What should a child practise at home between classes?

Every instructor says it and every parent misunderstands it: practise at home. It is the complement to your school's weekly rhythm, not extra credit on top of it. Ask your instructor what they expect between classes. Nobody means an hour of drills. The version that works is fifteen minutes, two or three times a week, mostly slow, always finished while it is still fun. Its only job is to move the week's material from unfamiliar to rehearsed, so that class time can spend its energy on refinement instead of re-learning.

The three things worth practising

First, whatever material the student is preparing for their next testing - and ask the instructor whether your school tests a form, basics, one-steps, sparring or breaking, or some mix, because programmes differ. Second, the stances your school teaches, held slowly, because techniques stand on them. Third, one technique the instructor named as weak, done slowly and correctly. That, not a fixed syllabus, is the starting point. Kicks into the air, patterns into memory, stances into legs.

Slow is the method, not the concession

Slow repetition is how the body learns a shape; speed is added on the mat, under an instructor's eye, once the shape no longer needs thinking about. A slow front kick with a good chamber beats twenty fast kicks with a dropped knee - the fast ones are just rehearsing the mistake. Ask your instructor for the count they expect at home and how much repetition is appropriate; let the child who wants more do more.

Where, and with what rules

A clear patch of floor with nothing breakable within kicking radius - living rooms work, kitchens with chairs work less well. Socks off for grip, furniture pulled back, siblings either joining in or elsewhere. Ask your school what equipment, if any, is needed at each rank before buying anything; a standing bag at white belt is often decoration, not progress. One rule worth writing on the refrigerator: the uniform is for class, and home practice happens in play clothes, so the dobok keeps its meaning.

The parent's actual job

You are not the coach. Your job is to start the timer, watch with visible interest, and say one true positive thing afterward - "your stance was lower than Tuesday" beats "good job" by a mile, and it requires nothing but attention. If the instructor has shared the form's name or a video from the school, play it once. Corrections belong to your school's instructor; at home, the parent is the audience, and being a good audience is a skill. Don't teach or adjust techniques yourself - ask the instructor and wait for class.

When home practice goes wrong

Two failure modes, both fixable. The first is force: a parent marching a reluctant child through drills until tears - at which point the form is now associated with the worst fifteen minutes of the week. The second is neglect of the fun: practice that never ends on a success. The repair for both is the same: shorter, slower, finished early. Timing matters as much as length: a slot that is always the same, say before dinner on Tuesday and Saturday, survives; a slot improvised at bedtime never happens twice. If a child asks to stop mid-form, stop. Consistency across months is the entire value; heroism in week one is worthless by week three. Any sensitive practice - weapons, sparring, acrobatics or throwing - is never self-taught at home; those follow event and instructor rules only.

How to tell it is working

Watch the next class from the gallery. The sign of useful home practice is not a perfect form - it is a student who starts the sequence without the instructor's prompting, whose stances are visibly steadier, and who volunteers. That student is doing exactly enough at home, whatever the minutes say. A tally mark on the refrigerator for each session kept is cheap motivation and an honest log.

Bow in - first steps

Ask the instructor for the form's name and one named weakness at pick-up tonight, then build fifteen minutes around those two things this week.

Verify - to confirm

Many schools publish videos or handouts for each rank - check whether yours does, or ask the instructor; using the school's own material keeps home practice aligned with class.

One limit

Home rehearsal builds memory and stances; timing, partner work and corrections still happen in class.