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 Teaching KidsModerators: Moderators Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
| Yoga -> Yoga Teachers | Message format |
samantha77 |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 517  Location: New Jersey | Here at the health club I work for we have three kids yoga classes every week. I was asked to teach starting with the fall session. I would really love to try it, but at the same time, I am a little concerned. I've never taught yoga to any one before. Does anyone know of any resources I could use to prepare myself before I do this? Would it be better to start teaching adult yoga before kids yoga or vice versa? I hate to get into the class and do a terrible job! Thanks! Samantha | ||
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| what is your training thus far? what are the ages of the kids? how long is the class? | |||
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| samantha77 |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 517 Location: New Jersey | I've had no teacher training so far. Only the classes I've taken for about 5 years minus the 6 or 7 month "yoga hiatus" I went on last year. Mainly Ashtanga, and an 'open' style class which I would categorize as a Hatha style class. The ages of the kids would be 5-8yrs for the youngest class, 9-12yrs for the class we call 'Yoga for 'tweens', and 13 and up for our teen class. The two younger classes are 45min, and the one for teen is an hour. Samantha | ||
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| well, there are a number of books out there for yoga for kids. i would use this for the 8 and under group. Kids seem to love mudras--so i would look up mudras as well. They also like mantras. for anyone over eight, i teach yoga to them like i would an adult. classes are structured similarly. there is more focus on the various elements of yoga--the ritualized aspects of the class like the invocation (mantra), integration (warm up poses), body of the practice, cool down, rest, pranayama, mantra, namaste, and prayer. teens function basicly like tiny adults--they seem to like applied philosophy. So, explaining something like 'observing your reactions, and instead of reacting, choosing right action" and related seem to really speak to them. | |||
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| samantha77 |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 517 Location: New Jersey | Thanks Zoebird! | ||
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| First off Smantha it's well done to be thinking about this at a very deep level BEFORE you accept such a position. Incredibly mindful. Many do not. Please consider declining the teaching offer. It is appropriate to have training before teaching any subject. This one has more responsibility than most because children and injury are involved hand-in-hand. There are developmental risks (of varying degree depending who you ask and how/what you are teaching). I don't know if you have children or not but imagine a parent sending their child to Kindergarten without knowing the teacher has no formal training, none! It's lovely the gym thinks highly of you but understand that being a wonderful person is a quality of a human being, but not, by itslef a quality for being a good yoga teacher. All things being equal, teaching adults would be safer than shildren as far as a starting point. And it's not about doing a terrible job. You might do a great job but one tiny mistake or lack of focus and there might be some real fallout. Please get training first. samantha77 - 2006-08-03 2:10 PM Here at the health club I work for we have three kids yoga classes every week. I was asked to teach starting with the fall session. I would really love to try it, but at the same time, I am a little concerned. I've never taught yoga to any one before. Does anyone know of any resources I could use to prepare myself before I do this? Would it be better to start teaching adult yoga before kids yoga or vice versa? I hate to get into the class and do a terrible job! Thanks! Samantha | |||
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| while i agree with the concept of mindfulness before choosing a position, i simply assumed that this step was already taken before accepting. perhaps that was a false assumption. certainly, if that wasn't tought of, then it needs to be. while i value training in general, i find that many teacher trainings available today are highly inadequate for any teaching. most are money-making ventures for teachers and studios, and not focused on the developmental process of a student-teacher and helping them discern and develop their skills and talents in that direction. in this, training can be something that may not be functional for the teacher. a number of the child-related teacher trainings are very inadequate IMO--as are many prenatal trainings. Very few focus on asana and the special needs of developing children (including developmental psychology), and rather focus on "making classes child-friendly" which to me ends up being patronizing to the youthful brilliance. It's a big expense, to get this training that is relatively useless. so what is a to-be teacher to do? of course, i agree that this teacher should seek out high-quality training from a dedicated teacher. but, this may not be available (for distance or financial reasons). and, in either case--with or without a teacher--self-study is the cornerstone of learning and learning to teach. i strongly feel that there is little