Questions for those who have taught kids to yo-yo.

[Layz]

As a student of the Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy, I have been awarded the opportunity to work with students at Garland R. Quarles Elementary School.  The lead teacher at QES is very excited at the prospect of having pharmacy students teach her students how to yo-yo.  I will be performing a brief yo-yo demonstration for the fourth and third grade class in hopes of stimulating interest in the program.  The idea is that those who are interested in learning how to yo-yo can sign up and make arrangements to stay after school once a week for a six week long period where they will be taught how to yo-yo by a group of about eight pharmacy students.

We are still working out the details of how this will be orchestrated so additional input is greatly appreciated.

I'm curious as to what would be a good ratio of students to teachers.  As a rough guess, I thought no more than three students per yo-yo instructor would be plenty.  I want to give as many students as possible a chance to experience this, but if each student doesn't get enough attention then I'm sure the experience would be less enjoyable.  If the number of students interested is great, we will most likely have to meet on several different days to ensure everyone has equal face time with instructors. 

What would be a good inexpensive yo-yo to use with the students?  I thought it might be helpful to have a bearing since many of the kids will likely not be throwing it hard enough to walk the dog with a Pro-yo or something of the like. Mosquitos are $5 a pop which could be a bit expensive if there is a large group interested in our program.  I would almost prefer the modified shape of a Pro-yo or something like that so they could learn to loop, but I'm more than open to other suggestions.  Cost isn't my biggest concern (as I'm willing to personally foot the bill for whatever cost our school cannot cover) and I'm more concerned about being able to offer materials better suited to their learning needs.  (On the  off chance that someone might be willing to offer a special deal on yo-yos, I have been told a booth or advertisement area could be set up during a few different conventions or open houses that are held at the school as a form of appreciation for the help.)

What all should be done in preparation for the first session?  I'm sure I'll have to pre-cut string lengths.  I may have to fiddle with the bearings or response systems if bearingized yo-yos are used.  It might be useful to pre-loop the strings, but at the same time that seems like a fairly important thing to learn how to do so it might be better not to skip that step.

Is there any particularly interesting or fun way to begin teaching a first timer?  I haven't taught that many little kids how to throw and I usually start off with some corny joke or body gesture to get them to flex their bicep in preparation for the first throw. Surely others can offer up some ideas.

I appreciate any responses, suggestions, advice, or help that anyone has to offer.
Thanks for your time.
--Stephen Garletts

[DrYoYo]

Hi, Thank you for teaching the art of Yo.  I have been teaching yo-yo classes for 10 years and have learned alot.
Chat me up on Aim, and we can discuss your questions if you have any more.

AIM: thedryoyo
Yahoo: toastydoc

Just so you know, You will want to have all your instructors able to at least do the basic trick list that you are teaching the kids. 
The best yo-yo for classes in my opinion is the YoYoFactory Velocity, but those are 20 bucks each.  A Duncan Mosquito should be okay and can be purchased at Walmart or here on the yoyonation.com store.  A better cheap option if you can't do the Velocities is the YoYoJam Projam for 5 bucks each.  YoYoJam specifically makes the ProJam for Teaching events like your thing.  Go to yoyojam.com and find the contact info.  An email will be answered quickly, those guys are on top of it. 
You will want Trick Cards ready to go for the first session.  I have some at my website
yoyoskills.com/classes.html at the bottom of the page.  There is also a permission slip, very necessary for minors.  Just edit it to your situation.
Don't cut the stings before the kids get them.  let them throw the yo-yo to understand why they need the sting shortened.  Measure from the ground to the elbow.  That is the lengh you need.  Show them how to tie and cut the string (use safety scissors)
To teach them how to throw and be a cool old dude at the same time, have them give you a low five.  Have them do it harder, have them turn there hand palm up and do it again.  Tell them that this is how they should throw.  Hard, and stopping just beyond parallel to the ground.
Please feel free to contact me if you need more info.

Cheers
Chris "Dr. Yo-Yo" Allen

[joemeyer]

I like your registration form.