Tiger Rock Academy Teaches Valuable Lessons to Kindergarten
April 14, 2010
When I received an email from one of my student’s TaeKwonDo instructors that they would like to come and do a demonstration in my classroom, the first thing I thought about was the old movie The Karate Kid. I envisioned my student doing the “wax on – wax off” drill and ready to take anyone on that got in his way. When I accepted the invitation I asked if they would need a “padded” area for those “throw downs”. I was assured that wasn’t necessary. We were in for a real treat. Mr. Reed, an instructor at Tiger Rock Academy, taught our kindergarten students several life skills that they put to work immediately.
The first thing they learned is that they should “listen” with their eyes, not just their ears. In order to show they are listening and paying attention they learned to look directly at the person while they speak. They were told that their focus should be on “the spot”, which is between the person’s eyes of the person that is speaking to them. Students learned the Three Rules of Concentration phrase: “Focus your eyes. Focus your mind. Focus your body. Sir!” This helps the students be better listeners and help them to stay focused.
Mr. Reed also taught them the “Stranger Alarm”. The students practiced shouting “Stop! Don’t touch me stranger!” and learned several good ways to get away from someone that is trying to get them or someone that is holding onto them.
Leadership is another skill taught during the demonstration. We work on these skills during our Character Counts class. The TaeKwonDo tenets are honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, community, strength, humility, and knowledge. All of these principles, if followed, make us good leaders. We learned that we need to set a good example for our friends by always doing what is right and standing up for what we know is the right thing to say and do. Our teachers and parents are also role models for us and we should do what they ask us to do.
Nutrition is something important that we also discussed. We need to make healthy food choices to keep our bodies healthy.
We have two students in Kindergarten at Freeman that attend TaeKwonDo classes. Alex Podtburg and Cole Parde. When asked what their favorite part of class is they both said The Jungle Game is the most fun. They also said they have learned to focus better, to be kind and polite to others, and take care of their bodies. Some of their classes are in Firth, other times they are in Lincoln, and they go to Omaha for special ceremonies. They both enjoy the class very much.
