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Preschool education

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

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Original poster

Has anyone been to Socatots?

37 replies

EmmaKB · 10/08/2006 17:05

Thinking of enrolling ds 2y11m in Socatots classes. Has anyone tried them and what do you think?

OP posts:

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glassofwine · 10/08/2006 17:54

Ooh I'm thinking of doing little kickers, which I think is the same thing, so also interested to know.

Original poster

EmmaKB · 10/08/2006 21:05

bump

OP posts:

eatyergreens · 02/09/2006 15:39

Hi EmmaKB

I did soccatots when DS1 was about the same age, so can offer a few things to bear in mind.

It was geared to slightly older kids with a bit more understanding of sharing and activities with a beginning, middle and end. It starts with a warm up and some weeks the stretching, leg lifting etc that they do had held all his attention adn he couldn't concentrate on the rest of the session.

Quite a lot of the 'tasks' were way beyond him, like kicking a ball through bean bag markers - toddlers caused chaos by just running off with the bean bags and dropping the footballs also 10 star jumps followed by free kicks at goals: chaos!

He did seem to enjoy it, though he never really got involved with the warm ups and his fave time seemed to be kicking the ball around with his pals at the end. Thinking about it, the most enjoyable sessions were when a few of his pals went too.

In the end, we realises it was great to get him out the house with dad for a bit of quality time, so after a few weeks said dads and boys got together for a kick about, had much fun and saved a fiver.

Hope this helps

ocd · 02/09/2006 15:39

id save yer money and go to the park

lau24 · 19/10/2007 10:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

shrooms · 04/11/2007 21:30

We were very lucky in that the local University was doing some classes for little ones (run by students, and we mums would go along to watch) DS LOVED it! He still loves his footy and tbh, any sport you can get them involved in young is great. Sets up good habits and healthy interests!

LulusUK · 04/12/2007 12:16

My son went to Socatots, I thought it would be him getting on with it and me cheering from the sides but it's more a workout for Mummy than anything else, plus he did not quite like it.

LoveAngelGabriel · 06/12/2007 18:49

Our son did Little Kickers for one term (He was 2 and a half). I wasn't that impressed with it. The coaches were lovely, but it wasn't fast moving enough for very young children and many of them found it hard to concentrate. I'm going to hold out until he's 4 or 5 and try again, when I think he may be old enough to really get something out of it.

NK7ba67084X112dc48630c · 02/01/2008 20:08

I've taken my little girl to classes in the Darlington area and she loves it. She is 2 years old so I suppose it just depends upon the child whether they get into it or not. We love it.

mumma2cjh · 15/03/2008 19:11

Im really interested in this for my 3 year old - is it any good?

MyMonkeys · 07/06/2008 15:24

I've taken my 19mth old girl and 3 1/2 year old boy to Socatots and whilst yes it can take the wee ones a few sessions to settle in, the sessions they do in Knaresborough/Harrogate are well run.

They also do lots of games so the children are enjoying playing whilst learning and I find that the sessions they are do are well designed for their specific age, ability and concentration level.

I would definitely recommend that you give it a go. Its been great for us and whilst its not for everyone you dont know til you try it.

cheekymonk · 12/09/2008 21:52

Anyone else got any experiences of Socatots?? My ds is 4 in Jan and loves football so thought it would be ideal but am shocked at nearly £50 for seven sessions and then they insist that you must have the kit which is another £36 on top!! Plus buying him trainers.. What if he hates it?!!
If he loves it then fine but we def haven't got money to throw away!!

yummymummy1405 · 15/09/2008 16:41

We did socatots with our ds who was nearly 2 at the time. I felt it was age inappropiate and everything would have suited a 4/5 year old a lot more. it was in my opinion too structured for toddlers and yes as someone else said save your money and go to the park!

cmotdibbler · 15/09/2008 16:44

My friend signed her 2 year old up for it - and cancelled after 1 session as it really wasn't appropriate for toddlers even though it said from 18 months

CandCsmum · 15/03/2009 21:27

I have been taking my daughter to Socatots since she was about 20 months. She is now 26 months. She loves it. There is sometimes though when she loves doing her own thing but other times she joins in great and can do the tasks great. I think it's all about learning and whatever each individual child can do then that's fine. All the more enjoyable when you see them progressing and start doing things they never could before. The coach we have in Renfrewshire is fab and it's only £4 a session and £20 for a kit and book. My daughter loves getting her kit on every week to go. There is no pressure what so ever to buy the kit and you are asked to make sure the child enjoys the classes and wants to stay before purchasing 1 and then it's only if you want to buy 1.

