Preschool martial arts classes may seem like an early start… But when it comes to regulating temper tantrums, no time is too early! We know they can be stressful! Check out these incredible ways that our instructors create a tantrum-free household with our preschool classes.
Temper Tantrums in Preschool Kids
When a child throws a tantrum, they’re behaving in accordance with their emotions – of course they are, they’re a kid! We can’t fault preschool kids for having strong emotions and expressing them because it’s just in their nature.
Their more logical brain is still developing every single day. What we CAN do is teach them to regulate their emotions, control themselves and focus on something other than their frustration. And these skills apply to so much more than just tantrums!
What is a Temper Tantrum?
It works like this: Something upsets your child. They feel a very strong negative emotion- most often, frustration.
They express this frustration the best way they know how, like through crying, whining, screaming, or even aggressive behavior like hitting or throwing.
Every child has thrown a temper tantrum before, so you’re not alone! Many of our parents enrolled their kids in our preschool classes because they’ve heard about how martial arts can help kids transform and stop throwing tantrums.
Getting Your Child Ready For School
What’s happening during a temper tantrum is your child is acting based on pure emotions.
They’re fueled by thoughts of how unfair something is, and their frustration just keeps building.
What we do is teach them how to focus, listen thoughtfully, and then redirect their focus to something different from the source of their tantrum. These behavior skills can help make life more peaceful, and even give your child a leg up in school!
How Preschool Martial Arts Classes Can Help
This is why martial arts for young kids in preschool is so amazing. We consistently see a HUGE difference in kids who start at ages 3 and 4 and kids who start at ages 6 and 7.
Kids who start martial arts classes at the preschool level get the emotional and behavioral skills “out of the way” much younger than their older counterparts. Then, as they ascend through the ranks, they learn and retain more in their upper level classes because they’ve already gotten their emotions regulated. They’ve already learned how to control their behavior, so the advanced material will stick better because they’re focusing better.
Then, when they enter school, they have an incredible advantage because, well… just read that previous paragraph! It all applies to school as well. That’s why martial arts is about more than just punches and kicks. It’s a tool we use to shape our students to become the absolute best versions of themselves, and it shows.
Focusing and Refocusing in Class
So with all that in mind, here’s how we run our preschool martial arts classes: First step is listening.
We make listening FUN in our classes. How? Our instructors are so good, these kids are learning discipline, focus, and listening skills without even knowing it through fun and games.
They’re basically life skill ninjas. Martial arts classes at the preschool level are less about the moves, which they learn as they progress through ranks, but more about building a foundational skill set of behavior that they can use in life and beyond.
This includes self control, which is the second step. Self control is about being able to sit still without fidgeting too much to pay attention. We teach self control the same way- through fun games and activities and positive reinforcement.
Conclusion
That’s totally key with tantrums- positive reinforcement. Kids in preschool often throw temper tantrums because they don’t think you’re listening to them. They want your attention. They’ll be less inclined to resort to negative attention strategies like a temper tantrum when we positively reinforce their good behavior skills, like listening. Reinforcing and praising our students when they listen is really important. We know that a lot of parents are busy… But we really like to have parents sit in and watch class, so that they can keep up the positive reinforcement strategies at home. Then when you practice it at home you can really watch your child transform!