From the desk of Miss Sonia…
With 15 years experience owning and running dance studios, there are questions that come up time and time again in regards to when and how to introduce your little one to their first dance class.
As a mum of 6 and a dance teacher to thousands of children over the years in many different and diverse cultural backgrounds; what I can attest to is the absolutely beautiful and unique path of every individual child.
When is the right time to start dancing?
For many parents there is some confusion around this. At home their child just loves to move and groove, they have hours of video footage of cute bum wiggles, explosive leaps and Beyonce style sass, but suddenly upon entering the studio with their caregiver for the first class the same enigmatic move machine is wrapped so tightly around their parents’s leg that mum or dad ends up prying her free just in time for the end of class stickers and bubbles and good bye songs!
So what went wrong?
Did they try too early? Is the class not right for them?
In 15 years experience of teaching what I described above happens far more often and is more naturally common than the child who bounces into their first class blows mum a kiss and stays focused on the steps and class routine.
So what is the answer for the child who is reluctant to join in the class on the first few sessions.
From my perspective on both sides of this relationship, both as a mum of 6 and also having been a preschool teacher and dance studio owner, the most important aspect is how we respond in the moment to that child.
Like everything in life there is a journey, a process, and small steps to take to get us to the end desired result with respect and healthy developing self-identities.
While we start our classes at 18 months old, we are more than aware this is also a VERY big time in the cognitive development of a child, it’s often the peak time for “separation anxiety” and a general broadening awareness of the world ‘out there.’ This can be frightening and overwhelming for children who wish to process and understand things before they dive in to kinetically experience things with all their senses.
For that reason we offer classes that are parent/caregiver and child focused for quite a wide age range from 18 months through to 3 years old. Children may need a secure pivotal person in the room with them for as long as 1 to 2 years, or as short a time as a few weeks. The Tiger Tots classes we offer are just this, a safe and nurturing class where children can explore all the dance and physical movement activities they would happily do at home, with the comfort of a primary relationship present for encouragement.
Our transitional class is our Sparkles age group, from 2 years to 4 years old. This is the class where a child who has started to develop their confidence in trying new things and move a little further away from their comfort person can really start to shine. We welcome parents to journey with their own child through this process. And this is where I find parents can sometimes struggle the most. With comments like “ She’s usually so outgoing” “ I am really surprised she didn’t move, she won’t stop dancing at home!” And sometime parents even feel they need to apologise on the way out the door for their child’s lack of participation.
This is where I say “Time out!” Let’s have a chat! Firstly well done because you ARE dancing at home with your child or giving them opportunity to dance by playing music for them etc. Your child is learning so much already just through that fun and safe experience, and let’s just celebrate that for a moment!
Secondly, it’s time to talk about learning styles…. An auditory learner listens careful to process information, a visual learner will watch carefully, often refusing to move until they have fully absorbed the patterns and routines presented and they feel confident that they have some understanding of what is expected of them. Auditory and Visual learners may not move as quickly or as much as Kinesthetic learners. Those learners process information by moving and doing.
While we also LOVE our students who are 100% kinesthetic learners, and we welcome them to the world of full body expression with joy, we also adore our quiet cautious learners who are carefully watching and listening to the instructions and we just couldn’t imagine a world without them!
So from my heart to yours….. I hope I can give you back some assurance that YES your little cling on is still welcome in the class, YES I believe they are absorbing and learning, CRYING is very very normal when children are presented with new information and expected to do new things, NO they won’t stay clinging to your leg forever and YES we welcome you to stay in the room as long as you and they need for the journey they are on. By preschool level, 3.5 – 5 years old approximately, we do expect children to be able to enter class alone with our teacher and their dance friends and follow the class routine. I have yet to have a child who has journeyed along with us from 18 months or 2 years old be unable to attend classes alone without a parent or caregiver present in the dance room by the time they are 3.5 years old.
So is your child ready for a dance class? We think if they are 18 months or older, its a great time to start dance!
Why not try a full term of either Tiger Tots or Sparkles level classes first and give your child the gift of time to learn what this whole ‘dance in a group with a teacher’ business is all about. Most children need a good 5 to 6 classes before they start to fully participate and feel comfortable demonstrating their learning in the group context. A Term of 10 classes allows your child to learn, then master and succeed and with that comes a healthy self esteem boost, giving them even more confidence to try other new things.
It’s usually apparent after a term of classes if a child really is not interested in a class in which case you might want to try a different style or look into a group sport.
At Academy of Dance Taranaki we have created a safe space, with highly qualified dance teachers who practice positive encouragement and safe discipline for the most gentle yet effective outcome for all students.