Keep Your Toddler and Preschool Dance Classes Running Smoothly
How to Keep Your Toddler and Preschool Dance Classes Running Smoothly
For seasoned teachers and newbies alike, you can never have too many tips in your teacher’s “toolbox”. If you’re just starting out teaching pre-ballet, here are some tips that will help your classes run more smoothly. If you’re a veteran, you may already know most or all of these, but a little review never hurt! Here are 7 tips for keeping your pre-ballet and beginning ballet classes running smoothly.
CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE
First and foremost, teach your students classroom etiquette. Once they know how to behave in a classroom, everything else will be much easier. Teaching things like how to follow instructions, listening, standing in a line, and taking turns are super important. It will give your students the tools to better learn actual ballet later on. It will help your class run more smoothly too, giving your students a better experience and encouraging them to want to come back again and again.
DO TEACH BALLET
When I say classroom etiquette is first and foremost, I don’t mean to discount the idea of teaching actual ballet to pre-ballet students. Even 3 and 4-year-olds can learn basic ballet steps. They can learn positions of the feet and arms. My favorite is teaching them correct posture for ballet. We pretend to wear beautiful tiaras and necklaces and we need to stand extra tall to show off how pretty they are. When students are behaving well, I’ll let them tell me what their tiaras or necklaces look like. Some students keep it simple while others have such extravagant imaginations!
MIX IT UP
Let’s face it. Ballet (“real” ballet) is hard. Even for little ones, doing a basic step like a plie or tendu correctly can be difficult. Standing in one place for several minutes during centre barre can be difficult as well. Be sure you mix up your more structured exercises in class with more free and fun exercises. For example, doing a traveling activity after standing in one space for centre barre can work wonders for students’ behavior. On a tough day, when it seems every child has a shorter than usual attention span, mixing in free movement activities can help too. Also, try to keep your most structured activities and exercises that require the least movement through space toward the beginning of class. Students tend to have the best attention spans in the first 20 minutes or so of class.
KEEP IT MOVING
Whatever you do in class, don’t stop! Keep your pre-ballet class moving from one activity or exercise to the next. Know your class lesson plan, have your playlist ready, and have a couple of additional activities planned “in case of emergency”. If you find a particular activity you had planned is not working well with your students, move on to the next planned activity or substitute something else. Don’t be discouraged. If something doesn’t work on a given day, it may the following week.
LINE LEADERS
Who gets to be the line leader seems to be the hot topic of class - every week! Every teacher has their own system of choosing who will be the line leader. What I’ve found works best for me is to appoint the day’s line leader at the beginning of class when I call roll. That way, I can mark in my roll book who has been the line leader during each class so everyone who wants a turn has one. I also never make promises for next week’s line leader. If a student is upset it is not their day to be the line leader, I assure them they will have their turn “another” time. Also, please be cognizant of any shy children you have in class who may not want to be a line leader. Give them the opportunity, but never force the role of line leader upon a child if they do not wish to lead.
IMAGINATION IS KEY
Be imaginative and creative when coming up with ideas for your pre-ballet classes. Remember when you were a little kid and the world was filled with wonder and awe? Especially for younger pre-ballet students, anything is possible. Fairy tales and magic are real. Be creative in planning what activities they will do. Also, be creative when helping kids follow rules. Fairy glue or extra sticky peanut butter do wonders for getting kids to stay in one place (for a little while, at least!). And don’t be afraid to act silly when the time is right.
COMPLIMENT YOUR STUDENTS
One important task in teaching pre-ballet is fostering the love and joy of movement. When a student does a good job, tell them so. And don’t just tell them, “Good job.” Be specific about what they did well. In addition to during class, I also try to compliment each student on something they did well that day when I give them a sticker at the end of class. This helps them to leave class on a positive note.
Happy Dancing!
Ashley Hartford
Founder + Owner, Once Upon a Ballet
Want to know more about me?
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