discount. They also don't have the 2+x/week commitment like the place up at the mall did. The mall place seemed pushy. This place didn't give me that vibe.
We did give this a lot of thought, first. There are so many opportunities for kids to do activities, but I feel strongly that kids should remain mostly unscheduled. We've avoided doing much for lessons or pee-wee soccer or any of that until now, and I'd really like to keep it to one thing at a time. Sure, a place like the mall that requires you to show up at least twice a week gives you "more" for your money, but frankly, one night a week is plenty for a three and four year old.
They're going to have fun with this. So are we. :-D
The boys attended their first karate class tonight. They are SO in love.
This local studio has a class just for three and four year olds. A co-worker of mine has been taking his son for a couple of years, and we chatted about it for a while. We decided to stop by tonight, we weren't quite sure if we'd just be able to watch a bit, or what.
The instructor met us at the door, introduced herself to the boys, and asked them their names and ages, and then to take off their shoes. We were a bit early, so they started by whacking balls around the practice area with little bats. Henry claims to have liked this part best, but he didn't stop grinning for the next half hour.
I *really* like the instructor. She jumped right into it, was enthusiastic and energetic, and engaged with positive encouragement and energy. (I can't think of any more ens to include.) She kept them going at a quick pace, so they mostly didn't have time to get distracted.
Henry seems to be a natural. My lithe little athlete boy. His kicks were great, he followed directions, and stayed pretty focused. Eddie did better than I thought he might. He was enthusiastic, though! Over-achiever - he had run all the way across the room before anybody else started, somehow kept ending up in the front of the line for kicking, etc. :-) He did have a little trouble staying in line for some of the exercises; the funniest was when he crept away, started tip-toeing stealthily behind the instructor with his finger to his mouth, saying "shhhh!" Stinker. :-) She managed it well, patiently asking him to return, not getting frustrated.
The other kids all seemed really happy, too. All of those little girls were fierce! They were adorable. One other little boy was even more distracted than Eddie, but they were still really good at keeping it positive.
At the end, she did a little belt ceremony, where the boys each got their white belts. They were So. Proud. Henry wants to wear it all of the time. I think we'll have to find someplace special for them.
We signed them up to continue. The studio doesn't have a contract, and I didn't get the feeling that they were just bleeding us for money. If something comes up that we don't like, we'll just leave. Uniforms, which are just t-shirts and cotton pants, are included. They have a pretty good second child discount. They also don't have the 2+x/week commitment like the place up at the mall did. The mall place seemed pushy. This place didn't give me that vibe.
We did give this a lot of thought, first. There are so many opportunities for kids to do activities, but I feel strongly that kids should remain mostly unscheduled. We've avoided doing much for lessons or pee-wee soccer or any of that until now, and I'd really like to keep it to one thing at a time. Sure, a place like the mall that requires you to show up at least twice a week gives you "more" for your money, but frankly, one night a week is plenty for a three and four year old.
They're going to have fun with this. So are we. :-D