Grading is coming up and it can be a nervous time for students and parents. What is going to happen? How will my child do? Will I pass? I am not good enough? ahhh I made a mistake!! I can’t do it!!!
For our younger students who are part of the Little Dragons programme, it is important to understand that grading and receiving their belt is more about recognition of the effort and confidence to get up in front of instructors and everyone else and perform to the best of their ability. It is about saying all that hard work they put in class during the cycle has paid off rather than getting exact technique on the day.
Yes we want them to perform the curriculum requirements on the day but due to the varying development stages of children from 5 – 7 yrs it is natural some students will simply perform better than others. This is ok. Remember it is not about exact performance. It is about them trying and giving their best effort on the day, they need to step up and perform on the day to pass.
Reinforce to your child in the lead up and simply encourage them to perform to the best of their ability without comparing themselves to others. This will enable them to feel competent without feeling out of their depth.
Grading is all about showing real praise to the efforts the child makes and the process they follow that leads to the result. Praise the hard work a child did in preparing for the grading and how they diligently worked on areas that they knew were difficult for them.
Should they practice? Yes.
Should they have their stripes showing they could do the technique? Absolutely.
Should they be expected to try really hard and participate? Totally.
Do we expect them to have exact technique and perfection? Nope.
Do we want to see them TRY? 100% Yes.
I hope this helps pre-frame how we view our Little Dragon gradings and how you can help your child prepare for the big day. Any questions just ask.
