PEDAGOGY

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Why am I doing this?

I am a qualified nursery teacher and have been working with children in nursery schools since 2011, as well as working as a parkour coach. Over the last few years, I have encouraged many friends to become coaches and would like to pass on my focus on educational principles to them as well. Of course, you can do this without any guidance and pick things up bit by bit, but as someone with years of experience, I would advise you not to make all the mistakes that you could discuss beforehand.
Education is a process, and whilst those who know how to deal with children and their needs have clear advantages, they will still make mistakes.

I have lived in Italy, Germany and Portugal, and I currently live in Spain.
I have worked with children in all these countries: at the nursery of the German School in Rome and in Cascais, and as a nursery teacher in Berlin. I have also run parkour classes in Italy, Germany and Portugal, and I currently run classes in Spain.

If you’re interested in an online session on a specific topic, would like to discuss children’s behaviour in your class, or want to learn more about pedagogy, you can book an appointment here.

The consultation can be conducted in German, English or Spanish.
After the consultation, you can make a donation.
I look forward to hearing from you.

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Frequently asked questions:

How do I deal with children with ADHD?

What should I do if children aren’t participating properly?

How should I present myself to parents?

What are children’s needs?

Is it okay if a child does something different?

How do I eliminate competitiveness within the group?

How do I encourage teamwork?

How do I use teaching methods?

How do I prepare for and follow up on my lessons?

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Why is pedagogy important?

There are many things that children learn and only gradually become physically capable of doing as they grow up. We therefore need to familiarise ourselves with their physical capabilities as well as our teaching methods. There are many mistakes that can be made, and many that can be avoided with a little information.
You should look into how children learn and how you can support them in this process.

The most important thing here is ‘safe nurturing’. A person who gives the child time and space, as well as support and help. Who upholds clear rules and values and maintains them consistently. Who gives space to emotions, explains them and allows them to be expressed. Who meets the child at eye level and treats everyone equally.

It all sounds logical, and yet there are many pitfalls you can fall into, which may overwhelm you or for which you simply need a tip to learn how to deal with them better.

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Physical characteristics

Motor skills and language

This is because young children’s brains are actively learning either language or motor skills, as these are processed in the same area.
This does not mean that they do not learn both, but their focus is greater on one of these areas.
It is only later that our brains are able to properly separate the areas responsible for language and motor skills.

There are children who speak a different mother tongue and do not understand us 100% as well as children who speak our mother tongue. Even if we can speak the other language, that does not mean we can find the right words for everything or always say things exactly as a native speaker would.

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Size, weight

The aim here is to intervene as little as possible, so that the children can move their own bodies and find solutions for themselves.

Example: A child cannot reach the horizontal bar because it is too high.

Do not help the child by lifting them up, as they will not learn anything that way. Instead, you can kneel down and let the child step onto your knee to reach the bar. You can explain to the child how to climb a bar so they can reach the horizontal bar (several methods are possible). There may be another way in that is longer but also leads to the horizontal bar.

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ADHD

The key here is to have a manageable set of rules, to be consistent, and to keep reminding them.
First and foremost, the children are in the right place with you, because they want to be active.
Nevertheless, you must ensure that they ‘fit in’ whilst still having their own space.
Rules that foster a strong sense of team spirit within the group, that exclude no one, and that give everyone space to train are important.
Also, delegate tasks. As a coach, you don’t have to do everything. Your children and young people can also do things independently, help others, repeat the rules and lead the group for a short while. This is also important for children with ADHD.

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Allergies, illnesses

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Fears

We should react as naturally as possible and be mindful of our body language. It’s easy to smile at what we assume is a pointless fear, but that only makes the situation more difficult.
Try to find ways and explanations to help the child learn to cope with their fear, or even overcome it completely.

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Methodology

There are plenty of options to choose from here. I’d like to share the one I use, which I apply both in nursery school and in my coaching work, and which works incredibly well for me. My approach is made up of various elements and doesn’t have a specific name. I’ve put it together myself, focusing on the following aspects:

• a few key rules (5–8 at most)
• Encourage independence
• Provide guidance
• Explain and make use of emotions
• Give choices
• Talk as much as possible
• Get involved as much as possible
• Look for and offer possible solutions
• No punishments
• We are a team
• Delegate tasks

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Rules

Why just 5–8 rules? We ourselves live in an overregulated system. Road signs, standards, obligations, rights, and so on and so forth.
So as not to make things too complicated for the children, there are just a few rules that cover everything that matters to us. These rules are broad in scope and do not focus on minor details.

