Summer class for 7 yr old grandson

[kathryn56]

After recital and vacation were over, my grandson and granddaughter announced they wanted to take ballet over the summer. I was surprised, since they knew their studio had no summer classes. I called my dds old studio's AD (a fabulous dancer and wonderful coach, but disorganized and sometimes not great with little ones). She had me bring them in for a class. It started out as a total disaster - another woman, a teacher at the local university, was to teach but thought she would have middle and upper schoolers (mine are 7 and 8) - the others were 10 and 11. She started off with a 14 step series at the barre. DGS just stared - GD tried. After 10 minutes, the AD stepped in. By the end of class, both kids adored her, even if they had worked the hardest they ever had at dance. GD gets to stay with the slightly older girls, but GS got very lucky. She had another boy student, about 6 months younger and SUPER serious. Now the two of them have their own class for this month twice a week. They both love the teacher, the class and having a friend of the same gender (girls don't like to talk about Transformers, they tell me!) Sadly for the boys, next month this time slot goes back to pre-ballet, but how great for now! (Nice for those of us in charge of the boys to have an ally, too). GS is working much harder with another boy around, and I am told it is mutual.

[Albini]

Thats great that he is enjoying it so much

[EMGlad]

That's great! It sounds like she's really challenging him, he should be well prepared for when his regular class starts. You seem to have the best of both worlds too in that he has the peer pressure/camaraderie of another boy, but it's also almost like a private lesson because there's only the two of them.

 

I enrolled my 7 y.o. son in his studio's week long half-day camp for ballet. It's for 5-7 y.o. and they all ended up being 2 grades below him. He had some fun "playing" but was disappointed that he "didn't learn anything". I had pushed for him to be allowed to attend the full-day camp for kids 8 yrs. and up. His teacher even made an argument for it, confirming that he easily had the discipline and attention span, and one of his classmates from last yr would be there. But the AD decided he should wait until next year, citing that they had let my younger son test out of Tiny Tumblers, not knowing he'd end up qualifying into a 7-9 y.o. Gymnastics class just before his 5th birthday and "that because of it, several other parents now want to move their kids up, and it just complicates things because we have to tell them no, their children aren't ready". I think parents and kids are quite pampered these days. I don't think skilled children should be held back just to make everyone else feel comfortable about where they are. A child advancing should be an encouragement for their peers to try harder.

 

Good for you Kathryn for asking his AD about a real class for Liam, and not just accepting that he was out of luck for the long summer break.

[kathryn56]

EMGlad- that summer camp sounds awfully like what I was trying to avoid at their normal studio. I do not mind paying for classes, but I do not need to pay for the kids to fool around. I hope that does not sound too harsh.

[EMGlad]

EMGlad- that summer camp sounds awfully like what I was trying to avoid at their normal studio. I do not mind paying for classes, but I do not need to pay for the kids to fool around. I hope that does not sound too harsh.

 

 

Not harsh at all- I completely agree. It was an unnecessary expense. We could have had fun as a family for free and I would not have been stuck with his brothers and sister close to home, waiting for his mornings to be over. I didn't need somewhere to ditch my son at. That's what it felt like, a glorified daycare.