CLASS SCHEDULE:
We look forward to starting the year off next Wed 10/4! Class will be held immediately after school from 2:30- 3:45 Wednesdays (excluding Thanksgiving) during October, November, January and February. No classes during December, but we'll be having online events on ChessKid, and this will be the time for kids to learn on their own and with family.
This year, the two sections of class are just calendar divisions - nothing more. Unlike last year, the first classes are not just for beginners. Every class will accommodate every skill level!!
INSTRUCTORS:
Since we have so many kids - looks like about 47 to start - we will have three instructors to start. Myself (Mark Seghers) and Kyle Jain are volunteers, and Robin Grochowski returns from last year as a paid instructor. I led the Muskego Scholastic Chess Club for many years before moving to Tosa, and Kyle was one of my students. Mr. Kyle is the reigning D1 High School state champ. Mr. Robin has been a huge contributor to Wisconsin chess over the years, and is a very strong player and instructor. Robin offers individual training to kids also - please inquire by emailing or talking to us at class. His rates are reasonable - and he comes to you!
CLASS FORMAT:
Each week, we will have announcements, and then we will divide into three groups. Each group will receive instruction level equal to skill level. Kids can advance in class, in tournaments or online. It's important that students don't move too quickly, and grasp concepts prior to moving to the next group. We have an idea of strong players from last year, so the highest level will be small at first - and the inbetween level may have some kids we just haven't seen play yet. We'll get there! Each class will also include open chess play.
We ask that each parent prepare their kids to pay attention. Our class is interactive, but we limit this due to time and numbers. We have a three strike rule - first time they are warned, second time they are separated from the other kid (there's always another kid, haha), and the third time we send an email to parents. Please note this is NOT an after school child care program - they're here to play chess, and to listen. For our part, we'll try to be as engaging and entertaining as possible. *smile*
HELP NEEDED!
A few parents said they can help during class- fantastic! We need one or two parents for "crowd control" to keep kids on task. Please shoot me an email if you can help - this will help the class focus on chess rather than herding or noise control. Thanks!
OPTIONAL TOURNAMENTS:
There is nothing like a fun, Saturday CHESS TOURNAMENT to really get the kids interested in chess. There are several fantastic tournaments throughout the year offered by the WSCF, IAC, and other organizations. These tournaments have divisions like K-3, K-6, and K-12. One tournament in spring is the GRADE LEVEL tournament where you play only the kids in your own grade. Then, there is a big K-5 State Championship in March at UW-Oshkosh! Our goal is to field a competitive team for that two-day tournament. More information on tournaments will be sent via email, and is on TosaChess.com where we have a CHESS CALENDAR you can access. Last year, we won several first-place team trophies and many individual trophies which we display proudly in the library. We hope to get some more this year.
One of the biggest gifts of a chess tournament is sportsmanship. Kids learn how to win gracefully (not easy) and lose gracefully (even harder)... and they learn how to be good sports. Thinking of the other kid, saying "good game" whether they win or lose, and never "rubbing it in" when they win. This is also a great opportunity for parents and kids to bond around a very fun (and sometimes triumphant) experience. I have many great memories with my twin boys over the years with Chess tournaments, sharing in their joys, and helping them cope with their disappointments. We always say, kids either WIN, or LEARN. If you learn from your loss, you will never lose a game.
I, and sometimes Kyle and/or Robin, will be at the "official" McKinley tournaments we choose to attend as a team - but you can go to any of them. I recommend you choose a McKinley group tournament (where we have a full team or two) for your first couple of tournaments however.
The $50 one time fee includes a Gold subscription to ChessKid.com (a $49.99 value!). This is an amazing resource. Each kid will receive a login to ChessKid, and on that safe environment, they can watch videos, do quizzes and puzzles and workouts, and play online games with classmates. Kids will start with a 600 level, but please tell them THIS WILL GO DOWN. It may drop to 100 before it starts going back up - that is normal. As they play and learn, their level will go up and up.
I watch ChessKid to see which kids are learning between classes, and to see which lessons we may need to highlight in future classes.
Note that it will be FAR more difficult for a kid to progress with only 1 hour of chess class per week. To really get the most out of chess, each kid should play chess outside of class - and learn chess through ChessKid. Their time with the game should be "good chess"... they don't learn by playing hundreds of "bad games" with lots of blunders by both players - they need to apply the principles we teach in class and which are also taught on ChessKid!
PAYMENT:
If you have not yet paid (maybe you registered during forms and fees day), please bring a check to the office written to McKinley Elementary. The one time fee of $50 pays for ChessKid accounts, boards, pieces, clocks, and our paid instruction.
PLEASE visit our website TosaChess.com - you can subscribe to updates on the right hand side of the site (so you get an email when there are new posts). On the site you will see pictures and results from last year, and some information about the year to come. This is a vital component of the experience.
SO much to say. I hope to meet many of you! I live on 85th St, just a few blocks due East of school with my wife Christine and 19 year old twin sons, Reid and Evan. I love Wauwatosa and am very glad we moved here. Very happy to be able to contribute my time to this community and its families. As I've seen with so many families over 12 years of coaching - f you give to chess, it will give back tenfold. I'll leave it to you to see how. If there is anything I can do to adjust, or anything you'd like to let me know over the school year, please email or call.
Thank you for reading my novel :)
Mark / Mr. S
