Watertown's Little Dragons Program
Children's Program (Ages 4,5 & 6)
Our Karate Kids class is designed for the student age five and six (and some seven year olds). Cognitively, this age group is different than children seven and higher. The belts and requirements are customized to allow our students to make progress at their own pace. The focus of this class is fundamentally on the mental development of our students. Certain six year olds may be admitted into the children's program early depending on their focus and concentration development. Call us now at (860.945.6565) to learn more about how your child will benefit from our little dragon classes.
They hardly know they're learning, because they are having so much fun!!
Class Schedule:
This schedule starts September 8th.
M/W 5:15pm ~ T/Th 4:30pm ~
Our students attend class 2 times per week. If you miss a class, you can come 3 times the following week as make-up
The Cost is approximately $195 down, and 5 payments of $125 per month for a 6 month program. It can cost a little more, or a little less, depending on how you decide to pay for it. However, if there is a need, express it to us, and we will work with you. Save over $150 if you pay 6 months in full!
Little Dragons History
In the Summer of 2004 Master Charland created a whole new curricula, class structure and belt ranking system for our “Karate Kids”. This new program is now called “Little Dragons”, and is a very exciting program for our 4-6 year olds.
The new belts are camouflage colored with a different color stripe running horizontally through the belt.
Why? Well, lots of reasons, firstly, rewards. Studies show that 4-6 year olds need more frequent rewards than older children to keep motivated. Therefore we are changed to a three month system instead of four. The new system has more belt levels (10), to make up for this.
4-6 year olds can’t learn complex patterns, they just aren’t equipped for it. For this reason we no longer teach traditional Tang Soo Do Forms in this program. Instead we teach a progressive system of patterns which will start out without steps (in place like the star block set). These patterns will graduate to stepping patterns with the same movements, and finally to more complex patterns as the child grows older and more able to grasp these concepts.
Can my child move up to juniors early if they’re ready?
Yes, even though this program as it is set up will take 28 months to complete if they are in it that long. When they are ready, they will be transitioned into the juniors program as a solid orange belt or higher rank. Some children might start this program at the age of 3 1/2 or 4 years old, then they are more likely to go all the way to "The Total Dragon Belt" with this program.
Always, we can and will transition a child to Juniors as soon as we feel they can do it. Also as always we prefer to err on the side of caution in this area, as moving a child up too soon can overwhelm them and de-motivate them. Of course, for example, . . . a child who starts in the program at 6 years old will move into the Juniors program sooner than a child who starts at 4 years old.
Dedicated to your child’s success,
Garth A Charland
Here are some outtakes from the above video