Chess turns kids from pawns to kings

Schools find chess turns kids from pawns to kings
By LEYNA KROW
Staff Writer

Although board games are often a staple of elementary school classrooms, they are rarely a part of the curriculum. But for students at Phantom Lake and Medina elementary schools in Bellevue and Rosa Parks Elementary in Redmond, one board game in particular has recently taken a place at the blackboard alongside reading, writing and arithmetic.

The game is chess, and according to Wendi Fischer, vice president of Redmond-based America’s Foundation for Chess, students who play regularly are likely to grasp concepts in math more quickly and perform better on standardized tests.

“While chess won’t be on any standardized test, it teaches problem solving and reasoning skills, and those things are tested,” Fischer said. “Plus it teaches patience and good sportsmanship, so we feel that chess definitely has a place in the classroom.”

To get chess into schools, America’s Foundation for Chess has developed a curriculum that highlights the game’s academic components. The program is called First Move and it is designed for use in second and third grade classes.

“It’s a good age group for a couple of reasons,” Fischer said. “They’re really starting to develop high level thinking skills and chess is helpful in that regard. Also kids at that age still like to be smart. Chess has a brainyness associated with it, so that works in our favor.”

Here is the full article.