For years now, i have been looking for materials dealing with the teaching/application of
chess in learning disability situations. Because I was able to marginally help a “slow” child,
his parent gave me out as a reference to several of their friend. My degree is in Marketing,
with a bunch of hour in general psychology/not children’s psychology a really different field.
Anyone have any idea of where I can turn to for resource material??
Rob Jone
After giving your question some thought I turned to the mighty Google.
google.com/#q=teaching+ches … bled+youth
I hope one of the choices from this link helps. Whatever you did to help the one youth might just be your overall best method though. Keep up the good work!
One of the things to recognize is that the learning style of many of these players is more tactile than visual or aural. They love to hold the pieces. Any demonstration of a concept should allow them to make the moves themselves on a chessboard. They tend to learn better this way. However, each child is different and you have to be conscious of recognizing their individual abilities. My experience is that individual attention or very small group work are more effective than large group instruction with the types of players you are addressing. Have them play more than receive instruction; make occasional suggestions while they play. It may seem a slow process, but these kids love chess more than the geniuses do. They respond to your enthusiasm for the game.
Yes this is key. Small group settings are better for overall ‘class’ teaching. Now, for teaching firm organizers, huge classroom settings using demo boards is a whole lot more
profitable.
Rob Jones
Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education, 10th edition.
Or, go to the University of North Texas bookstore and take a peek at their Special Education textbook for Elementary and Secondary Ed. You’ll probably need a course number to figure that out but a glance at a paper catalog should do the trick.
If you have a friendly relationship with the parent and the school they attend you may arrange to consult (after parent’s request in writing) with a Special ED teacher and even take a look at the child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) You may need help decoding some of the teacher words and codes, but a look at a few IEP’s will be gold.
Good luck. I’ve been coaching chess for special ed students on and off since 1996 and you can make a difference.
Those texts will not have info on teaching chess, of course, but will give you ideas.