"No, I don't want to!" proclaims your favorite problem child as he flops down on the mat. "Patience, patience," the angel on your left shoulder reminds you, while simultaneously, the devil on your right shoulder yells, "tell the little brat to stand up straight and pay attention! Oh! It's tempting, I know, to just yank that kid up and tell him to shape up or ship out. After all, martial arts aren't for the weak or timid or belligerent - doesn't this kid know that! Well, actually, no, he doesn't. He's a kid. Remember, martial arts were originally developed for combat, for adults. Transferring this ancient wisdom down to kid - language is a fine art unto itself - an art that is being created and refined as we speak. In order to work effectively with young children, one must be able to reflect back to when you were a child and dig deep. Ask yourself, "What is it that I wanted to learn, and which teachers inspired me the most?" If you are like me, I was never motivated through reprimand. Working with young children takes an amazing amount of patience, yet the rewards are innumerable. But in order to know how to effectively communicate with 5 year olds, you must first see the world through their eyes. Preschoolers want to know why. Why this, Or why that, seems to preface every question they have. Everything is new and they want to know why. This makes them ideal students, but only if the teacher knows how to speak their language. Because they are so open to learning, you may guide them quite easily towards whatever you want to teach them that day. But what about your little devil who just looks at you when you give a command and says, "no!"? It does take more than patience to work with preschoolers, it takes all the attributes which got us to our black belts in the first place, perseverance, commitment, focus, and balance, to name a few. If you didn't learn these on your way to black, the preschooler will be your master in having you face your true nature. So, what's the secret? MOTIVATE THROUGH PRAISE. I cannot stress this enough. Let's take our little ninja / little devil still flopped on the mat. Though the phrase, "stand up now," is on the tip of your tongue, try something else. Look around and find the student who is doing what you requested. Point to that child and say, "Wow, everybody look at Johnny. He is standing so straight. Everybody clap for Johnny, and he gets a point." As everybody claps, say, " Who else is standing up straight for a point?" watch how the other students get in line in order to receive your attention and praise. Give each student who is listening a point. Then, look to your little devil. If he hasn't already stood up to receive attention, coax him in a positive way by saying, "Stand up quick for a point, you almost got one!" From my experience with teaching thousands of children, this pretty much works every time. If a child is belligerent or not following directions, often he is looking for attention through negative behavior. It may take time to retrain this student, but by shifting the negative behavior towards the positive using emotional rewards: i.e. clapping and points, they eventually get it. There are many black belts out there, but only a small percentage can really work the psychology of children. Use positive dialog and emotional rewards as often as possible to reshape your little devils into little angels. Children crave attention, so give it to them - when they give you what you want that is. The more enthusiastic they are, the bigger your children's program will become. By giving them praise, you become the angle that you want them to be, and guess what? Everyone is blessed!