If all else fails, scratch them behind the ears.
At that age it isn't really soccer. It is just herding cats.
Some will like it, some will cry, some will lay on the ground, some will try to Earth bend the ball.Having fun is the main thing.
Haha, didn't realize I'd have to watch ATLA for research purposes.
lunchbox12682 wrote:At that age it isn't really soccer. It is just herding cats.
Some will like it, some will cry, some will lay on the ground, some will try to Earth bend the ball.Having fun is the main thing.
Haha, didn't realize I'd have to watch ATLA for research purposes.
It might help. You can recycle Aang’s jokes.
That age was fun to coach. Just play a lot of games with them and you will be fine. Red light green light, sharks and minnows, and kick the coach were all fun. Just add a little warmup at the beginning and you should be great
lunchbox12682 wrote:At that age it isn't really soccer. It is just herding cats.
Some will like it, some will cry, some will lay on the ground, some will try to Earth bend the ball.Having fun is the main thing.
Haha, didn't realize I'd have to watch ATLA for research purposes.
Technically she was 7 I think, but my daughter was super into ATLA at the time.
Volunteered to "coach" my 4 year old's first soccer team. First game on Saturday and first practice tomorrow or Friday depending on weather. Very nervous, but also excited. Been reading a lot of soccer stuff specifically for U4 to U6 and how to make it fun while teaching. Oh boy!
Be careful how you phrase things. I'll never forget the coach for one of my kids at a young age say something like this and instantly realize how it sounded...
"Ok, kids. Everyone grab your balls and come sit down over here!" 
It might help. You can recycle Aang’s jokes.
That age was fun to coach. Just play a lot of games with them and you will be fine. Red light green light, sharks and minnows, and kick the coach were all fun. Just add a little warmup at the beginning and you should be great
I found kick the coach on soccerhelp.com, but would love a synopsis of the other two whenever you have a minute.
Red light green light is pretty straightforward. The idea is that the players learn to move and stop while controlling the ball.
Line them up, each with their own ball. Have one Coach be the caller. Face away from the players. Players can move when the caller yells green light. Players have to stop on red. If they are moving on red, you can send them back to the beginning. The caller turns to face the players on red. For new players, have the caller turn slowly to give players a chance to get used to stopping the ball and their body. As they get better, the coach can start to turn faster
Sharks and minnows. Pick a player to be shark. Everyone else is a minnow. The object for the minnows is to dribble the ball from one side of the field to the other. The object for the shark is to kick the ball away from the minnows. Any minnow that lose their ball becomes a shark and joins the existing shark. One round is the minnows moving from one side to the other. Once they are on the other side, allow the minnow to regroup and the expanding shark population to get ready. Winner is the last minnow standing. This is good for dribbling practice and basic defense concepts for the sharks
I hope this helps
Red light green light is pretty straightforward. The idea is that the players learn to move and stop while controlling the ball.
Line them up, each with their own ball. Have one Coach be the caller. Face away from the players. Players can move when the caller yells green light. Players have to stop on red. If they are moving on red, you can send them back to the beginning. The caller turns to face the players on red. For new players, have the caller turn slowly to give players a chance to get used to stopping the ball and their body. As they get better, the coach can start to turn faster
Sharks and minnows. Pick a player to be shark. Everyone else is a minnow. The object for the minnows is to dribble the ball from one side of the field to the other. The object for the shark is to kick the ball away from the minnows. Any minnow that lose their ball becomes a shark and joins the existing shark. One round is the minnows moving from one side to the other. Once they are on the other side, allow the minnow to regroup and the expanding shark population to get ready. Winner is the last minnow standing. This is good for dribbling practice and basic defense concepts for the sharks
I hope this helps
Depending on age/skill and level of crazies, you may even skip the ball at times.
Those games mentioned adhere to this, but one piece of feedback from my son: play games where no one has to sit out and watch until the round ends. Give them a way to get back in, e.g. do 10 ball touches and then jump back in, that kind of thing.
Very helpful Ego Man! You are welcome to come to our games or practices anytime. Or the brunch drinking afterwards...
Montalban wrote:Quick check on when your child(ren) stopped wetting the bed? What age?
Google has basic advice but asking for real life experiences.
One of mine didn't stop until they were 6 or 7. They slept so hard that they just didn't wake up. I had to shake them hard to wake them up. Don't fret about it and dont make a big deal of it. Invest in rubber sheets that wash easily. They grow out of it / learn to wake up.
