Dance class for 3 and 4 yr olds

I signed my girls up for a 6 week dance class through our town. Its especially for 3 and 4 year olds, and it meets once a week for 45 minute. I thought this would be a perfect intro to classes, and its MUCH cheaper than the dance classes at local studios. There are about 10 kids in the class and they are all into it and listen well to the teacher... except for one little girl.

She "isn't quite 3 year" (quote from her mom), and she spends the class running around, pulling hair and pushing. The first class I thought she was just getting used to things, but we had the second class last Friday and I think she was worse this time than last. The moms aren't allowed in the room so we all huddle by the door to look thru the little window, and this little girl's mom spent the 45 minutes having a panic attack and saying "All you moms with your well-behaved kids are going to HATE me!" Some of the other moms and I decided to try to talk her down a bit, but after I left I felt like maybe I should call the place and talk to them about this child.

I don't blame the kid, I just don't think she is ready for this, and its distracting to all the other kids. When I asked the girls about class they both said "I listened to Miss J., but A. has a hard time listening." "A. pulled my hair again and Miss J. put her in time out." etc etc. What do you guys think? Its only 6 weeks, so we only have 4 more classes. Plus its very inexpensive and through our town so its not like I'm shelling out big bucks for this. But I feel bad for the poor teacher (who is probably 20 years old and does a GREAT job with the other kids, but is really struggling with this kid and her mom).

 

Hmmm...I don't think it can hurt to mention your concerns to the teacher. Perhaps by you talking to the teacher, maybe she will tell the Mom that her daughter might do well to wait until next year when she is three and will be able to listen and focus better because she will be older. My DD will be three in December and if I saw her doing that in a dance class right now, I'd probably pull her out and try again next year. It's a tough call. Good luck!

 

I agree with everything Nancy said. :good: I, too, would talk to the teacher. They may let her finish out the rest of the classes but maybe the mom will then not sign her up (assuming there are more classes being offered this year?) And I too would pull out my kid if she/he were disrupting the rest of the class. I wouldn't have been out in the hall way freaking out, we would have been on our way home. :diablo:

 

I'd ask the teacher to tell the mom not to bring her child again. But really, the mom shouldn't have to be told, ugh!

 

I would say something to the teacher. I know our programs through the Rec department restrict based on age and we aren't allowed to sign them up if they are too young. (We have to show a birth certificate). There is a reason for that. It's not fair to the other students if she is disrupting class.

 

Definitely talk to the teacher. :good: Or the director of the program. Unfortunately this happened to us with dance this year (disruptive student) and I ended up pulling my girls out. We were at a "dance studio" and it was pretty expensive. I talked to the director and they tried to help the situation but they could only do so much. Our teacher didn't have very good control over her either so once she got started a group of other girls followed her lead and the class ended up being a 45 minute redirection. I was sad b/c my girls liked the class.

 

Since they have paid unless the rec dept is willing to refund the money, it's not up to the teacher. I agree that she is too young and it sounds like the rec dept dropped the ball with checking ages.
I would also talk to the teacher but wouldn't expect much if they run anything like ours do

 

I agree that it can't hurt to talk to the teacher, but I also agree with Brigette that I wouldn't expect too much. I know that with our Rec Dept rarely do they ask a parent to remove their child. It might be that if they offer a class for a younger age group that the teacher could suggest to the mom that the little girl would do better moving to the other class, though, so I would definitely bring it up. Otherwise, just be glad the class is only 6 weeks!

 

I would leave it alone, honestly. There may not be a hard and fast rule on age, especially since they allowed her to sign up. The little girl may turn out to be a gem in a few weeks. Or it may just be that she needs a more active activity to do, like gymnastics or soccer. You might even be able to suggest something. The mom is obviously conscience of the situation and feels badly, but wants her daughter to learn to listen too.

After having 3 very active children your perspective changes somewhat. The kids need to be put in a situation to listen to learn how to listen and behave. It's not as natural for some kids, but if they are never given the opportunity then they won't ever learn. It just takes some time.

Anyhow, just another perspective. After coaching toddlers and preschoolers for a long time, I've learned that parents normally are very reasonable with their expectations for their very little ones. It may be a moot point anyways. Her mom may decide dance just isn't her thing.

 

We pulled our girls last year due to this situation.

A young two year old was in a class with older 3/4 s (most were 4) and was REALLY dispruptive....the teacher spent way more time redirecting her than teaching and it was expensive, we tried to move time slots--but nothing else was available. The teacher was apologetic, but the young child was a sister of a co-teacher & was very involved in the studio.

They did have a 2s class for 'mommy & me', but the 'time' did not work for that family so they put her in the older class. We were not the only ones to pull our girls , sad- enough she was THAT disruptive.

It would be different if it was a class for 2 yr olds (which do different activities), but the 3/4s were doing things the 2 yr could not physically do...


Hope it gets better soon!

 

I would definitely say something, and this coming from the parent of a disruptive student. My son was kicked out of two different programs for being disruptive, one because he wouldn't stop trying to run out the door. And the second really annoyed me because I asked specifically about if he would be OK to sign up because I was trying to get him used to being left in a class--this was in preparation for preschool. I had already discussed my concern about his behavior, one class in, they kicked him out--for the exact reason I was sending him and told them about.

Also, we were once in a music class, the boys were 14 months and the class was for newborn to 18 month olds. After one class it was apparent that my boys didn't belong with the younger kids, and we moved them to the older class which was for 18 months to 3 years. They thrived in that class, because they were more suited for it. So while age isn't a determining factor, behavior definitely should be.