mINI mITE Lessons

[iceholes 0]

I have 75 Kids in the program ages 4-7 and have a great lesson plan. BUt I like to continually add new drills for these kids(and assistants)

I have three levels of Kids. Those that we are fine tuning their skating, those that are moving forward , and those learning to move forward.

I need some new ideas for kids skating forward and learning to skate forward. They are limited in mobility, but still could use some variety!

Any good ideas out there?

Thanks

[Chadd 916]

Be careful adding too much variety. One of the biggest downfalls I see in newer coaches is having too many different drills, you spend a lot of time teaching the drill and not the skill.

[goblue9280 33]

Be careful adding too much variety. One of the biggest downfalls I see in newer coaches is having too many different drills, you spend a lot of time teaching the drill and not the skill.

That's the single complaint I have with our program down here. Our youth org doesn't have a mini-mite program, so they rely on the local rink which runs a cross-ice program. The guy who volunteers his time is a good guy, but each week he runs a completely new set of overly complicated drills. He rarely ever repeats anything form week to week. For example, most of the kids are just learning to skate, and he's trying to teach them to do wrap-arounds. Kids end up spending most of their ice time watching the coach(s) demonstrate the drills.

I talked to my dad about this last year when my son was in the program... he coached me and my brothers from mini-mites up til bantam... his advice at that age is to have a core of simple drills that are repeated every week, and to add at most one new drill per week.

Also, thanks for volunteering... it's a big undertaking and you deserve a friggin' medal.

[chk hrd 164]

dad is a smart man. At that age it needs to be simple, fun and familiar. Little kids do not have enough attention span for complicated drills. When I taught little kids I always kept it simple and tried to make a fun game for them.

[ktang 34]

For the level "learning to skate forward", show them how to glide with their hands spread out to the sides, and then turn in that position.

The "Michigan Slide" type of stopping (one foot stops) might give them more confidence and balance, too.

[iceholes 0]

Thasnks guys... dont get me wrong, the lesson plans I have (typed up for each assistant I may add) include the few most basic drills/exercises we have been doing since day one...The spice, or game, or fun part is what I try to vary...albeit very simple...

I stree to my assistants that although it is the same thing over and over each weel, it is the most important thing we treach them... Sometimes its how we teach it is what makes the difference....

While I am out hurt from playing right now, I cant tell you how I look forward to my little mini mites each week!