We have heard from so many parents in the past few weeks. Many are desperately looking for solutions to quarantine induced problems. Some children are showing signs of anger that were not evident before March 2020. Some children are basically lethargic and unmotivated to do anything. Other children are having daily symptoms of stomach aches or other ailments.
Parents are contending with all these issues and also having to deal with the new world of children going to school at home on a virtual platform. With the amount of change most children have seen in the past 6 months, it is no wonder that we are watching our children become entirely different from our pre-COVID life. Some children are scared. Some children are worried. Some children are angry that they can’t do all the activities that once kept them sane. Some children are acting out because their parents are at the end of their own ropes.
While I can’t tell you what to do to fix this situation, I can tell you what we have seen working. We have seen children who thrived in martial arts classes. We noticed that many of the children needed the Private Lessons so the teacher could interact with them in a way that brought out the best in each of them. There were also children who needed to see their other Karate friends in the group classes. We have tried to offer a blend of both, during the Virtual Martial Arts times.
Now we have re-opened our doors to having students come back to classes with an instructor standing on the floor in front of them. It is awesome to see students back in the dojo. Most of our students are still attending virtually, but some have made it back in.
We will welcome you, in whatever platform works best for you. But…I just want to say, please help your children do this again. They need some normalcy. If we were a big part of their life before March 2020, then please, help them back into what made them happy. We will continue to tell them how great they are and will build their skills daily.
Many things are new now. Their school day might be entirely different than it was a year ago. In most cases, we can’t change that right now. You can give them back some of what their routine was prior to COVID. Let them take do their virtual school classes because that is what they have to do. Then…bring them in to Karate if you can. We promise, we are more careful with our environment than anyone who has visited a grocery store lately.
Our staff has done a great job with re-learning how to teach at 6 foot intervals. They have taken weekly classes on how to help everyone reach their goals again, without working in partner situations.
We have become extremely creative and have purchased all kinds of new equipment to help us with that. I hope you will give us a chance in person. If you are not sure, please come see us, during the day before classes start and let Josh or Melissa tell you how we are doing things now!