Does anyone have experience using this course here with 3rd-7th grade students? I’d appreciate any information/experiences. There seems to be a fine line between keeping many kids interested in learning chess as opposed to just playing for fun and not playing all that well. The smaller percentage that really take to the game are easy to teach. Thanks.
Cheers
We have used the first two volumes for a scholastic club, but these students were K-3. I like the philosophy of the KNSB system, which does give you some ideas on how to structure material, but did not follow it too religiously. At this age attention span is mostly counted in minutes (on a single hand), and trying to force a grande curriculum is difficult.
/Jens
Thanks, Jens. What I did this week was use an S video cable to connect my laptop to a 36in tv that the school has. With that we used some of Josh Waitzkin’s teaching module in Chessmaster X. It worked out quite well.
Again, thanks for you feedback.
I bought the $150 dollar package from Cajun Chess, but have not had a chance to look at it. I’ve been examining the free Polgar curriculum. I’m probably a month away from being able to provide any input on the KNSB course, but I do have an interest in it.
I recently got an 48" interactive whiteboard (Smartboard) for my classroom, and showed my before school group a lesson from Chessmaster X on pawn structure. You could see the lights go on in their heads.
Where does one find the free Polgar curriculum? I’d like to see it.
Thanks.
You have to ask for it. Here is the link to Polgar’s blog which offers the thing:
Thanks for the link. I’ve sent in my request.
I am currently using the Polgar curriculum with a club that has 2-7th graders (mostly 6-7th) in it. It seems to be very thourough. I like that even when discussing very basic things like piece movement, it brings up some more advanced concepts. I think the kids are enjoying it.