How to Use the SKILLZ® Parent Development Assessment
The SKILLZ® Parent Development Assessment is designed to complement your existing Child Pre-Evaluation, giving you a complete picture of both the child’s developmental needs and the parent’s priorities.
Recommended Process
Step 1: Welcome the family and explain that while you’ll be completing a pre-evaluation with their child, you’d like them to complete a brief Parent Development Assessment.
Step 2: Conduct your normal Child Pre-Evaluation while the parent completes the assessment.
Step 3: Before your enrollment consultation, review the parent’s responses and identify their highest priorities.
Step 4: During the consultation, connect the parent’s priorities to the Teaching SKILLZ you use in class. Rather than simply explaining what your program includes, explain how your teaching strategies intentionally develop the skills they identified as most important.
For example:
- Movement → Up the Rep & Extrinsic Motivation
- Cognitive → Trickery & Neurobics
- Regulation → Intrinsic Motivation & Choices
- Connection → Modeling & Healthy Competition
This allows families to see that every developmental goal has a corresponding teaching strategy built into the SKILLZ system.
Team Training Requirements
To use this assessment effectively, your team should understand both why these developmental areas matter and how the Teaching SKILLZ support them.
All team members who conduct Child Pre-Evaluations should complete:
- May Child Development Workshop: Teaching SKILLZ
This workshop explains the science behind each Teaching SKILL and how it supports children’s physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development.
All Lead Instructors should also complete:
- Teaching SKILLZ Crash Course
- Located in SKILLZ University → Instructor Bundle
This course provides a deeper understanding of how to intentionally apply each Teaching SKILL during class so instructors can confidently explain the connection between what parents want for their child and what happens on the training floor.
The Goal
The Parent Development Assessment isn’t intended to replace your Child Pre-Evaluation. Together, they create a complete developmental consultation.
- The Child Pre-Evaluation tells you where the child is today.
- The Parent Development Assessment tells you where the parent hopes their child will grow.
Download the assessment here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yhkmkxjcczwp0hnh8w76h/SKILLZ-Child-Development-Assessment.pdf?rlkey=t98z4tz1lfs0oee5eypt45e3u&dl=0
When combined with the Teaching SKILLZ, your enrollment conversation shifts from describing a martial arts program to presenting a personalized development plan built specifically for that child.