make ourselves brave like the big gorillas !’
I led Toto out of the classroom and started showing Toto the tapping on the chest . ‘ This is how the gorillas do , isn ’ t it ?’ I said , ‘ Just do like me now .’
He nodded and started to imitate me . After tapping for a while I asked him : ‘ How do you feel ?’ He smiled and said ‘ I ’ m okay now .’
We went back to the classroom . When entering through the door , Toto
let go of my hand and walked without hesitation through the crowd , up to the teacher . She asked him something in French , which is the language of the learned people in our country , but Toto answered in Swahili : ‘ Please Madame , could you say the questions to me in Swahili , French is difficult . ‘
The teacher looked surprised at Toto . Then she bent forward and lifted him up from the floor and said : ‘ You are a brave boy . Of course we can talk in Swahili .’
On a Chess Tournament for Kids Another example of doing TTT with children comes from Sweden : Ulf :
When my daughter was ten years old , her whole class participated in a yearly chess tournament for kids . They participate as a class , counting points from every individual game . This means that every child is partly responsible for the outcome of the class in each game . Imagine the pressure .
One boy got so nervous that he threw up . He cried and wanted to go home . This situation holds a lot of pressure for a kid this age – the class effort de- pended on him playing .
My wife , Melodie , tapped him as he was standing and crying , using a napkin to mop up the vomit . After two rounds she looked him in the eyes and asked “ Can you give it a try ?”
He turned around with a weak smile , nodded , played – and won . After