The Kid Who Never Wants to Participate
Every instructor knows this kid.
They stand in the back.
They do not volunteer.
They do not want to demonstrate.
Sometimes they barely want to participate.
And somewhere off the mat there is a parent wondering:
"Why won't my kid just get involved?"
Here is something I have learned...
They just need time.
A new environment can be overwhelming for a child. There are new faces, new rules, new movements, and sometimes a room full of kids who seem much more comfortable than they are.
As a parent it is very tempting to say, "come on, don't be shy!"
But putting the spotlight on a nervous child can sometimes make the situation worse.
Instead, what you can do is give them small victories.
Maybe today they participate in one drill. Tomorrow they participate in two.
Eventually they volunteer to demonstrate something.
Then one day, you look over and realize that the kid that used to hide in the back is standing in the front of the class.
Those changes do not happen over night and they are not always dramatic. But if you stick with us, eventually it does happen.
Sometimes confidence looks like a child simply raising their hand to ask a question.
That is why we do not measure every child against the loudest or most outgoing kid in the room.
We simply look for progress from where each child starts from.
At Sanctuary, some of the most rewarding transformations are not the kids who walk through the door already confident. It is when a child slowly discovers that they belong there. In some instances, it helps other kids feel the same.
And once a child realizes they belong somewhere, participation often starts to take care of itself.
