Armed with the knowledge I have gained thru this project and the additional info I have learned thru shooting CMP and NRA competitions I have been looking forward to the day that I would be able to teach my daughters how to shoot.
They are 8 (twins/not identical). Ever since they could crawl they have been exposed to firearms, ammo, reloading, hunting etc. I have not FORCED them to try anything. I remember back to my youth and when my father decided it was time for me to learn to hunt. I HATED it! Hated every bit of waking up early, freezing in a tree stand, and not seeing any deer.
Well...., as of late Shannon (one of my daughters) has expressed interest in learning how to shoot. That was all it took for me! It actually happened one afternoon a few weeks ago when I was dry fire practicing with my 1903A4 on the SCATT system. I have a broken leg, and Shannon was assisting me getting things set up. As I was taking "sighter" shots, she was amazed that I would CALL the shot before the score showed on the computer. And the shots were ON and INSIDE my call. That impressed/interested her.
Got her hooked up with a 10/22 set up with tech sights. She has yet to take a dry fire shot. You may have heard mention in here of a guy named Lanny Bassham. Lanny talks about kids a LOT in his training. His point is something like when you ask a kid to get a glass of milk....do you add in "don't spill it"? NO negative stuff. I'm also reminded of my times being in a leadership position in the Navy as a Chief. Some saying like this "Give your people the desired end result, and let them surprise you on how they achieve it", in other words...do not micro manage the people/process.
SO...., she has a rifle..., now what?
I bought her a dry erase white board. Wrote the "NRA" Safety rules on it (shorter and easier to memorize), and had her recite them to me. I told her when she can recite them by memory we will "press on" with training. I put the white board in her room....so she could see them every morning.
This past weekend, she impressed me as she had them memorized. Time to move on! She has still yet to take even a "dry fire" shot.
We then had her become familiar with the different parts of her rifle, to a general extent. She was able to by memory, identify all the parts of her rifle.
Our latest training has been the Appleseed 6 steps of firing a shot. I think those are EXCELLENT. SO...we spent a LOT of time on SIGHT ALIGNMENT this weekend. They are all written on her white board and are in her room for her to see.
Something that AMAZED me this weekend was HOW FAST she picked up the application of the GI Web Sling Loop! I gave her a 2 minute or less demo, and she was on it! Got it right her first time! Now.....she has no idea how to use the sling yet. BUT....she does know how to put the loop on properly. Bonus: Posted the video on Facebook and a friend saw....and is sending her a Ron Brown sling with her initials burned into it! How cool is that! I will likely transition her to the 1907 sling very soon....To my Lanny Bassham point above...., I simply showed her how to do it....and let her amaze me!
I spoke with some NRA HIGH Masters this weekend, one being Brandon Greene. Brandon thinks it is now time for me to get her in "supported prone" dry firing on the SCATT for fun. It will help her to put Sight Alignment and Picture together and hopefully give her some instant gratification when she sees that she can actually hit the target.
Anyways...., not sure what training you all do with your children, but this is the path I am taking. I am open to any suggestions of course. Selfish me cannot WAIT till she takes the sport of competing up....but I try to keep my selfishness out of the training. She needs to WANT to do it on her own....or it will not be enjoyable to her (sorta like me and my Dad with hunting when I was her age).
Few short videos of what we have been doing:
Safety Rules:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNypxNgks_U
6 Steps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8gdn4_EOP4
Rifle Parts ID:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEM5Qk7JKdk
Web Sling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij-v99ScUKE
R/
Chris
Her first shot ever!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R4zbxDLWAQ
Daddy needs to remove a sandbag (there are 2 stacked...for my CMP Vintage Sniper match practice) and also I am going to give her my rear "Squeeze" bag for shooting supported prone. GOAL is NO BIPOD! LOL
She was soooooo happy to hit the target!
She has committed to 10 dry fire shots a day on the SCATT. NOW that she has a reference, time to teach breathing, trigger control, and follow thru.
Diggin this!
R/
Chris
You are doing great Chris.