The school I attend requires school aged students (K-12) to have a grade of C or better in all classes in order to participate and test. Black Belts are required to have a B or better. Do any other schools have this requirement? Personally, I like it because I have three kids in TKD and they know they need to keep their grades up. B and better students (for the entire school year) get a small eagle for the back of their dobok. Straight A students for the entire school year get a large eagle. Most of out students get one of the eagles.
Academic Requirements
- Thread starter dleeret
- Start date
Twin Fist
Grandmaster
i like this idea alot
chrismay101
Green Belt
I agree its one way to get kids to do better. But not everyone is made the same. one kid may do 10 min homework and still walk away with A's another may do 2 hours and still manage C's but who has worked the hardest! getting to black belt should be about hard work in Taekwon-do. how good you are in school shouldn't have anything to do with it.
newGuy12
Master of Arts
We have one student who has a patch that says "Academic Club" or some such thing, but he makes very good grades, all of the time.
Any student who practices very long and hard will eventually have a stronger brain, so no problem. Even if they don't make good grades, they will have a stronger mind if they keep on practicing.
Any student who practices very long and hard will eventually have a stronger brain, so no problem. Even if they don't make good grades, they will have a stronger mind if they keep on practicing.
chrismay101
Green Belt
I just don't see what school has to do with TKD. If they have done well at school stick the patch on there school uniform.
I agree if a student practices long and hard he/she will improve there grades but that could be from say an F to a C. but there are some people who don't have to try, they are just good at school work and seem to get A's what ever.
so who should get the Patch? the person who's worked hard to get a C or the person who's rolled up and always gets A's.
Being a black belt should be about patterns, sparring, set sparring, breaking, korean teminology.
On my ITF grading card it dosen't mention being good at maths, english, history, PE(gym).
I agree if a student practices long and hard he/she will improve there grades but that could be from say an F to a C. but there are some people who don't have to try, they are just good at school work and seem to get A's what ever.
so who should get the Patch? the person who's worked hard to get a C or the person who's rolled up and always gets A's.
Being a black belt should be about patterns, sparring, set sparring, breaking, korean teminology.
On my ITF grading card it dosen't mention being good at maths, english, history, PE(gym).
newGuy12
Master of Arts
Right. Our School does not make the students have certain academic grades. If the student DOES have very good grades, though, it will sometimes be mentioned at the testing, if they have VERY good grades.
But during practice, who cares about this? No one -- we are all working on kicking and punching.
But during practice, who cares about this? No one -- we are all working on kicking and punching.
I think this is an excellent idea - being a black belt is not simply about physical ability - there are certain other requirements of the rank. Especially for kids of that age, being able to maintain good grades is important.
I used an "academic achievement" patch for grade school students. I base it on 2 consecutive report cards. In concert with parents about the child's abilities, I look at the 1st report card. If they are, say, B's, the child will get the patch at the next report card if the B's are maintained or the grades are better.
If the child is only capable of C's, the C's (or better) need to be maintained in order to get the patch. If the grades are maintained or better on report cards after that, they get a small star patch.
No one but the child, parents & I know what grades each child got.
If the child is only capable of C's, the C's (or better) need to be maintained in order to get the patch. If the grades are maintained or better on report cards after that, they get a small star patch.
No one but the child, parents & I know what grades each child got.
As an instructor I have told my kids that they have to put homework and tests before class. If I get a parent telling me that their grades are slipping out of laziness then they have to bring them up before returning to class.
Another requirement I ask of my students is one of taking ownership of their own training. By this I mean if you cant make it to class one night then call and let me know. I think it is disrespectful for students in general to go a.w.o.l. from class without reason.
For the past 3 weeks I have had one student call me, he is 17. He told me "Mr. Morton, I have test tomorrow, S.A.T.'s, something academically related to his school work."
So I find a time where he and I can get together so he doesn't fall behind and keep him up to date on the cirriculum he will or has missed so he doesn't fall behind and will be able to test along with the other testing candidates.
Another requirement I ask of my students is one of taking ownership of their own training. By this I mean if you cant make it to class one night then call and let me know. I think it is disrespectful for students in general to go a.w.o.l. from class without reason.
For the past 3 weeks I have had one student call me, he is 17. He told me "Mr. Morton, I have test tomorrow, S.A.T.'s, something academically related to his school work."
So I find a time where he and I can get together so he doesn't fall behind and keep him up to date on the cirriculum he will or has missed so he doesn't fall behind and will be able to test along with the other testing candidates.
Our organization has always maintained academic requirements for attendance, testing, and black belt testing. A 2.0 average is required for gup testing, while a 3.0 average is requirement is required for Dan testing.
