For children, chess training needs to come in a bright and colourful package. The tools that speak best to young minds heavily rely on gamifying and socializing learning. We have a whole list of apps, books, and games that have proven in our classrooms to be very effective in teaching chess to our young students.
Chess Training Through Video Games
Adventure games are a dime a dozen when it comes to teaching math and reading for a reason. They are proven to work. These games will frame your child’s chess training as a fun game with an engaging story. They may be saving the world, foiling a plot, or exploring the ocean, but they will be learning chess tactics and strategy along the way. One of our favourite games is Fritz and Chesster. It’s great for young children with a simple art style, and it teaches great chess skills.
Guided Chess Training
Gamifying chess learning is effective, but so is turning it into a social activity. Children love socializing, so it would make sense that group learning works wonders. The challenge is effectively leading a lesson with a dozen young children without things going off the rails. This is where choosing the right chess coach comes into play. Choosing a coach that has experience in child education is vital.
We’re also huge proponents of the Step Method of teaching chess. The step method is a proven curriculum that comprises workbooks and puzzles. It’s an extremely well thought out method that is best led by a trained coach, but the first few steps can be led by a dedicated parent. Our coaches are experienced in teaching children through the Step Method, and making it fun. Contact us here to chat about enrolling your child with our amazing coaches.
Online Chess Training for Children
We have to be careful when choosing online tools for children’s chess training. We’ve experimented a lot, and we always come back to ChessKid. ChessKid is a very structured yet fun online chess training site. They have hundreds of videos, a great progress system, and the ability to play others live while saving the game for future analysis. This works great in conjunction with a chess coach to go over those saved games. Our coaches are partnered with ChessKid, and this means we can link to their accounts and monitor progress, helping us fine tune our chess lessons.