My personal thoughts about teaching the LICW Kids:
My wife, Suzanne, always says, “Listen to that little voice in your head.” So when I woke up early one mid-March morning with the idea to run Morse Code classes for kids through the Long Island CW Club, I had no idea what I was getting into.
COVID-19 has changed a lot of things for people, as we all know. From wearing masks to working from home, to social distancing, our world changed drastically in March. For children across the globe, that was even more true now, as they find themselves quarantined at home. Many of their parents were tasked to become their teacher for part of the day. Some schools responded immediately with structure, and others have yet to deploy stay-at-home learning ultimately. Regardless of the school response…kids are home, with a lot of time on their hands.
We wanted to do something about that, so I reached out to Long Island CW Club founders Howard WB2UZE and Rich K2UPS and asked for permission to offer a class for kids that were homebound due to the school closings. I hoped they would say no as I was busy working from home, but I am so happy they told me to “go for it.”
I had just begun teaching some CW club classes for adults in January 2020, but I also have 30 years of experience working with youths through my work and volunteering in the community. I sent an email to all the club members and posted the kids class idea on Facebook and Twitter and expected that we would start with 10-12 kids and run it until they lost interest. Almost immediately, the post and email were shared and parents signed their kids up. People said, “I saw it on QRZ,” “I saw it on the ARRL home page.” I was getting nervous, and within two weeks, we had 57 kids from 31 states and four countries. What was planned to be one class was now three classes by grade level.
We began with a class schedule for K-3 grades (12-12:30), 4-5 grades (12:30-1:15), and 6-12 grades (1:15-2:00). We meet on ZOOM every day, and the kids have quickly progressed. We use a combined Farnsworth and Koch method of teaching the kids in the two older classes and the Candler System to teach the younger children. Three weeks into our classes, we had another 15 children interested in learning, and we started the fourth class in the evenings! Within a month and a half, all the children had learned all 40 CW characters, learned how to send and receive a CQ, and using their made-up callsigns learned how to send through the first stage of the CW QSO protocol.
Their minds are like sponges, and it reminded me of the many CW operators who told me they learned CW when they were children, and that led to a 30, 40 or 50-year ham radio experience! That is my hope for these kids too! It’s been fantastic to watch.
- We have 5-year old’s that are just learning to read that can copy and send to their classmates: ’73 FB HPE to CUAGN AR SK….’ In perfect spacing and character formation.
- We have 15, 16, and 17 year old girls meeting in ZOOM rooms to practice on their own.
- We’ve had kids make keys out of legos, others build oscillators kits, and use their computer spacebar as a straight key.
- In our recent Long Island CW Club Sprint contest, we had two students, an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old gir,l make their first contacts on air!
- We have one child that graduated from our beginner class in late April that posts a CW Joke of the Day on our class Facebook page…. every day!
- We have had experienced CW operators donate build kits for kids
- One hero donated 20 plus straight keys to children that didn’t have one of their own.
The classes require a parent to be within earshot of the class for assistance and technical issues. Many parents have told me they too are now learning CW, some through our Club, so that they can share this incredible hobby with their child. One parent commented, “My child is so shy and to see her face light up when she gets a letter correct and then to have her send it back in dits and dashes…well, thank you so much for what you are doing for these kids.” One of the most important outcomes during this time of isolation is watching kids from across the world become friends and connecting outside of class!
We have a new set of classes starting in mid-May and already have 30 kids at the intermediate level (our first round graduates) and 12 new children starting beginners classes. This summer, we plan to offer a Technician exam prep class for kids too!
I am amazed and thankful that we have had 75 kids (60% girls) enrolled to date and are so happy for this experience teaching children CW that we are planning to offer classes on a year-round basis.
At Long Island CW Club, we want to see CW be taught and used by all Amateur radio operators. We also believe we need to make sure the younger generations are being introduced, encouraged, and inspired to learn about Amateur Radio and hopefully want to learn CW too! The energy and passion that these inexperienced CW operators will bring to the hobby will be measurable.
I said to a friend when he asked me why I spend so much time doing these classes; “I want to have someone to QSO with when I’m old and grey.”
I was only half-joking.
73,
Robb Zarges K2MZ May 3, 2020
Teaching Morse Code to second graders: 1917. Read this interesting article from over 100 years ago and the same methods of captivating kids’ interest and attention applies still today.
