Compulsory chess

[Miss Chicken]

Last night I was reading that the Armenian Education Board had made it compulsory for children to play chess in their schools. This was because they think playing chess improves a child's problem solving and mathematical ability.

So I am asking people here if they think compulsory chess is good idea or not.

Also do you think that there are any other games that all children should learn?

 

[thestrangequark]

Sounds good to me. I don't know if there's any evidence behind those claims, but playing chess can't be bad for the kids, and at the very least it certainly enriches their education as a game of cultural and historic significance.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Yeah why not....i personally would have loved to play chess for 30 minutes every morning, i would have taken it in a heartbeat over the 30 Min's a day mandatory religions education, no doubt about that.

That's not to say i did not learn anything in RE, for example, i now know which special religious days I'm now not bothering about when they come round.

But yeah, chess, sign me up for mandatory classes.

 

[{ Emilia }]

Why not?
Sounds like a good idea even if it does nothing more than increasing the kids' attention span.

 

[auntiehill]

I would have much preferred chess, or really anything, for that matter, in place of religion class.

 

[trekkiedane]

If compulsory football, in school, could keep me away from all sports for the rest of my life, imagine what compulsory chess could have done for me!

 

[Miss Chicken]

I think that a choice of games should be offered - mancala would probably be a good choice to include.

I believe that Armenian officials are hoping that Armenia will eventually become a 'chess superpower'.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

One town's very like another
When your head's down over your pieces, brother...

 

[Finn]

I'm not sure if it would work for all kids regardless of their intelligence and abilities.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I don't think any subject works for all kids.

I taught all three of my sons to play chess. My eldest started when he was 5 years old and ended up being quite a good player. He would have loved it being compulsory at school.

My second son (who is intellectually disabled) started to understand the game when he was in his early teens.

My youngest son never really liked chess, probably because his oldest brother won all the time.

 

[Finn]

^ I was talking about teaching strategies not subjects

 

[RoJoHen]

I used to play chess a lot when I was little, and I feel like I have gotten significantly more stupid since I quit, so...maybe?

 

[Mr Silver]

Chess is an excellent game that involves skill, creativity and discipline. I've started playing again and I would recommend it to anyone. Its a great thing that its been made compulsory.

 

[Miss Chicken]

^ I was talking about teaching strategies not subjects

Which is why I think other games should be included - chess doesn't click for everyone.

 

[Jono]

No, I don't think it should be compulsory and I played chess back in primary school. Our school had a period a week that was given over to other activities that mixed kids from the various grades and chess was one of the options (can't really remember the other options there was probably a soccer/cricket option depending on the season, a library time option, maybe a swimming option after the school's pool got built). I think that's how it should be, you give them the option to pick it up and if they like it they can stick with it.

 

[Hound of UIster]

^ I was talking about teaching strategies not subjects

Which is why I think other games should be included - chess doesn't click for everyone.

Not all minds are the same. Using one narrow strategy to develop problem solving/math/analytical ability is probably the worse option of them all. Just because it worked for your kids doesn't guarantee it will work for others since your kids would share similar genetics/backgrounds/culture and thats not necessarily true for a larger population of children.

 

[Miss Chicken]

^ I was talking about teaching strategies not subjects

Which is why I think other games should be included - chess doesn't click for everyone.

Not all minds are the same. Using one narrow strategy to develop problem solving/math/analytical ability is probably the worse option of them all. Just because it worked for your kids doesn't guarantee it will work for others since your kids would share similar genetics/backgrounds/culture and thats not necessarily true for a larger population of children.

How can it be considered a narrow strategy if you include other games and it is only a small part of the curriculum? It wouldn't replace other strategies for teaching problem solving/maths/analytical ability just compliment them.

When I was a girl we used to have a free period on one day of the week and on that day we got to choose from a choice of about 4 activities, one of which was playing educational games. other choices included learning Esperanto, and a craft option. Nearly all of the boys and a few of the girls choose the games option and it was how I learnt to play chess. Other games included Scrabble, mancala, and backgammon.

 

[Finn]

^Games wouldn't appeal to all.

 

[Miss Chicken]

^Games wouldn't appeal to all.

Music doesn't appeal to all, neither does sports, or art etc but these subjects are often compulsory in school especially during the first years of schooling.

I had to study music for years at school despite the fact that I am tone deaf. I also had to study French which I sucked at.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I think it's a great idea. Not only does Chess strengthen the brain muscles, but it's an antidote to the ever-shortening attention span of the younger generations.