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SHOW: School Teacher Speaks –
STS0008: Mind over Body Chess Academy – Heads up, strategic approaches to education
Mind Over Body Chess Academy: MOB Chess Academy becomes the latest community group to affiliate with OBU. Chess Tutor Asante tells us about the work of the academy
Anywhere in society where there are many young people growing up, people tend not to think before they act. People don’t look before they leap. If you think and look before you move, you can avoid many of life problems.
Mind Over Body Chess Academy is a community organisation based in Birmingham and London and founded by Chess Tutors Seba Asante and Seba Amosu to help improve children’s learning experience using chess as a tool to build upon the skills and knowledge children need to succeed in other areas.
The best way to improve the quality of life is to prepare our children with education that is progressive and practical.
Chess is a great game that can help you to develop your brain power. It is a game for young people and adults. Chess teaches thinking in an enjoyable way, because it takes place in a game context therefore all children should be encouraged to participate in the game. Chess helps children with their attitude to learning, helps them to concentrate and boost their self esteem through problem solving and conflict management.
Our children spend a lot of their free time playing sports and video games which is great, this keeps them active and off the streets. Children need different types of mental stimulation through activities that will not only help them to develop but also help them to realise their true potential.
It has been proven that children who play an hour of chess per week can improve their concentration, patience, memory, strategic & critical thinking plus much more. All these benefits have a tremendous effect on their ability to study at school.
Our aim at the chess academy is to use chess as a means to lead children in the right direction to success. The lessons are structured so that children learn the ability to be patient, how to plan ahead and develop their thinking. We provide a positive social activity to help children learn and succeed in life. Teaching chess is really about learning life lessons. The way we think, determines who we are. So if you improve one’s thinking you improve the person. For adults chess is a good activity for relieving stress, exercising the mind, helps in maintaining critical thinking skills and overall mental health. Many people have used the game of chess to practice ways to move forward in life.
We have four clubs currently running in the Birmingham area and two branches running in London.
In this interview Astehmari Batekun caught up with Seba Amosu and a new member to his Sunday class in Clapham Library (London).