Anniek · 16/03/2009 13:35

My Son loves little kickers, been doing it only a couple of months, he is 3.9 though. Also another little boy who started with him has dropped out, he just sat there and showed no interest in football, so I do think it is not for all.

trubytrio · 28/07/2009 22:33

Bear with me, i'm very new to this forum sort of thing. My 2(boy nearly 3, girl 17 months) have been going to our local socatots since it 'came to town' 3 months ago. If you're looking for a free play run around then head to the park with a ball. If you're looking for a structured yet fun activity which uses footy as the 'medium' but includes songs,counting etc then this is it. Any session which ends in kids all encouraged to say their please and thank you's and encourage other children is great in my eyes. I attend other groups,fun now,but can see my kids growing out of them. With this, i can see them going right through till the final week. Football, rightly, has a poor image at the moment, it has to change in the future and this is a good start.

MovingOutOfBlighty · 28/07/2009 22:35

It was frickin' rubbish for my 3year old dd. Too structured and lots of kicking cones over but no just kicking a ball about.

Went 3 times, she hated it 3 times, gave it the boot.

LyraSilvertongue · 28/07/2009 22:39

DS2 did Socatots for a while and it was rubbish!
Most of his class was made up of toddlers, while he, at age 3, was much older. So there was no real football involved, just lots of messing about to keep the toddlers amused. We paid £8 a session ( plus more for the Socatots kit) and it was such a waste of money. I was glad when it came to an end (we'd paid for a course of sessions upfront to saw it out to the end).

monkeypinkmonkey · 28/07/2009 22:42

Was going to then saw how much it would cost... just couldn't afford it! After reading posts glad we didn't.

LyraSilvertongue · 28/07/2009 22:43

I think each class is different, as it's run as a franchise. Some people say the classes suited older children, but DS2's class suited younger children. Also we were asked to buy the kit before the first class. Our coach wasn't very good and was obviously new to the whole thing. If we'd done it in a different area with a different coach it might have been fine.

BikeRunSki · 28/07/2009 22:51

Our Sure Start centre is putting on Socatots over the summer for under ones (it is the local Socatots lady doing it, but paid by SS centre - result). We have been to 2 sessions. DS is 10 months and it is too structured for him! He is too mobile and independent to do waht the instructor wants him to do and the time she wants him to do it. But he does like the "freestyle" bit where he chases around after the balls.

I am glad I havn't paid for it.

trubytrio · 29/07/2009 00:28

I've been really lucky then. It's not cheap, but compared to other activities, not much more once you've got your membership. We have to pay sessions on top (like lyrasilvertongue) but NOT £8 that's a lot,ours is &5,and a good coach,new, but we and other parents are happy. Lyra, once you've got your membership(kit and stuff)i think you can go back at any time, your coach might be better in time? Can you go with your membership to another region? (friends went from bristol to barnsley for work reasons) might be worth a look so you don't feel you've wasted cash on kit etc.
As for the structure,if its just kicking a ball about you're after you're mad to waste your money on this,a park and some jumpers are free. But this is about the kids (and us) having some coaching with a bit of fun as well.... down to the coach i suppose.

kitpuss · 27/08/2009 19:18

I take my 3yr old to Socatots and we really like it.

I like the way they bring in colours and numbers etc so it is educational, and that they play games with other things than a football, so it is not just about football.

I much prefer it to the tots gym session I have been to where they just do whatever they want for the whole time. Socatots seems much more like value for money, with a new game to do every 5 mins, so as soon as he begins to lose concentration on one thing there is a new game straightaway for him to get excited about.

And this summer when kicking a ball in the garden he has been kicking it using his toes, outside and inside of his foot, sole, heel and laces - just for fun without me telling him to - David Beckham eat your heart out

manutdmom · 18/02/2010 19:21

hi
I am a proud Socatot Mom! My daughter Grace is enrolled her in Stratford, Ontario Canada in one of the many franchises. I think this is the best pre-schooler program out there hands-down. It teaches/reinforces everything form the alphabet, numbers, colours, balance, ball control, the parts of the foot, footy skills, manners, and plenty more!
The interaction/coaching is top-drawer and I love the class sizes. The best part is that it is fun for you and your child and the time you spend together is irreplaceable!
Love it!

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