Little League Baseball

I watched a little league machine pitch baseball game the other day and I saw something very interesting.  The kids were between the ages of 8 and 9.  They were playing but as most of you know there is a lot of waiting in baseball.  You could see that the kids were psyching themselves up for the next play.  It seemed that they were more interested in how they looked playing the game than the actual game itself.  They would make faces and high five each other after good plays and they were always looking over to the stands to see who was watching.  It showed that they were proud to be baseball players and that they took pride in standing on the field.  Their showmanship was quite interesting.  When the game was over the team that I had been rooting for lost but there were no tears.  They walked through the line and high fived the other team with big smiles on their faces as if they had just won the World Series.  I think that the smiles were just pride of being on a team on the field.

Dance Class

My daughter is 5 and is currently enrolled in dance at a wonderful dance school. I was watching my daughter at the end of her dance practice today and they are preparing for their recital.  The teachers were really encouraging the girls to do their best in all of their dance moves.  I was watching the jazz routine and they have a toe touch that they do. As they each did their toe touch the teacher would compliment them on how close they were to touching their toes and would encourage them to keep practicing at home.  One teacher mentioned that it would be beneficial to practice on a trampoline.  When we got home my daughter had to immediately go to her trampoline to practice her toe touch.  With the extra bounce on the trampoline she touched her toes on the first try and she was so excited.  She practiced it a few more times and after we went inside she continued to practice until bedtime.  By the end of the night she was getting better at it.  I thought that it was amazing at the age of 5 that she would take what her dance instructor said so seriously that she would be practicing this for hours.  It shows that they are using many types of positive reinforcement and techniques to encourage children to do their best and to practice even outside of class. 

Preschool Basketball

As I have said before I work at a preschool.  Today I was trying some positive reinforcement techniques with my 3 year olds who were trying to shoot a light weight playground ball into a basketball hoop that was 6-7 feet in the air.  This is one of their favorite activities but they seem to get discouraged after a few tries because the hoop is so high in the air.  I helped them today by showing them how to do the granny squat (holding the ball with both hands and squatting down and then throwing it into the air.)  They thought this was hilarious but they found out that it really worked and got them closer to the hoop.  If I saw that they were getting discouraged I would cheer them on by telling them how close that they were as well as give them advice on technique.  This encouragement really went a long way because by the end of our playground time these kids were actually getting the balls into the basket and the smile on their face was worth every minute of it. 

Little League Baseball

I recently watched a little league baseball game at the ELO optimist.  The kids were about 8 or 9 years old.  The pitcher did not have to throw the ball and the coach flicked it off of a little machine to throw it to the batter.  The home team was in the field and as the coach flicked the ball to the batter he hit it and drove it straight towards the pitchers head (he was wearing a helmet of course!) The pitcher reached up and grabbed the ball in his glove and this big smile crossed his face as if he had won a million dollars.  It was the third out and they had won the game.  The team cheered for the pitcher and his coach ran up to give him a big hug.  This was a form of positive reinforcement.  I happen to know that pitcher for that team and he had practiced catching the ball coming from home plate for two weeks.  This however was the first opportunity to catch one.  He learned that through practice he can enhance his performance.

Young Children and Soccer

At my preschool there is a company called Soccer Shots.  They come every Friday and for the children whose parents pay for them to go they learn soccer skills.  The coaches that I have observed with this program are great and they seem to really enjoy working with the children.  These coaches have many different techniques that they use when they work with these young children.  They use different games in order to make learning the soccer skills fun and this appeals to the children because they are having fun and learning at the same time.  At a recent practice the coach had all of the children sit on their soccer balls and called out their name for them to kick their ball and score a goal.  When each child scored a goal the coach prompted all of the children to cheer for their friend who had just scored a goal.  This is a method of positive feedback and it reinforces the child’s interest in soccer as well as keeps them motivated to want to score another goal when they have a short scrimmage at the end of practice.