[Paddlewise] Teaching Kids: Looking for sourcesRe:

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You are in luck.  I just cleaned out my house and unearthed a card for
Marge Cline, AKA rivermom who has trained upteen million kids.  I have
assisted her with her children's classes at the Houston, TX Rendezvous
for several years and she is great.  And little 8-10 year olds paddle
like advanced adults when they finish with her. 

Her contact info:

Marge Cline
1343 N. Portage Ave. Palatine, Il  60067-1850
rivermom _at_mindspring.com
847-359-5047

With kids, you want them to NOT be scared and to feel as though they are
playing. So games are the order of the day.  But she always starts with a 
little talk about parts of the boat, dressing for kayaking, etc., and
then has each child get in a kayak and them spots him as two parents turn 
the kayak over, about 2 feet above the ground, so the kids know they will 
just fall out of the kayak. Another game is to have a lot sponges and
have kids throw them at each other, paddle after them and retreive them
to throw again.  And one of the most fascinating things – she lines all
the kids up in a row and then lets them get out of their kayaks, one at a 
time and attempt to run across all the rest of the kayaks.  Of course
they all eventually fall in and have to get back into their boats (that's 
the real point) but they think they are having a contest as to who can
run across the most boats. And  don’t forget – teach the turning strokes
BEFORE you teach them forward strokes.  Otherwise, in a lake, you have
kids all over who can’t get back.  We always have a few people acting as
boat herders and rescuers when we teach on the lake. 


Marilyn




Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2003 10:04:48 -0800 (PST)
From: Jack Gilman <hudsonsb_at_yahoo.com>
Subject: [Paddlewise] Teaching Kids: Looking for sources

Hi All-

Our paddling club, in partnership with the local YMCA
will be doing some pool sessions with kids from the
Y's swim team this winter.

Does anyone know of any sources for information on
teaching kids to paddle kayaks?

I'm sure this will be a lot of fun, just want t get on
the right track from the start.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Jack Gilman
Yonkers Paddling & Rowing Club
Yonkers, NY



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