This morning The Kidlet, age 8, is playing in the State Basketball tournament for 3rd place. She is a 3rd grader playing on a team with 4th graders.
On her own today, she got up early and started making a "TAG MAP." The fourth graders run very simple plays that it has taken my 3rd grader most of the season to figure out. Anyway, she made diagrams of where she needs to go on each play and put an X where she wants me to tag her.
We use a thumbs up during the practice, but I don't tag her during the games. That is the coach's job (and he ALMOST gets it.) I say that because yesterday they were down by a lot. At half time the coach called me over and asked me to tag the The Kidlet for stealing the ball. I gave her one tag point for defense - Stop the Ball Every Time - and one tag point for offense - Hustle to Your House.
She ended up with 9 steals and her team went from losing by 22 to losing by 2 points.
We started tagging The Kidlet when she arrived on our door step at 18 months old.
The girls lost by 3 points. The Kidlet had another 8 steals and almost half of her team's points (8 of 21).
ReplyDeleteThe best thing that came out of the weekend is that The Kidlet told me that even though the score board said that her team lost, all the girls won anyway. I asked how that could be. She said, "I did my best. I dribbled with my head up. I could stop the ball every time I remembered my tag. I found my feet TAGs. Every one worked %100 and played better and better all game. No one quit or cried from the loosing and everyone shook the referees hand after the game."
One of other kids parents has shown an interest in learning to tag her child. And one of the assistant coaches asked me to work with his child this summer with both basketball and softball - but isn't interested in learning to tag. He is the coach who called me over at half time during the first game.
When I coached a different group of girls last year (and the year before), we did a lot of tagging. The coaches TAGGED. The players tagged each other and the coaches. The parents tagged the players as part of their weekly homework. Those girls - all third graders - now all have sound fundamentals and played well on their teams this season. Both of the coaches that I worked with are still coaching and still tagging. A few of the parents are as well.
Here is a little video from earlier in the season. Tayja is the little brown kid, number 13.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ats682ASUJo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHRvw8ZSgRY
Robin Sallie
Twin Cities, MN
http://tagteachcraft.blogspot.com/