I posted last week about my son switching to a much stricter tae kwon do school with smaller class sizes and a more intimidating instructor. He just did his own thing, acted out, and goofed around at his old school. He graduated from belt to belt but never learned how to do the moves correctly or gained any of the self-descipline that martial arts instruction promises.
Yesterday was his fourth lesson. The first two, he acted out and was disruptive and the instructor really tried to get the "I'm in charge here" message across to my son. My son continued to push back and ended up doing push ups and working on his kicks on a bag by himself. The third lesson he sat down to do stretches and ripped his pants! Not his fault but still very distracting. It took him awhile to get back on track but the class was better on a difficult child scale. The fourth class, his pants rip again! He has trouble balancing but tends to overexagerate this by flailing his arms aound and falling dramatically. The instructor was on him alot about keeping his guards up and keeping his feet properly spaced. difficult child argued with him and the instructor stayed on him about it. I could see difficult child was getting worked up and I have never really seen him to the point of tears over something frustrating, usually he reacts with anger. And after a few exchanges back and forth between them, difficult child yells, "I quit" and runs out of the school. The instructor just looks at me and says, "sorry." I chase after difficult child who is now in tears. We talk in the car and I tell him how I understand that he was frustrated, and I know it is hard, but it is still important to try. I convinced him to try it again next week and ordered him some heavy duty pants online (the uniforms are really cheap and I think that is part of the ripping problem). I call the instructor and he acts like it was no big deal. I ask him if since he has had the opportunity to experience difficult child does he feel it's a good fit? He says that HE doesn't give up. I am a little annoyed by this comment but let this go. I told him that I talked to difficult child and he is willing to try again but that I can't have him running out of the building. He needed to talk to difficult child and tell him that he can take a break when he starts to feel stressed out. He also acknowleged that he may have been pushed difficult child too hard and will try to approach things differently.
This tends to be a problem difficult child gets himself into alot. He is so challenging with his behaviors that when he is actually struggling, people do not see it.
So we will try it again next week and continue to hope for the best.
Yesterday was his fourth lesson. The first two, he acted out and was disruptive and the instructor really tried to get the "I'm in charge here" message across to my son. My son continued to push back and ended up doing push ups and working on his kicks on a bag by himself. The third lesson he sat down to do stretches and ripped his pants! Not his fault but still very distracting. It took him awhile to get back on track but the class was better on a difficult child scale. The fourth class, his pants rip again! He has trouble balancing but tends to overexagerate this by flailing his arms aound and falling dramatically. The instructor was on him alot about keeping his guards up and keeping his feet properly spaced. difficult child argued with him and the instructor stayed on him about it. I could see difficult child was getting worked up and I have never really seen him to the point of tears over something frustrating, usually he reacts with anger. And after a few exchanges back and forth between them, difficult child yells, "I quit" and runs out of the school. The instructor just looks at me and says, "sorry." I chase after difficult child who is now in tears. We talk in the car and I tell him how I understand that he was frustrated, and I know it is hard, but it is still important to try. I convinced him to try it again next week and ordered him some heavy duty pants online (the uniforms are really cheap and I think that is part of the ripping problem). I call the instructor and he acts like it was no big deal. I ask him if since he has had the opportunity to experience difficult child does he feel it's a good fit? He says that HE doesn't give up. I am a little annoyed by this comment but let this go. I told him that I talked to difficult child and he is willing to try again but that I can't have him running out of the building. He needed to talk to difficult child and tell him that he can take a break when he starts to feel stressed out. He also acknowleged that he may have been pushed difficult child too hard and will try to approach things differently.
This tends to be a problem difficult child gets himself into alot. He is so challenging with his behaviors that when he is actually struggling, people do not see it.
So we will try it again next week and continue to hope for the best.
