Okay, I know Taekwondo is not an academic endeavor but it does offer great benefits for the body and mind and so I will throw my advocacy question in, in the hopes that your wisdom will guide me. I see this as an ancillary problem for PG kids!!!
I am feeling very angry right now, exactly how I felt when we dealt with school issues prior to choosing to homeschool.
My 5 year old son has been taking Taekwondo for a few months. My husband and I were really pleased that he took so much interest in this since we really believe in the philosophy of this martial art. The classes are age-based and there are children of up to 4 different belt colors in each class. My son, wanting to shoot as high as he could, made it a personal goal to work very hard, not only in class, but at home to master the highest level of skill that the class is teaching to. So even though he was only required to know half of a pattern, he learned the whole pattern. He practiced breaking boards until his hand was bruised, just to make sure he can do it in one try, everytime.
His hard work paid off, and he quickly became the most proficient student in the class. Of course he is the youngest, too. Keep in mind, he didn't advance beyond what others in the class are being taught, he just rose to the highest level he was exposed to.
Well, testing is coming up next week and we learned today, in spite of his strong skills, he must test in lock-step with his belt color, even though students will be testing and getting higher level belts with the same or less proficiency.
Here is the dilemma. He absolutely loves Taekwondo and seems completely indifferent to what his dad and I perceive as a great injustice. Of course, he is not the one paying, either.
We feel that we should talk to the owner and teacher (a really great guy) and tell him that we feel it is unfair to hold our son back when he is as skilled as the other children. Our concerns are that:
a) he will slack off and take it easy since he is being given this out (a huge concern for us with school,too)
b) the lesson that hard work really pays off will be lost, since he will have to wait two more months to test again
c) that the next two months will be a total waste of time, in that he will be learning things he already knows, or, he will work hard to keep up with the higher belts, but not get recognized for it at all.
Of course we should talk to the owner, but we suspect that he is not going to be supportive, since we think this has to do with dollars and cents more than common sense.
Oh, wise women (and men) what say you???