that one can gain from specific child-related teacher trainings. but, the books may be helpful for coming up with creative ways to engage children. Getting a book about child development may also be helpful--something that would not necessarily be found on a teacher training's books list. and finally, whether or not a teacher has training, to-be teachers and new teachers need to 'cut their teeth' (using a child-related growth euphanism) somewhere and get a taste of what they like or dislike in teaching. by taking on classes that are 'lower risk,' whether with adults or children, they begin to utilize and learn the different teaching skills that they will need over time. And you'd be surprized at how many teachers out there in the 'real world' are untrained. the YMCA, after hiring a completely inexperienced mom to teach yoga (she'd never done yoga ever) to teach a teen class, offered me (a highly-trained yoga teacher) the position of teaching "kinder music" to 5 yr olds. I have no training in music or in how to teach "kinder music"--but they still offered me the position. It went to another untrained mother. while this practice does have flaws, when there is a teacher shortage, most places do 'the best they can' and sometimes finding someone who is simply willing to try is a step in the right direction. | |||
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| samantha77 |
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Extreme Veteran Posts: 517 Location: New Jersey | Thanks for the input, Purnayoga. My hesitation to take this position does stem from the fact that I have not had any yoga teacher training. As far as teaching kids, I'm a Health and Physical Education major, so this would kind of go hand in hand with what I want to do in life, teach kids. After thinking about it for a little while, I've decided to ask if I can take the class, maybe as a demonstrator, with the current instructor, to see how she teaches it compared to how my classes are conducted. It seems to be the only solution if I want to teach yoga to kids since, and Zoebird mentioned, Teacher training programs specializing in kids yoga are few and far between Samantha | ||
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| I think it obvious Zoe and I do not fully agree. We do agree in parts. But it's fine to not have the same perspective. And ultimately the decision and resulting actions are yours. It's fully your decision. We can only provide what we can provide. When I post on the board I specifically effort to respond only to the original poster. Sometimes I get drawn in to more. But never am I pitting my perspective as the only one nor am I trying to put holes in the other. We should always embrace being of service. So being the catalyst for deeper thought may be the mission. [One very pertinent question: Samantha, is your perception of "yoga" that it is a physical fitness activity?] Zoe and I agree that trainings are tough to come by. I would even agree that the offerings in terms of trainings are inadequate, perhaps even worthless (less likely on the worhtless part though because to me it's too extreme a position and doesn't feel balanced). I also agree with the concept of getting your feet wet or cutting your teeth. But I would more easily advocate a teacher training AND apprenticeship as a resolution rather than foresaking training and teaching the class because circumstances seemingly dictate. I think we've added enough questionable teachers into the yoga gene pool. And it's very true there's a real absence of integrity with teacher trainings as Zoe points out that many are money making devices exclusively. True, true, true. And STILL I think "get training". Take an adult training (for lack of a better word). I'd rather see you (or anyone else) get some hours of yoga anatomy, sessions on asana instruction, sequencing, risk management, a few hours of mock teaching, and a group of peers for future support then to have you teach YOGA without training. Is it a waste of money? Well I think that is directly proportional to how serious you take teaching. Is it vocation or avocation? Is it so easy? I mean is yoga so simple that we can advocate doing so without training. I listen to a lot of music and read all sorts of music books and study music theory. Should I teach Piano? Sure doing these things is a must for even considering teaching. But to me a cornerstone does not a foundation make. It's just a corner. And given only a corner the house will surely tip. If you have a health issue and go to your doctor (I try like the d|ckens to avoid them) would you go to one who read a lot of books and cut up some cadevers at home for the last eight years? I would be very uneasy going to such a chap. But listen, there aren't any good medical schools nearby and the ones that are close aren't very good. So I guess I'll just have to go to this fellow. And maybe everything will be just fine. Do we value yoga as a practice of health and well being as much as we do a look down our throat and some blood work from our Gp? samantha77 - 2006-08-05 10:14 AM Thanks for the input, Purnayoga. My hesitation to take this position does stem from the fact that I have not had any yoga teacher training. As far as teaching kids, I'm a Health and Physical Education major, so this would kind of go hand in hand with what I want to do in life, teach kids. After thinking about it for a little while, I've decided to ask if I can take the class, maybe as a demonstrator, with the current instructor, to see how she teaches it compared to how my classes are conducted. It seems to be the only solution if I want to teach yoga to kids since, and Zoebird mentioned, Teacher training programs specializing in kids yoga are few and far between Samantha Edited by purnayoga 2006-08-05 10:22 PM | |||
