Parents often come to me when summer approaches wanting to know how to keep their child excited about their training in the months to come. Summer can be tricky for families to keep on track with their Tae Kwon Do training because without school everybody’s routines and schedules change as we pick up different activities and commitments.
I would first say that it is important to recognize that children in Tae Kwon Do or in any activity could have some ups or downs. It is natural to feel this way about most pursuits at one time or another.
The first thing is to know this could happen and that it doesn’t mean that your child is not interested at all but that they might be facing a plateau. I have seen this many times in the past and in the hot, summer months when kids are out of a routine schedule and thoughts of the shore, pools, and just hanging out are in their minds, these feelings can be accentuated.
The best way to keep the energy for Tae Kwon Do going is to make sure that your child trains consistently a couple of times a week. This will keep them grounded in their training and consistency brings advancement in the belts which yields more motivation and the benefits of our program. If your child trains consistently and works hard, I am confident that most of them will be able to belt test at some point this summer. That will let them see that their hard work and effort gets rewarded.
In addition, getting your kids involved in our special events is a great way to build more momentum in their training as well as develop friendships that can have a great impact on spiriting your kids through any plateau. Of course, you may always speak to myself or any one of my staff and we would be happy to talk with your child or even do some private booster classes.
I am a firm believer that our Tae Kwon Do kids will learn about perseverance by persevering through challenges. Whether these challenges are learning a form, breaking a board, or coming to class on a 90 degree sunny day, they are all part of building a happy, healthy, confident TKD kid.
Success takes a team effort and I am very thankful for the parents and the instructors I work along with. I know that when we partner together, we will help our kids attain great things.
