Classrooms or Groups
Both in the classroom and in informal public groups that want to learn go. Here is where you'll find assistance in creating the perfect ongoing learning experience. There is another section for one-time presentations or lessons.
Experienced teachers have developed a variety of curricula, handouts and other materials for use by instructors, available here for download. Choose the method that suits your style, or develop your own approach.
K-12
Be sure to check out the entire section for "Youth Go" on the left menu. There are camps, workshops, tournaments, and more with lots of help for you and your students along the way.
Lessons and curricula
Teaching Children To Become Go Players Longtime Portland organizer Peter Freedman shares lessons learned from teaching go in schools for many year. His program is designed not merely to teach go to children, but to create "people who independently seek opportunities to play and improve their games."
A Curriculum for Beginners Peter Freedman and Fritz Balwit introduce non-players to the game in ten brief lessons, with specific goals, activities and talking points. Intended mainly for classroom use. This is a beta version -- if you try it out, please send feedback and suggestions to Peter.
The Michigan Method A detailed curriculum developed and used extensively in Michigan public schools by AGF teacher of the Year Susan Weir.
STE@M: Integrating aspects of go into the core curriculum Georgette Yakman developed this presentation based on the STEM educational approach, arguing that the arts are a natural way to bridge the "silos" of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, including the art of go.
An Integrated Curriculum for Go In the Schools Retired educator and superintendent Dr. Gordon Castanza has written a complete curriculum -- more than 200 pages! -- that aligns with student performance standards in Washington and Alaska, and closely examines the pedagogy of go instruction. A complete set of lesson plans is also available.
Introduction For Kids: This file shows a simple and fun way to get kids started in less than five minutes, avoiding the common pitfalls of boring or confusing the child. The file is in .sgf, the standard game recording format. Most go software can read this format; for a free reader, download the KGS Go Server client.
College
Go: Game and Culture Syllabus for college course taught for years at the University of Rochester by Prof. Dave Weimer.
Middlebury College Course Syllabus for a course currently on offer at Middlebury College, by Prof. Peter Schumer.
Getting Serious? Try a simple tournament.
Pairing Sheet: Print this download and easily pair a knockout tournament of up to 16 players..
Tips for Teachers
Subscribe to Sensei: The AGF publishes a newsletter for Go teachers, you can subscribe by e-mailing mail@agfgo.org.
Material and Financial Support: Equipment and grants to teach go to children, through college age, and AGA Chapters are available from the American Go Foundation.
Bringing Go Into the Public Schools Tips on how to establish a successful teaching program in your local school, from AGF Teacher of the Year Sasha Orr.
Why Teach or Learn Go?
A Soccer Mom Discovers Go "Michigan Method" author and former "soccer mom" Susan Weir tells why she wants to have her children involved with go.
Educational Benefits of Go: This 1982 monograph by Skip Ascheim tells why go is not only fun -- it's one of the best things you can do for your brain.
Need more reasons? Checkout the scholarly research, including studies on the brain.