See The Right Way to Teach Chess to Kids by Richard James (an inexpensive Kindle book)

ErictheRed wrote on 02/23/12 at 16:55:54:


But isn't "develop quickly, use basic tactics, defend against opponents' threats" already pedagogy? Surely there's a debate to be had about the most fun and effective ways to help kids develop even the first, most basic skills.

To me your comment sounds a bit like saying "first the kids learn to read and write, then you start with the pedagogy", which is equally upside-down. 

At least I have not found any good way to avoid all pedagogical ideas and avoid all positions from books (or programs like the Steps Method)... It sounds like there's an expectation that the kids will develop these basic skills just by playing a lot and maybe being corrected when they go wrong, but that doesn't happen so neatly with everybody, in my experience.

Please read this thread: http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1329637248 .  My advice?  Avoid pedagogy, instill fun.  Once they hit 1200ish and have figured out how to develop quickly, use basic tactics, defend against their opponents' threats, etc., THEN you can start with more formalized training, not before. 

This topic keeps coming up in various forms, and Markovich and I and others keep patiently trying to set would-be junior coaches on the right path. Markovich is right - he is experienced at this - he knows what works and what doesn't. Ponder his every word on the topic of coaching juniors. Open games, tactical patterns, basic mates, simple direct strategies (etc. - see Markovich's post) - these should be the priorities.

Books? Geez, most kids just don't associate chess with books, and quite rightly too; it's a game (or a sort of "play-fight")! And until they have acquired a whole lot of experience by just playing, they don't need books, and books won't help them. 

Of course, a lot of what you do, and how you do it, in the teaching of chess to children should depend on two things:
- their "child development " stage (Piaget and all that);
- their "chess development"stage. 

Updating an earlier post of mine:

It really does depend on how much experience a junior already has. Here's a quick summary of what I see, year after year, group after group. They tend to go through these rough stages:

Stage 1: chaotic - "I feel like moving this there, hey, I just lost my queen, oh dear, never mind, lots of pieces left" or from some more sensitive soul:  "I lost my queen, boo- hoo, I don't like this game", etc. 

Stage 2: acquiring cunning, learning from experience, a growing awareness of the weakness of f2 and f7, c2 and c7 and the back rank, plus a few techniques and basic traps, such as Scholar's Mate and how to defend against it, the Petroff trap, the Fried Liver attack. At the same time beginning to sense the different strengths of the pieces (the reality behind the point count) learning how to mate with K+Q (and maybe even K+R), how to avoid stalemating the opponent. Learning that there is an opponent on the other side of the board, whose intentions are just as evil and cunning as our own...

Stage 3: "Scholar's mate is for little kids. Me, I know that chess is really all about playing in the centre, developing my pieces and castling." 
Hence the awful prevalence in junior chess of the Giuoco Pianissimo (aka the "Old Stodge"), with Pe4, knights on f3 and c3, Bc4, Pd3, 0-0. Most kids go through a phase of this, and will often revert to it (against anything) when feeling insecure.

Stage 4: beginning to play "real chess"; learning some more opening ideas, some brave souls even experimenting with gambits (first they have to learn the value of material, then how to give it up in exchange for time and position...).

After that it's using books and computers, maybe getting coaching, developing their own preferences in openings, playing in tournaments, not really much different from adult chess really.

All the time, they are playing, playing, developing tactical skills, some basic strategic ideas, stamina, foresight, patience... The harder they try, the more it hurts when they lose; it's tough, but they've got to get used to it if they want to make progress. For some the pleasure-pain balance between winning and losing is just too skewed towards pain, and those players should be encouraged to take up something other than such an unforgiving competitive activity - or just play their friends for fun - no disgrace in that.

Some never progress beyond a particular stage, some move through the stages at amazing speed!

For more ideas, see:

http://www.chesskids.com

http://www.exeterchessclub.org.uk/index.php

http://www.btinternet.com/~cccs.chess/ChessClubCoaching.htm

The main thing is to communicate the excitement and the fighting character of chess. The child should play chess much more than be told about it. He should know that chess is a rip-roaring fight. And tell him nothing more than he needs to win his games. This certainly includes the principles of classical development, the play of open positions, and tactics. It does not include much more until he gets up to a fairly respectable level with 19th Century-style play. How much did Kieseritzky know about middle games, after all?

Developing the pieces, controlling the center, driving away enemy pieces, king attack based on  better development, king attack based on better space, king attack based on the uncastled king and especially down the e-file, king attack in opposite-side castling situations, that's pretty much it.

When I was 10 the Euwe Amateur plays against ... three book series was a good reading for me when I had neither a teacher nor a chess club. It was in the public library.

I'be been teaching chess for over 40 years now, so I hope you'll find some ideas you can use in my old article at

http://www.btinternet.com/~cccs.chess/ChessClubCoaching.htm

I can also recommend you consult the blog of GM Nigel Davies, who is teaching his young son to play!
http://chessimprover.com

And IMHO an essential site is:
http://www.chesskids.com

Focus on what the students seem to find interesting and enjoyable, rather than force-feeding them a diet of material you have culled from books that are probably going to be way out of their league for a considerable time to come.

Good luck!