How to be engaged, individually or in group?
Often parents ask a question: it is better to be engaged individually or in group?
To receive the answer to this question, let’s compare these two kinds of occupations:
| Individual training | Group training |
| The training material is selected under the specific child, proceeding from his requirements. The material which the child badly acquired undertakes in attention. | In group all children are engaged according to the installed program. The trainer has no opportunity to pay more attention to a subject, than is given hours in the program. |
| Allow to put individual opening repertoire, according to character of the child and psychology of his game. | In group all learn identical opening repertoire, without features of the child. |
| At individual training there is an opportunity more deeply to analyse everything played by the child of parties. It is very important as in the analysis the trainer reveals mistakes made in various stages of party. There is a probability that in the following tournament the child will make less similar mistakes. Also the trainer, on the basis of the revealed mistakes can correct the plan of occupations with the child. | Not all parties opportunity to analyse is represented. As for tournament each child plays 9 parties, and children in group not less than 15 people. It is impossible to analyse in 2 hours of 135 parties and psychologically they simply won’t sustain. |
| At individual training the child feels more comfortably as he isn’t afraid to speak. That allows the trainer to see extent of mastering a material, in due time to point to an inaccuracy of its judgments. | Many children to be afraid to express the opinion because of sneers from fellow students and prefer to keep silent. |
| There is an active dialogue between the trainer and the child. | At occupations in group the trainer has no enough time to listen to all children in group as it needs to read the program. |
| Individual occupations exclude the game practice allowing the child to put into practice gained knowledge. | On each occupation time for training parties is allocated. |
| Lack of communication with collective. | Have opportunity to communicate with adherents. |
To compensate shortcomings of one or other type of occupations it is necessary to combine them. Then there is a question: How many and what occupations it is necessary?
Group occupations are normalized by the program, and individual occupations are regulated proceeding from:
1. Age features of the child.
– For age group no more than 30-40 minutes on 2-3 times a week are from 4 to 6 years better individual occupations. It is necessary because this category of children not assidious and quickly forgets a material. For success regular occupations are necessary.
– The age group from 7 to 9 years on condition of visit of all group occupations, individual requires 1-2 times a week no more than 60 minutes. If it is impossible to visit group (study, an illness), then it is better to increase number of individual occupations that the child caught up with a material.
– In age group from 10 to 12 years on condition of visit of all group occupations, individual 2-3 times a week of 1час 30 min. and more are necessary.
– In age group from 13 to 17 years on condition of visit of all group occupations, individual 2 times a week of 3 o’clock and more are necessary.
2 . Game level. The game level is higher, the more material needs to be acquired. Sometimes children for 1 year of training manage to execute three categories, and recompleting of groups goes next academic year. Not to waste precious time the child can add knowledge by individual occupations.
3 . Specific features of the child. Each child is individual also to everyone the different quantity of time for development of this or that material is necessary.
4 . Desirable result. Planning individual occupations parents have to will decide on the purpose of such occupations (to catch up with the passed material, victories in competitions, career of the professional chess player or the checkers player, for the general development).
Thus, we draw a conclusion that occupations need to be combined, and time and number of individual occupations need to be selected individually under each child.
Author Natalia Omutnykh-Gubatenko
master of FIDE in chess
honourable friend of Fenix-64 web-club