When you understand child development, so many things change in your classes. First, you'll see your young students differently. I can remember when I first started teaching preschoolers. I THOUGHT my students would stand in lines, wait their turns, and work hard just like my older students had.
Read MoreWe focus a lot on posture in Once Upon A Ballet even from early on. Posture is important in the early years to promote good habits in the future. We focus on students’ posture mostly during the more technical portions of class like centre barre or barre, centre allegro, and traveling exercises.
Read MoreThe best dance teachers I had when growing up were ones who saw each student as an individual—regardless of what curriculum, school, or method of dance they taught. So what makes a great dance teacher great?
Read MoreI think as teachers, many of us have our favorite ways to begin a preschool dance class. We bring our students into the classroom, mark the role sheet, then what?
Read MoreToday I want to give you a few quick tips for teaching tots—on helping your students wait for their turn during travelling exercises.
Read MorePlanning transitions for preschool dance classes is one of those things that can be easily forgotten in a dance class. BUT, if you teach toddlers or preschoolers, I don’t need to tell you what you already know: transitions will make or break your classes.
Read MoreFor 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...
Read MoreWhen it comes to teaching turnout in ballet, there are many schools of thought on when to begin teaching turnout, how much turnout a student should be able to maintain while dancing, and when to introduce what positions.
Read MoreOne way to get children to really learn while having fun in ballet class is to include dance games and movement activities. Learning through play is a wonderful concept that really works.
Read MoreOnce Upon A Ballet classes have a structure, but that structure is flexible. You can shorten or lengthen exercises and activities as appropriate for your students. You are also welcome to rearrange the order of the class to best suit your teaching style and the needs of your students.
Read MoreIn Once Upon A Ballet classes, children learn their first dance steps through fairy tales and classical ballet stories. Many childhood care facilities and schools teach theme-based curriculums in their classrooms.
Read MoreWhen children come to ballet class, their dance activities take them through a fairy tale story, allowing them to be part of the fairy tale.
Read MoreClassroom etiquette may vary slightly from school to school and from teacher to teacher. To me, classroom etiquette is basically how students are supposed to behave in a ballet class.
Read MoreMany ballet schools have a set time every month, session, or semester, in which they invite parents into the classroom to watch their child dancing.
Read MoreSkips can be a rather difficult for some students to master. Even after a child grasps the coordination of a skip, the technical aspects can be difficult.
Read MoreWe've all seen it. It's recital time, and it's time for a group of little ones to line up and curtsy. (Of course, boys will bow, but for the sake of simplicity we will say curtsy in this post.) Regardless of whether they are pointing one foot front or crossing one leg in back to curtsy, it always seems in disarray.
Read MoreThere are many schools of thought on turnout in ballet. At Once Upon A Ballet, we recommend the degree of turnout progresses according to each student’s ability and age.
Read MoreDid you know that fairy tales aren’t just for girls? Sure, we tend to stereotype that princesses and fairies are for girls and cars and trains are for boys. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Read MoreRecently, I came across an article on types of play that “skyrocket a child’s social and emotional development”. Did you know we cover 5 of them in children’s ballet and creative dance classes?
Read MoreLast week, we discussed some ways to help you manage your pre-ballet classes. This week we'll continue our discussion with a few more tips.
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