Culleux wrote:
http://www.squidoo.com/chessclub ?
In Denmark, elementary schoolkids (4-8 yr) who starts with chess, plays pawn-chess (only 8 vs 8 pawns (no king) and the first gets the 8th rank wins) or Brave Nights-chess (2 night vs 4 pawns (no king) and if the nights gets all the pawns the nights wins and if the pawns get to the 8th rank they win and then with 5-6-7-8 pawns vs 2 nights) and all kind of little chess games (you can find them on the Internet) that takes the kids through the minds of real chess.
Videos? - I wouldn'dt start with that with 4-8 yr olds, just remember it have to be FUN! - otherwise they loose interrest very fast.
Thanks for the tips and reply, as well as the URL you posted - all very helpful!
Hi all,
I'm planning to volunteer to introduce and manage a chess club at my son's elementary school. I'm excited about it, but also realize I need some guidance to pull this off successfully, so appreciate any suggestions you have to offer.
Right off the bat I'm no master player myself - around 1100 playing blitz online. That doesn't count for much around here, but I'm hopeful with sufficient preparation that I'm a decent enough player to pull this off successfully. I'm willing to invest more time into my own chess game to try and increase my rating if I need to reach a higher level of play to teach kids.
So what should I focus on these next few months? What would you spend your time doing for an hour a week with a group of 4-8 yr. old kids learning to play and improve their chess game? Should we watch chess.com videos (I'll spring for a paid membership
)? Should I prepare tactics exercises, practice openings, have them play me/each other, review historical games and notations from others far better than me?
A PE teacher who knows the rules will be an assistant for what it's worth and I will have a computer with a projector and other equipment like TV/DVD player in the classroom to use.
Thanks!