One of mine still had occasional accidents up until about 9. Same advice applied (rubber sheet and don’t make a big deal out of it). He has grown out of it.
We mostly stopped the pooping in underwear by not allowing any chocolate at all unless she poops in the potty.
Soccer practice and game went pretty well! My daughter and another player spent 3/4ths of practice and game in the portable playpen we brought for the baby, but all the kids had fun.
Anybody have recommendations for a sub-$300 laptop or Chromebook for a 12-year-old? Is anything in that price range able to run Minecraft on low settings? What processors / SoCs are decent?
Almost 4 year old has bitten her almost 2 year old sister like 6 of last 7 days and multiple times one day. I keep reading it's normal and talk through it but really stressing me out. Hasn't made her bleed yet but left some marks and doesn't seem to be getting better.
Advice? Or just tell me it happened to y'all too and it will go away?
Its normal. They have ALL the emotions but don't know how to express them. Be patient and show them both with words and example better ways to show love and anger and frustration etc than biting. You do have to be vigilant though since they dont understand that it hurts.
not an exact comparison, but when my daughter (almost 2 at the time) would not stop biting me, i bit her back once on the meat of the arm (no damage just a teeth squeeze) her eyes got wide for a second and she never bit me (or the cat incidentally) again.
Anybody have recommendations for a sub-$300 laptop or Chromebook for a 12-year-old? Is anything in that price range able to run Minecraft on low settings? What processors / SoCs are decent?
The Acer Chromebook Spin 311 has been spectacular for my kids. Super durable, super capable, and ~$200
I bought the Amazon warranty on it, and when the middlest killed the screen, they refunded the purchase price. Just got my replacement today.
So are we all just going to be sick forever now that one kid is in preschool?
4 weeks ago my 4 year old started with a cold. Fever a few days later but gone overnight. Then that weekend the 2 year old had it. Fever Sun night and we took them to doctor. Positive for RSV but no covid or flu.
Then wife and I have colds for a week, probably RSV but no fever.
Last week 4 year old is sick again! Cough cold, a few days. Fever for one day, Friday? but not too high.
Now it's Monday and 2 year old is coughing, wheezing and fever. All came on since breakfast. Probably taking her in tomorrow because the cough sounds rough, and more fever.
So a month of sickness. Is this life now?
I'd say no. But it relies on some basic precautions you can take:
- You should wash your hands and gargle every time you come back home. Mouthwash or just water is okay too.
- Wash your hands before eating or preparing food.
- If someone is sick then other family members should wear masks. Or, if an adult is sick, then that adult can just wear a mask (assuming that they are more likely to wear the mask correctly).
- Air out indoor spaces frequently.
- Get your flu shots every season.
- Wipe down frequently touched surfaces daily.
- Try to get adequate sleep, eat healthily, etc.
So are we all just going to be sick forever now that one kid is in preschool?
This has been my experience this year. Getting sick on an almost fortnightly schedule, with a handful of gaps in between.
Yes, at least until their older, and even then only if you succeed in teaching them how to avoid bringing home every germ they come in contact with at school.
Yes whenever they start preschool or school expect at least one cold a month that first year.
Update. The 2 year old has croup. I knew something was off about that cough last night.
Nods tiredly.
This last 4(?) months in particular have been bad for waves of COVID, then RSV, then Flu, at least in my area. So maybe not normal, but also not unusual. It'll mostly clear up in January after the last wave of infections from family visits but before winter/spring sports pick back up again.
Questions for the group:
- How many extracurriculars are you all doing?
- What are the areas of extras (sports, community, music, etc)?
- How many total hours/week
Too many (2 sports/kid/year, robotics, scouts, looking at adding music).
Too many (depending on time of year upto 20ish hours per week)
We probably need to pull back.
My 10 year old does Code Ninjas (a program where they are taught to code by making video games - two hours a week) and Scouts (one or two meetings/activities a month). He's taking his first guitar lesson this evening, so we'll see how that goes.
Kiddo is not into sports, and we don't push him to do anything.
Questions for the group:
- How many extracurriculars are you all doing?
- What are the areas of extras (sports, community, music, etc)?
- How many total hours/week
At this point, zero. They have enough on their plate with friends, school, interests, homework.
Took a few years of trying out activities to find which ones stick.
So gymnastics twice a week/ 2.5 hours plus an hour of commuting each way twice (which is the big one - she identifies as gymnast) and Girl Scouts a couple times a month (which may or may not stick).
She's only 9 tho - feels like the crazy extracurricular years are still ahead of us.
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