The Chung Do Kwan logo contains a fist clutching a scroll. Clearly, GGM Won Kuk Lee wanted Chung Do Kwan students to be good scholars as well as physically fit. As a result, we require all school-age students to maintain good grades
Otherwise, you run the risk of encouraging the stereotypical dumb jock.
The Chung Do Kwan logo contains a fist clutching a scroll. Clearly, GGM Won Kuk Lee wanted Chung Do Kwan students to be good scholars as well as physically fit. As a result, we require all school-age students to maintain good grades
Otherwise, you run the risk of encouraging the stereotypical dumb jock.
We have always included this in out training as well.
My school never had it, personally I don't mind policies like that, I think they help emphasize the intangibles of MA, as long as they are not set in stone. When I was growing up, the only requirement for grades was that I do my best, so if in one class my best was a C and in another it was an A that was fine. So if a student has less than C's, I think a discussion needs to be had with the parents and the student of did the student do the best job possible and if so then no penalty to testing or training should be applied.
In college, (and I know most here are talking K-12, not college) I was a 3.5 student, but there was one semester where my GPA was about a 2.2, why?...cause I missed over 3 weeks of classes because of deaths in my family and when you are an engineering student, 3 weeks of classes is a big deal. There are just times you don't know the underlying causes of something, they aren't excuses, merely what occurred that had a negative impact, so as long as those can be taken into account when they are known....then I think these policies are a good idea...
In college, (and I know most here are talking K-12, not college) I was a 3.5 student, but there was one semester where my GPA was about a 2.2, why?...cause I missed over 3 weeks of classes because of deaths in my family and when you are an engineering student, 3 weeks of classes is a big deal. There are just times you don't know the underlying causes of something, they aren't excuses, merely what occurred that had a negative impact, so as long as those can be taken into account when they are known....then I think these policies are a good idea...
Laurentkd
Master Black Belt
We "require" B's and better from our students. However, if a student comes in with lower grades than that then we are looking for improvement on each report card. What I find interesting is I that every kid that has a grade lower than a B also has missing assignments (I am talking elementary and middle school here). If I had a student who was working hard and still could not receive a B then we would obviously have to adjust the requirement for that child. But, at least around here, it seems that if you turn in all your work or do any of the many extra credit assignments available everyone should be capable of a B (doesn't say much for our academic schools maybe?)
Once kids are in high school we have hopefully instilled some good habits, and we just encourage them to do their best.
I think academic standards are important for two reasons. The first is, martial art instructors are highly motivating to their students! I can't begin to tell you how many kids who didn't try in school no matter what their parents said who then are suddenly A students was the sahbomnim has mentioned he wants good grades from his students! And I think anything we can do to motivate our children to do well in school needs to be used.
Secondly, if I am going to teach a child dangerous martial art techniques, I do not want to be training a thug. I want him to understand that martial artist should not care just about fighting, but also about doing well/being leaders in society in general. That includes doing well in school, not being disrespectful to adults, taking care of their bodies, etc.
I just think that anything we can do to help them succeed we should be doing IMHO
Once kids are in high school we have hopefully instilled some good habits, and we just encourage them to do their best.
I think academic standards are important for two reasons. The first is, martial art instructors are highly motivating to their students! I can't begin to tell you how many kids who didn't try in school no matter what their parents said who then are suddenly A students was the sahbomnim has mentioned he wants good grades from his students! And I think anything we can do to motivate our children to do well in school needs to be used.
Secondly, if I am going to teach a child dangerous martial art techniques, I do not want to be training a thug. I want him to understand that martial artist should not care just about fighting, but also about doing well/being leaders in society in general. That includes doing well in school, not being disrespectful to adults, taking care of their bodies, etc.
I just think that anything we can do to help them succeed we should be doing IMHO
We have the 'Partners in learning' program where the teacher's input is required. The academic teacher gets to award starts to the junior students that they get to put on their belts, that does include grades as well as conduct. we strongly advocate that all the juniors do that.
Like my trainer emphasises: If you don't do your work in school and get lazy we don't want you as a Black Belt.
legend or truth, the Hwa Rang have set a high standard, as well as the Samurai.
chrismay101
Green Belt
Must be an american thing! I agree that school comes first but I don't think it should have any impact on TKD prctice unless and this goes with anything if the activity is 100% set up by the school. then yes I would kind of agree.
Miles
Senior Master
We do "academic achievement" patches for those students who have a B or better average in school. One thing I've noticed over the past 10 years is that most of the kids earn the patch. I think part of the reason is that if the parent is involved enough with the child to train with them in TKD, they are also involved in helping them study their academic subjects.
Miles
Miles
well, for starters the parents taking the kids to TKD are a bit more involved, but also the requirements in some areas have slipped some...
