Kids classes

[Millennia]

Here's one for all the instructors who teach a kids class, or for those parents out there...

what time slot do you think is most suitable for kids classes? when is too early? too late? etc

cheers

[Millennia]

actually, whilst we're on the topic - here's a few more questions

how many classes per week do you find most kids attend?
do you charge different fees for kids classes?

cheers guys, this is a whole new world we're looking at entering at Millennia so any advice would be great

[sethmerlin]

we have kids classes 3 times a week, typically i find they attend either one, or all. lots of people have lots of commitments with sports etc, so it's pretty hard to find times that will suit everyone....
weekdays we do them 4:15 -5:15, which is normally enough time to get straight from school, and saturdays at lunchtime. Saturdays are always the biggest by far, i get up to 30 then.
We have a concession fee rate which applies to kids, as well as any other form of concession for adults. occasionally parents whine that it should be cheaper... i think if anything it should be more! they're so much harder to teach, it takes a lot of experience to be able to do it....
it's good fun and rewarding tho if it works out.

[Millennia]

Thanks Seth,

that pretty much backs up what the mums from my lunchtime classes suggested too

[progdan]

When you say 'kids', what sort of age group are you looking at?

[Millennia]

Hey Dan, we're looking specifically at primary school aged kids, at the moment we have a few teens training in our full programs and they go fine...

[progdan]

No worries, sounds good! I reckon Seth's suggestion is probably ideal in that case.

[Shawn]

We used to get quite a few kids at one stage.

I'm with Seth, straight after school is good. Alternatively, enough time to get dinner out the way, but not too late for bed is good too, so we found that 6-7.30 worked.

We used to charge about 70% for juniors, but you gotta be careful, don't let parents use you for a cheap babysitter.

Tell us about your new venture ash!

[Millennia]

Cheers Shawn, it seems like straight after school is the go based on what everyone has said - after dinner is no good for us as that's when our most popular adult classes are, and with 16 - 20 guys per class now I don't really want to jerk that around at this stage

I plan so far has been to charge slightly less for kids but not too cheap - in my opinion kids are harder work than adults so if anything they should cost more, but sadly parents have enough expenses to take care of so getting them through the door on full training fees probably wouldn't happen

thanks for all the tips guys

[LAllan]

We used to charge about 70% for juniors, but you gotta be careful, don't let parents use you for a cheap babysitter

Very good advice, Shawn, its something I think a lot of parents do, particularly with the really snotty little buggers no one wants to put up with.

[Zorbasan]

i think 1.5 hours is probably a bit long for a kids class. they dont have that much attention span.

i think any longer than an hour and you are going to get some kids mucking around.

[EmptyHandsMA]

Hey Ash

Our kids classes are 5-6pm (fits in well before ppl's tea time) and Sat mornings - some kids come to only one, others come to a couple of classes a week. Our kids classes run only through the school term time (parents appreciate a break from regular activiies over the holidays ). As for cost, we charge per school term and it works out to ~75% of our adults charge - you can afford to charge a bit less for kids, usually easier to get more kids along than adults.

Good luck!

[Millennia]

Cheers Tim,

75% fees seems to be a very common thread amongst all the instructors I've talked to regarding kids classes so I'm thinking that's a pretty good place to start. We've decided to run our kids sessions at 4pm - feedback from all the mums is that it's easier to take the kids straight from school, rather than take them home and try to get them organised all over again. Luckily I can get away with 4pm classes due to my work hours, however I know it's not possible for the majority of instructors out there due to work

cheers

[Shawn]

Cheers Tim,

75% fees seems to be a very common thread amongst all the instructors I've talked to regarding kids classes so I'm thinking that's a pretty good place to start. We've decided to run our kids sessions at 4pm - feedback from all the mums is that it's easier to take the kids straight from school, rather than take them home and try to get them organised all over again. Luckily I can get away with 4pm classes due to my work hours, however I know it's not possible for the majority of instructors out there due to work

cheers

Great stuff mate. when you thinking of starting it up?

[Millennia]

Hey man, probably not until April - got way too much on before that with MILTAC courses, UFC, corporate gig, hosting Rob Williams for a BJJ training weekend etc...