Transforming Kids Yoga Classes with Progression

What is it? Why is it important and how can we achieve it?

📹Watch the video here

When I first started teaching kids yoga, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I felt like a kids’ entertainer. Sometimes I felt like my after school classes were more about childcare than actually giving children lifelong skills.  If you sometimes feel this way then this is the video for you, I share a key aspect that I started to include that transformed my classes.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with your classes being about fun and being entertained while learning some cool things that we can do with our bodies and minds.

But as an educator, this just didn’t feel right for me. 

I felt like I was teaching random things week to week. I was theming the classes, the kids were having fun, they were learning and remembering things but it felt messy to me and like something was missing. I felt like I didn’t have a direction and like I didn’t know what was coming next.

Then it hit me!

I needed to draw on my experiences and skills as a primary teacher. One of the key skills that I started to incorporate in my kids classes that made a huge difference was progression. This is also a fundamental element of the Captivate with Cards resource and training.

So, what is progression?

Progression is improving knowledge, skills and understanding over time. It is the concept that we build upon what we already know bit by bit, block by block- and we deepen our understanding gradually.
Progression for each person isn’t linea, we all learn in our own unique way, building on experiences that we have from numerous places.

BUT, we can create the learning in our classes in a way that supports learning by making our teaching progressive.

Why is progression important in kids’ yoga classes?

Progressive learning supports children in the following ways:

• They are more likely to be ready to learn what we are teaching.
• They are more likely to remember what they have learnt already.
• They are motivated to learn what’s next.
• It boosts their confidence as there is a structure for them to feel comfortable within.
  
  

Progressive learning also supports the teacher in the following ways:

• We feel more confident in what we are teaching.
• We have a better ‘grasp’ of what the children can already do / already know.
• We feel calmer and more organised.
  
  

Progressive learning also helps our classes to be safer as children are building on what they can do comfortably rather than just randomly trying out new poses.

Sounds good, but how can we do it?

Basically, teach poses progressively.

This means, thinking about the order in which you teach poses and movements. Looking at which ones are simpler, teaching those first. Then building on these.

If you also teach adults, it is likely that you already do this.

Here’s a super quick example. To achieve peacock / dancer pose, there are skills that you need to master first. Balancing, focussing, holding the foot, the alignment of the knee.

⬅️To do this

we need to build on these skills ➡️

juliahankins.thrivecart.com/captivate-with-cards/You can do this yourself by thinking about what it is you teach, and putting that learning into a sequence that makes sense and builds on previous learning. 

I have done this by arranging the poses that I teach into four groups that build on each other, this was created by lots of time teaching children and research. If you’d like to save yourself  a lot of time you can get access to this yourself and use in your own classes. Check out Captivate with Cards, not only will you receive all of the resources, but you’ll learn how to use these resources in all of your classes.

* If you are reading this in November, there is also a special offer on at the moment - if you buy Captivate with Cards you also get the School Yoga Teachers Bundle for FREE! *

Is progression important for all kids yoga classes?

Most of the work that I do is teaching within curriculum time within schools. In this case it is definitely important to work in this way. Being able to explain the rationale behind what you are teaching is very important in this setting.

However, I also think that there are many benefits for using this approach in extra curricular classes, clubs and workshops too. 

I think it can feel harder to teach in this way in a club setting as there are children of all different ages and sometimes, we can get new children join who have not had the foundation of learning that others would have had. 

But the process is still the same, it’s basically thinking. What can the children already do? How can I build on that? It might look different in these classes, because you might look at teaching build up poses within the same class rather than over a period of time.

I hope that you found this blog thought provoking and helpful. Do you ensure that your classes are progressive? If so, how do you do this? I'd love to know!

Is there something you would like me to talk about? Or perhaps you have a question.

Email me at [email protected] I'd love to hear from you.

Don't forget to make the most of November's special offer by buying Captivate with Cards Training and Resource Bundle and getting the School Yoga Teacher Bundle for free!

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