If you market your martial arts program as being aimed at kids and making kids better, especially if you add the before and after school programs (AKA daycare without admitting it), you have to pay some sort of attention to the academic side of things.
In my classes -- we've simply made it very clear in the youth program that schooling comes first. That's as far as we've pushed the issue -- but we aren't a professional program targetting kids, either.
Fiendlover
Black Belt
OMG YES! i hate it so much well because im a junior in highschool and i couldnt test one time because i got grounded cuz i got an F on one of my classes which is usually math. i was SO pissed off i didnt talk to my mom for like three weeks no joke. :cuss: if we turn in our report cards with A's and B's the instructor reads it at the end of class to everyone and u go up and recieve a patch saying like black belt excellence or something i dont remember. i only got one because i was in summer school (like always) and i only had two classes so i got A's in both. :flushed:
i hate it so much. one time my mom gave it to my shihan and they were like almost straight C's and one F (in math of course) and he said that i had 3 strikes. that was the first one, next one would mean that he would take me to Mr. Fisher (shihans teacher and my sparring instructor) and then the third strike would be that i would get kicked out until my grades got better. :barf:
:bird::hb:this was in freshmen year and my pe teacher verbally assualted her students and actually called someone a ***** and she gave everyone in that class F's and shihan gave me a paper with all my subjects and i had to get it sighned by each teacher saying that i turned in my homework or for pe saying that i participated. since my pe teacher cant watch everyone if she didnt look my way then how could she "see" me participating? so she gave me F's but she got fired that year so shihan let it slide and plus it was at the end of the year so i only had to keep it up for so long.
and its not like im a faliure in life or school. i get decent grades not A's or straight A's but my grades usually consist of maybe one B mostly C's and one F if im doing math.
but this year is actually better than normal. i have two A's, a B, a C, a D, and a F. im not embarassed. im proud of it. last year ws straight C's and a F. im failing one class and passing the rest. ive heard that you're supposed to have ten of those patches in order to get to black but they dont enforce it. thank god. its K-12 and im in 11th with one patch and the school year is alomst over and im going to be black belt in a manner of months to a year. plus theres 4 quarters in a school year so even if i tried starting now...............i would only 5 patches if i get good grades starting now. yeah right.................:bs1::lol::lool::disgust::shrug::bs::BSmeter:
next year i should get all A's with the classes im getting since i hav sinority cuz ill be a senior (i dont hav math :highfive::cheers: or chemistry which im not doing to good in either) so ill probably get 4 and together id hav 5. wow half of the requirements.
that puts a ton of unwanted and uneeded stress on teens anyway. they're already going through hell/highschool and getting good grades to succeed in something u enjoy is bs. i LOVE karate. its my life. its what makes me get up everyday. karate is suppose to be fun i mean its a sport and why do ppl participate in sports? for enjoyment, to get away from stress, to be happy. how can u be happy when u cant get pass a point because of ur grades? grades and karate are two different things and should have nothing to do with each other.
if i dont pass a belt testing for example, does that mean i cant pass a class too? no it doesnt so it shouldnt be vice versa either. my goal is to become not only a black belt but a teacher and a studio owner. that is my future career in life. so if u think about it if i dont pass a single class that ruins my whole chance in my future career. isnt school, teachers, and family encouraging u to do everything and anything to help u acheive ur future career/goals? well in my case thats taking away from it and its not like im failing every class. i would understand if i was. im not. im failing one class only because im learning theoritical equations that i will never need in life unless i become a rocket scientist or any other career that has to do with a lot of big and little numbers that i will never concsider.
its simple. if i dont get all of these equations then obviously none of those careers are for me are they? its ridicules. i understand if someones in elementry school or middle school and are failing there classes because obviously they're going to need to pass in order to get anywhere in life because u need at least a high school diploma in order to get into most careers. but i know what im doing and i get can get a high school diploma and i can go to college too with the grades ive had. my future is set and for teens that dont hav there future set then yeah they'll need motivation but i dont think that stopping a belt testing or a chance to get there black belt is the proper motivation especially if they start late and only hav a certain amount of time to get the good grades b4 a belt testing for example.
no...i dont think its right i mean at least for teens my age for a lot of them have jobs too to think about and grades arent going to be there number one priorities.
like i said i can understand for elementrey school and middle school kids because they're younger and dont have a lot of things on there minds like most teens and adults.
anyway thats my story on the whole report card bs.
yeah parents like it; teens/kids hate it. im a teen. arent u glad u hav a variety in this little community? lol
Fiendlover
Black Belt
exactly. i dont do my homework in german and i have a B. i do every single assignment in math and i get an F.
in a martial arts its about hard work and dedication and thats what i do so i should get what i deserve not get less cuz of grades in school.