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The focus is on building trust and personal responsibility.
To build trust, a person is needed who offers support, love and closeness.
As a coach, love and closeness are comparable to warmth, understanding, compassion and kindness.
We accept the child just as they are.
The child learns personal responsibility over time. What can I already do, and what can I build on?
Here, our focus should be on providing encouragement and opportunities.
Every child needs their own space and time for this.
Anger and frustration are part of the learning process, which we must also address.
For example, we explain that everything is a process and that everything takes time.
Or that we too were once naughty and had to learn everything.
Here, I find it very important to work with emotions and to allow children to experience them, but also to talk to them about them.

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Every prompt elicits a response. This can be verbal or physical.
Both are important. We want to provide prompts that encourage children to move, as well as to engage verbally with their movements and their surroundings.
Through prompts, we encourage children’s natural inclination to explore something new, without doing everything for them. A prompt is like a small piece of new information that is meant to be thought about.

Possible solutions are similar to prompts. You give a new prompt (a word, a movement) so that the child can react to it and think of something new.
Possible solutions are often also reminders of things we have already done, but which are not currently seen as a solution.
I often use the phrase: “Have a think about whether that might work with a different movement too.”

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We always have feelings inside us, and we should learn to recognise them, talk about them and make use of them. Children are full of emotions. One minute, as a coach, you’re being told you’re stupid, and the next, you’re getting a hug.

Example: A child is distracting the other children.

I take the child by the hand and say: “I’d like to have a quick word with you.”
We step aside (i.e. leave the situation) and I ask why the child is distracting the others.
Child replies: “They’re too slow for me.”
I say: “I understand your point of view, but we also want to be considerate of the others. Perhaps you could simply do the same exercise somewhere else or help the others overcome their fears.”
Child replies: “But I want to jump there.”
I say: “Okay, I understand. Then you have the following option. Either you wait until the others have finished without annoying them, or you move a little to the side so that everyone has space.”
Child replies: “Okay.”

The child runs off and carries on with what they were doing before the conversation.
I take the child by the hand again and say: „I’d like to talk to you again.
I’ve just told you what your options are, and you’re doing the same thing as before.
It makes me a bit sad that you don’t seem to have understood me and that you can’t leave the others in peace. I need to think about whether I can let you practise again, because we’re not getting anywhere like this. Can you manage to practise alongside the others, or would it perhaps be better to jump somewhere else?”
Child: “All right, I’ll go there.”

In this example, I reveal how I feel (sad). I deliberately tell the child that it makes me sad that they didn’t understand me and that we had to have another conversation.
I also give the child a possible solution and a choice to take away with them.
The possible solution suggests a solution in the same place and a solution in a different place.
The choice highlights the same options, but it should always be your choice, the one you’re comfortable with. So you present two options, and there is no alternative.

In most cases, after two conversations, the children choose the other place, as it takes them out of the cycle of the previous situation and allows them to focus on something else.

In very rare cases, I’ll briefly take a child out of the training session and say: “I understand you’re angry, but the way you’re behaving right now, I can’t let you carry on with the training.”
After 1–2 minutes, I’ll then have another explanatory chat and give them one last set of options (again, two options that I’ve chosen and which will resolve the situation).

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Choices should not be overwhelming or exceed the coach’s scope.
What do choices look like?

You give the child a choice between two options that you’ve already determined will work as solutions and won’t disrupt your lesson. The child should have a choice but also learn that they need to make compromises.

Example: A child wants to learn a movement, but other children are blocking the way.

Options: You can ask the other children to step aside
or find another place where you can try out this movement.

Example: A child is upset and doesn’t want to continue training today.

Options: You can take a break
or you can scream as loud and as long as you can to let out all your frustration.

Both examples provide two ways the child can respond to the situation. Now it’s up to the child to choose one.

Please don’t ask, “What do you want to do?”

This doesn’t guarantee that your training can continue as usual. If you want to accommodate the child, everyone in the group would have to do what the child wants, which usually doesn’t work.
If you ask this question, do so only to find out what’s going on with the child right now and how you might be able to tailor your options to the child’s needs.

