The arrival of summer means that schedules for students and parents change and summer activities begin. Summertime also marks the arrival of the “brain drain” where they start to forget everything they’ve learned during the school year. This phenomenon can put your child seriously behind in the fall and can affect their grades.
This makes your child’s karate training more important than ever. Let me explain why… karate is your child’s most important summer activity:
1. Keeps the Routine – Summer means that your child’s normal schedule is disrupted. Their school and karate schedules during the school year provide the stability that every child needs. The lack of structure during the summer months causes a delay in a student getting back into the rhythm of the school year in the fall, which can, in turn, set them back for the whole year. The structure of summer karate training gives students a boost for the start of the school year. Instead of feeling that they are fighting an uphill battle the whole year, our karate students coast smoothly back into the school year.
2. Improves Grades in the Fall – New research, as described in Malcom Gladwell’s best- selling book, “Outliers”, proves that children involved in enrichment activities, like karate during the summer, receive higher test scores after the summer compared to children who are not involved in enrichment activities. Enrichment activities appear to keep a child’s mind engaged for the summer and protects them from the summer brain drain that gradually saps students of the information they learned in the previous year.
3. Instills a “Stick-with-it” Attitude – Do you know someone whose child jumps from activity to activity and never achieves anything? Let’s face it…anything worth doing in life takes work and perseverance.
4. Maintains Rank Progression - There is nothing more discouraging to a child than to see a classmate (who continued to training during the summer) advance ahead in a belt rank, while they still need time to catch up. Students who train for the summer continue to feel the confidence building effect of belt promotion.
5. Builds Camaraderie – One of the most underestimated values in karate is maintaining the lifetime friendships that it builds. Summer karate keeps them interacting with other children in a fun and safe environment. These friendships motivate students to go the extra mile and continue the achievement cycle of their martial arts commitment.
6. Keeps Them Fit – Unfortunately, summer allows children a lot more idle time to spend watching TV or playing video games. This contributes to the summer brain drain referred to above. This is also one of the main reasons for the childhood obesity problems. Karate will give them the physical activity they need. It’s a fact…a body in motion stays in motion, and a body at rest stays at rest (Sir Isaac Newton’s Law of Inertia).
7. Provides Great Entertainment – Do you ever have difficulty entertaining your kids with all the additional time or hear your children tell you they are bored during the summer? Look no further, we all know that karate is extremely fun, plus it provides parents with the much needed downtime. Just bring them in and we’ll handle the rest.
8. Tunes Up Focus and Self-Discipline – The last thing a parent needs is a child’s focus and self-discipline, that was built up throughout the year, to deteriorate during the summer. This focus and self-discipline takes time to fine-tune in the fall when school starts and can leave your child at a loss until they gain the momentum.
Karate keeps kid’s razor sharp over the summer along with all the fun and enjoyment karate classes’ supply. Let your child be ahead of the average pack at the beginning of the school year. In addition, we would love for your child to be a part of the many special programs we have lined up for the warm weather ahead.
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