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| while i agree that the best method is training plus apprenticeship (or apprenticeship-based training, which is what i recieved and what i offer), this is not always feasable or available. i think people should be mindful of the training that they choose and look at it for how it will serve what they want to do and be as teachers. and be careful that they're not just becoming a something for the studio to make money. similarly, some training is better than none--but samantha, with her degree, has more teacher-methodology training than most, plus more anatomy, etc, training than most yoga teachers (i would assume, if education degrees are anything like they were a decade ago). Since she's in the mode of study, she can actually find the yoga anatomy text books and use those applications quite simply. agian, while i value training, i'm still open to the possibility of complete independent arising and self-reflection and study leading to an excellent teacher. it's rare, but i believe it is possible. | |||
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| sirensong2 |
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| I think taking/observing the class at least a few times with the current instructor is a great way to get a feel for what you'll be facing. Have you taught any physical education to kids in a classroom/gym setting yet or is that further down the line? Next generation yoga in NYC does seperate young children/older kids TT. You may want to check them out... they are only weekend trainings, however. With your backround though, that may be just what you need to be off and running. they also provide links to other kids yoga trainings on their website. Good luck with your decision, samantha! | |||
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| tourist |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442      | I don't have much of a problem with someone who is trained to work with children teaching them some yoga poses. Most of the teachers I know do it from time to time. They "play yoga" in amongst their other active playtime and the kids love it. I have more issues with the idea of someone untrained teaching a kid's yoga class. It may seem to be a fine line, but in the first instance, the person is a teacher already and simply sharing what she knows, in the second instance, the person is presenting (no matter how they name themselves) as a "yoga teacher" and there is a whole other set of expectations and assumptions made by others once you step into that role. I suppose it is similar to a friend showing another friend a pose or two to stretch a sore leg or even just to enjoy the yoga together. It s a different matter then, if that person sets herself up as a teacher simply because her friend learned something from her. | ||
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| Samantha says "major" rather than degree and she's only in her first year (2006) of this degree program. She does have a degree in another discipline but it's not a science so....she's not in posession of a degree in Phys Ed. And we do not know which of the three Phys Ed tracts at her university she is studying. So while she may have anatomy courses she might not have teaching courses and vice versa. She may or may not have more training than a yoga teacher AFTER she earns the degree. zoebird - 2006-08-06 5:56 AM ...samantha, with her degree, has more teacher-methodology training than most, plus more anatomy, etc, training than most yoga teachers ... | |||
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| purna: true. from my own experience, i have more anatomy and physiology training that most yoga teachers because of the courses that i took in college (anatomy, physiology, bio-behavoiral health) and those weren't even required for my major (english, non-fiction writing degree). in my study or research of various yoga programs, very few have as much training as comes in a single college course. | |||
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| On this we agree. I think the issue is where we, as teachers, begin to believe that a strength in one area makes us a superb yoga teacher. And we may be superb yoga teachers. Most of the time it's not because we are amazing disectors of asana, or familiar with the attachments and origins of muscles (though obviously EACh of these is necessary in measure to build a superb yoga teacher). For example, a yoga teacher that spends years studying asana with a master, gets a physiology degree, and happens to talk non-stop during his classes, with no real point. Great background but as with all knowledge, it is useless...without application. Sort of the same with the Sutras. Memorizing them backwards and forwards is of no use whatsoever..without applying them. zoebird - 2006-08-09 4:23 AM purna: true. from my own experience, i have more anatomy and physiology training that most yoga teachers because of the courses that i took in college (anatomy, physiology, bio-behavoiral health) and those weren't even required for my major (english, non-fiction writing degree). in my study or research of various yoga programs, very few have as much training as comes in a single college course. | |||
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