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Why should you talk as much as you can?

Conversations help you get to know each other better.
When you talk a lot with children, they understand who you are, what you do, and strengthen their bond with you. You’re seen as a “safe haven” they can trust, who listens to them and explains things to them.
Through language, children learn to name actions, understand movements, ask questions, and give answers.
The more you talk, the better.

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Why should you join in?

Children learn quickly without needing an explanation. They watch something and try to copy it.
If you don’t demonstrate the movements or only show them once, the child won’t be able to identify what they’re doing wrong. Give the children the chance to watch the movement more often, understand what you’re doing, and why it might not be working so well for them yet.

You can then offer tips on what to look out for: where to place your center of gravity, which body part is bearing the weight, how to start running correctly, etc.

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Punishments have no place in my training. Why?

First of all, a punishment doesn’t explain anything. Furthermore, a child who is already overwhelmed will be even more overwhelmed by a punishment. This leads to more frustration and a lack of understanding.

Instead: Remove the child from the situation. Talk to the child. Explain to the child that we can’t treat each other this way. Offer options for continuing the training.
If the child still can’t calm down, repeat everything again and express your emotions (It makes me sad that you didn’t understand me; It’s starting to make me angry that you can’t find another solution—do you need help?).

As a consequence, I use a brief time-out to listen to the child, discuss the situation, and find solutions. Only in extreme cases, when no change is visible, does the child have to take a break on the sidelines, and after practice, there is a conversation with the parents (without other children present).

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We are a team! Why is this so important to me?

In a team, no one can win or lose on their own—either the whole team wins or the whole team loses. A team helps one another, because only together are we strong.

This fosters positive interactions with the other children, strengthens group dynamics, and increases mindfulness and a willingness to help. We should behave within our team just as we do with our friends and family.

How do we achieve this?

Incorporate group and partner exercises from time to time. Adjust the rules of games so that they can only work together. As a coach, ask the children directly for help (Can you please throw the trash in the trash can? Can you quickly get my water bottle for me?).
When children are involved in situations, their self-confidence, willingness to help, and empathy increase. Every time you need help, delegate a small part of it to the children so they feel included, so they are proud of themselves, and so you show them that we are on equal footing.

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It might sound negative at first, but it shouldn’t.

Delegating doesn’t mean bossing the kids around. It should be used more as a way for children to become independent, learn to take responsibility, and feel like part of the group.

Example: You have a child who has banged their knee against the wall and can’t walk anymore.

You ask what happened, look at the knee, and as a solution, you ask if we should cool it briefly with some water.
The child answers yes.
Since there’s usually at least one other child standing nearby and you shouldn’t walk away from the situation, you ask the child next to you: “Can you please get my water bottle for me?”

By doing this, you give the child helping you a task that’s important right now, and they’ll surely help you and fetch the bottle. At the same time, you show the injured child that you’re staying with them and taking care of them.

Example: Sometimes I give a child the task of explaining a movement they’re very good at to the other children.

What’s the goal?

Just because a child can perform a movement doesn’t mean they can explain it.
This gives the child a sense of responsibility and lets them be the coach for a brief moment (with your help, of course). It also allows you to see if the child was able to follow your instructions and has retained them.

Delegation should therefore be a collaborative process, just as a good team helps and supports one another.

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Why is learning to wait so important?

Everyone has to wait sometimes—whether in line at the store, at the doctor’s office, or simply when someone else is busy with something else.

What’s important?

Tell your child directly: “You’ll have to wait a moment because I’m currently…….”

Don’t let the wait drag on too long, so the child understands that you haven’t forgotten them or gets the feeling that they aren’t important. But do finish whatever was important at that moment (e.g., helping another child; explaining a movement).
The child needs to learn to endure these 1–2 minutes.

Afterward, turn your full attention to the child.

But waiting should also be explained—for example, during practice, you sometimes have to wait your turn, because some people need more time, and so you have enough space to perform your movement without bumping into others.

It’s also a good idea to explain the order of things to children, introduce routines so that the order can be maintained, and, of course, join in and wait yourself.

I also sometimes play a game: Who can be the slowest? Everyone has to move, but as slowly as possible.

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