For parents
Nowadays, learning chess is a popular and effective tool for intellectual development of a child. Many parents want to introduce their children the ancient game, but do not know how better to start.
Thanks to chess:
- A child learns to think and make decisions independently. Even the simplest solution (which figure to make a move) that can cause not so big losses (worst - losing) teach children independence and responsibility.
- During the chess lessons child learns to focus on one process, it produces perseverance.
- The child develops spatial imagination.
- In elementary school children face with challenges that require a planned action. Learning to form an internal plan of action should be established in preschool years while most children learn to manage their time, think strategically and achieve goals.
- One of the most attractive features of chess is victory over a rival. The desire to win makes a child to train, and any error or failure is just a new opportunity for development.
- Learning chess gives the child the joy of creativity, while simultaneously being an effective tool of his mental development.
Are individual lessons with the couch needed?
Many parents think that teaching the child to play chess, having individual lessons with the couch, their child will become expert in sport and maybe even grandmaster. It is not always like that.
If your child is fond of chess, does home assignment in bigger amount than is was given and, coming back home after played game, your child takes chess and tries to analyze the game, and you are ready to sacrifice anything for the sake of lesson of chess, that means that individual lessons with couch-pedagogue are expedient.
If not – your child has to attend chess lessons in chess-school, but do not demand from his some high results. Because there are such children who come into group not only for studying how to play chess, but also for communication which they maybe lack in everyday life. Your child may feel comfortable in such a group because in that place he is treated with kindness and respect. And what about results? The results will be for sure but not so quickly as you think.
Many children want to gain some high results, however, they play chess not enough. They are ready to play chess but not always. The reasons for reluctance to play chess may be different: fear of losing and of lessening his rating (though at home, I hope, they will not be scold for failure), fear of playing with competitor with higher rank and rating. In order to overcome psychological barrier the couch-pedagogue is needed.
Self-independent work at home
The trainers seldom have to remind children about doing home-assignment and self-independent work with chess. This refers not only to children who have 3-4 ranks but also to children who have 1-2 ranks, including candidate for masters of sport. While the trainer is checking home-assignment, the children are doing it. But when attention is weaken – self-independent work with chess stops. In order to have high results one need to improve. In the root of improving lies self-independent work.
We try in the first place to help children who study how to play chess at home: we explain what one must do and how to do at the given period of time.
But what must do parents whose children can’t busy themselves with independent work? At first you have to decide with your child what you want to gain playing chess, what rank of chess you want to have. And when together with your child you gain the final aim, put another aim and so on. One has to start from the little aim, then seek the bigger one and never stop at the achieved.
Rating
There are parents who are caring for the rating for their child and this is not bad. But they don’t have to compare their child with others. Yes, rating can lower or increase, and one must treat this philosophically. One shouldn’t take this too seriously. Your children shouldn’t be afraid to lose their rating. If they do fear, your child will not be able to play well. In the end he can stop playing chess not revealing himself completely. Do not create for him a complex under the name “rating”.
An increase of rating
When our children come to play chess, the level of elementary knowledge everyone has different. During studying year they are given the information about chess game, its rules, do home-assignment and take part in the competition. At this time some children start to show good results and even do elementary level №4. And this child, who became the strongest among beginners, starts to play with children who also have fourth rank but who have more knowledge and experience of playing the game at this level. Being among such children your child starts to show the results not so good as she used to. Parents don’t understand what is going on. The child was the best. But the parents do not suspect that the child lacks knowledge and experience. Time passes, the child gains and adopts new information about chess, the child gains experience of playing with the children who have 3 and 4 ranks, she is practicing herself (solves positions, reads books about chess). And here she is the strongest again. She does third rank. And what next? And then the same as it used to be. Going to the next level she may have failures and then, gaining experience and knowledge, the results appear again. Success will not be always. And this is normal.
Dear parents, you need to help your children, not to hurry them, be patient and wait when the next success will come.
Let us not scold our child but LOVE her.
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