How to Prepare My Child for a Dance Class?

Children can feel nervous and stressed in their first dance class. To help prevent that, it’s good for parents to do the following:

Do a preparatory visit

Children always crave safety, stability and familiarity. For them the dance studio is an unfamiliar, unsafe and potentially frightening place. It even gets worse if suddenly several other children show up. Everything feels unfamiliar and unpredictable, which can make it hard for your child to learn and have fun.

To gain first that sense of familiarity and safety, it’s important that you and your child do a preparatory visit. This is like a “warm up” to your child’s mind as he/she sees the dance studio including its facilities and overall environment. With this “warm up” your child can feel at ease once the dance class really starts.

Explain and set expectations

What happens in a dance class? How long is it going to take? Will there be other children?

It’s good to talk with your child about the answers to those questions. This way your child can get an idea about what happens in a dance class and what to do there. This is again about gaining familiarity and helping your child feel some comfort and safety. If most things could be somehow predictable, your child can better focus on fun and learning.

Setting clear expectations can make your child feel safe. In addition, it can get your child excited about going to the dance studio. That anticipation can build up and drive out all the fears and anxiety. With that excitement and anticipation, your child will truly have fun learning.

Be prepared

As a parent, you also have to prepare so that you can better support your child in his/her dance class. The required uniform and footwear should always be ready and that you’ve also set a schedule for you to help your child get to the dance studio on time. It’s also great to have some time for you to let your child talk about his/her experiences during the classes and rehearsals.

With that support, your child can have more fun and better appreciate the classes and practice. This also raises the chances for your child to achieve excellence in the performing arts because of the overall positive experience. Though preparation requires additional work, it can all be worthwhile because of all the fun and learning your child will gain.