Aviana loves to flit around the house like a little ballerina, and has been intrigued by all things dance for at least a year and a half. We have thus far stymied her obsession with ballet books and CDs and DVDs designed to be a dance class such as Baby Ballet.
Recently her desire for being a dancer has grown to mammoth perportions because my niece, 5, is Aviana’s hero. Aviana wants to be like Cora and do everything Cora is doing. Cora is in dance class. She even got to attend one of Cora’s classes. Since then she has been talking about taking dance class like Chinese water torture.
I’m not a huge believer in early organized learning for children, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to look into it. We live at least half hour from “town”; driving that far for an hour lesson isn’t even an option at this point in my life. Our nearest little town offers two dance studios.
One isn’t even an option; I have seen the costumes those girls wear and heard the music to which those girls perform. The other is owned by a Christian, so I gave them a call.
Last week we visited a class. In the 50 minutes we were there, the girls played “follow-the-leader” skipping, galloping, and two stepping. There was some sashaying back and forth across the room. A lot of waiting. They went through the pieces for their recital twice.
All this for $15 a class.
There was a lot of disrespect, obvious and not so blatant to the teacher. There was a lot of not listening and disobedience. There was a lot of meaness between the girls that didn’t get noticed or addressed. Frankly, I was appalled.
This week they were kind enough to let Aviana participate. She was so excited, she was vibrating. She was telling me the time every thirty seconds starting at about 2 o’clock. It was a long time to 5. She enjoyed herself, although she could only remember a couple of things they did, and reported some little girls pinching each other and being mean which the teachers didn’t see.
Another problem I have is the classes are right at dinner time, and our children have early bedtimes. Brielle and Aviana both were exhausted from running into town, waiting around, rushing supper…and it was fairly stressful for me too.
Suffice it to say; we’ll be keeping up our steady diet of playing dance studio in our garage sale costumes.
I think that’ll do.
How about finding a college student or likewise who would volunteer to offer a weekly homeschool class at your church?
I can’t say that I am not surprised at the behavior at the dance studio. You would think there’d be more discipline, hmm?
Whew! Sounds like no “official” classes is a GOOD idea!
Gina’s idea is GREAT! I actually was in a class like that as a young girl, and it was wonderful. My teacher was a woman in her thirties, she went to our church, and the class was girls of all ages. We preformed a dance for our church, and also when it was Christmastime we preformed in the play.
I remember that time as very special. I am sure my mom loved it too – it was free, and I was learning something I was passionate about. I took actual dance classes too but the class with the woman from church was my favorite.
Keep fostering Aviana’s love for dance – it can be some a beautiful, intimate way to worship God.
-Andrea
have you tried the museum? they offer classes for girls Aviana's age during the day…..that's where Julia's at & I'm very happy with their program. Plus, the price is WAY better than most other places & Eva & I get to play in the museum while she's in class!
We actually have a dance studio just a mile down the road. However, I don’t like the chaos and the time either. And despite the fact that my husband is a youth pastor neither of us enjoy a “running” lifestyle. Life is stressful enough without having to juggle supper, dance class, and 2 younger children – one of whom I would have to hold and he weighs 30+ pounds! Maybe when she’s older. But I may borrow your idea of dance pictures! That would make miss Emmy thrilled beyond words.
I must admit, 4-H is about all I can handle when it comes to organized activities, and even the once a month meetings irritate me. I’m thankful to have the excuse that we live in the middle of nowhere so we don’t have access to all the extra activities. She’s adorable in that dancing outfit, though!