Last Updated31 May 2022

Teaching Children explores how lessons will change when teaching children, as one of the major groups of people we teach in snowboarding. We may have different ideas on how to interact with children, because at one time we were all kids ourselves. This chapter presents specific tools, tactics and considerations for teaching and interacting with children.

The C.A.P Model

To understand how children develop, we can divide their areas of development into three categories: Cognitive (thinks), Affective (feels) and Physical (moves or physical). The CAP model helps to give a greater understanding of children’s different stages of development. This helps instructors to have appropriate expectations for each child.

When teaching children, watch the child and develop an understanding of their abilities in the three categories of the CAP model. Keep in mind that each area will be different for each child, as each child will develop differently. Most important is that their level of development dictates the lesson plan.

Cognitive Development

This is the “C” in the CAP model and it refers to how a child thinks. The instructor needs to be aware of the child’s mental capacity and keep the new information simple enough for the child to understand. Just like teaching adults, it is very important to check for understanding. This can be done verbally or simply by watching to see if the child performs the set task.

The different aspects of a child’s cognitive development that need to be considered include, verbal capabilities, visual capabilities, specific concepts and understanding, and following directions.

Swiss child psychologist Jean Piaget theorised it best with four stages of cognitive development.

These four stages are as follows…

Sensori-Motor - birth to 2 years

Children use their senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing to help them learn and make sense of the world. Allowing your students to simply lay down and play in the snow will help them to assess their environment.

Pre-operational - 2 to 7 years

In this stage, children believe that the world revolves around them and what they want to do is the most important thing. They will progressively gain the ability of speech. At about the age of four, children tend to become very curious and to start asking a lot of questions. This is the beginning of their ability to reason. They will learn through play and will be very receptive to imaginary play. The younger children may also have a tough time with spatial awareness and they may run into each other at times.

Concrete Operational - 7 to 11 years

Children can now converse and think logically. These abilities are developing fast through the influence of school and the vast array of stimuli children are exposed to today. Children in this stage tend not to believe in fictional characters as much. However, they are capable of hypothetical thinking, such as “you are on a roller coaster and have to stay on the track”. Be aware that older children in this stage may not buy into using their imagination in this way and may prefer to use visualisation techniques of their own riding.

Formal Operational - 11 years and older

This final stage is when people show the ability to think abstractly and can reason logically. Children in the formal operational stage display more skills in the ability to problem solve. It has been said that some children will never actually reach this stage and that they remain thinking in the concrete operational stage.

Affective Development

This is the “A” in the CAP model and it refers to how the child feels and develops emotionally. In order for the instructor to be successful, they will need to understand what that child’s emotional needs are to then enhance their motivation levels throughout the lesson.

We can categorise the affective development into four stages, thanks to American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. These stages illustrate how a child’s growing sense of right and wrong affects how they conduct themselves and others.

Good is good, bad is bad - 3 to 6 years

In this stage children like to please others and know what is right and wrong in its most simple form. It is good to reinforce good behaviour as well as what Mum and Dad would like.

Clever as a fox - 7 to 11

This tends to be a difficult stage as children may challenge authority, even if they respect and understand it. They believe that they know a better way of doing it and may try to out-wit you.

All in favour say “aye” - 12 to 17

This is where peer pressure with teens is most evident. It is important to be accepted as part of the group. Keep in mind that while all children in this age category will want to be part of a group it is important not to lose their individuality.

Listen to your conscience - 18 to adulthood

The individuals here get more involved with creating the rules and they truly understand the process of fairness and equality for the success of everyone in the group.

The different aspects of affective development that need to be considered include identity and self-esteem, humour, social interaction, and moral values.

Physical Development

This is the “P” in the CAP model and it refers to how a child will move based on their physical growth. The main focuses are a child’s centre of mass and their development of motor skills from gross to fine.

Imagine giving a 2-year-old child a crayon. They draw using their whole arm clutching the crayon in their fist. Then you give a crayon to a 7-year-old child; they draw using the movement of their fingers, holding the crayon between their index finger, second finger and their thumb.

There are a number of things to consider within a child’s physical development:

Muscular and Skeletal Growth

To better understand a child’s limitations in movement, we must first explore their muscular and skeletal development. We also need to be aware of the child’s centre of mass and where it may be located as they grow.

Centre of Mass

In young children their head will tend to be larger in proportion to the rest of their body (0-6 years of age). This places their centre of mass near the top of their torso. Children may use a different stance in an effort to find their balance. These younger children may balance by moving their hips over their back leg. When children reach the age of about seven or eight, their centre of mass will tend to move down closer to their belly button. This will allow them to use a more efficient stance.

Skeletal Growth

Young children will develop from the torso outward. This means they will generally utilise larger muscle and bone structures to perform different tasks. Children aged three to six will have a tendency to stack themselves upon their skeleton in an effort to help keep themselves upright. They will often brace themselves against their boots or high-backs, meaning children typically have more success with heel edge tasks than toe edge.

Coordination

Coordination can be divided into three stages: initial, elementary and mature. In the initial stage (ages two to three) the child is just focused on whether movement is happening or not, rather than the quality of the movement. At this stage you may see students looking down at their feet to see if the movements are happening. In the elementary stage (ages three to eight), children learn more about their bodies by exploring new terrain and reacting to the environment around them. In the mature stage (ages eight to adulthood), the child has more muscular and skeletal development, and begins to make well coordinated movements.

Locomotor, Non-Locomotor and Manipulative Movements

The development of movements can be divided into three different types. The first movement is locomotor. These are travelling movements such as walking, running and jumping. Then there are non-locomotor movements, which are stationary movements such as bending and twisting. Finally there are manipulative movements, which are movements that use other objects such as balls and racquets. By understanding these three movement types, we can create a lesson plan utilising a step-by-step progression, starting with a non-locomotor movement, working on flexion extension. Then you could use a locomotor movement, such as flexion/extension in a traverse. Finally you could add a manipulative movement to the flexion/extension, such as rotation, to create turns around specific points or objects.

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