Teaching Little Ones
My preschool class is probably my favourite class to teach (you think i'm crazy right ?!) They constantly push me, amuse me and amaze me!
They can do more than you ever thought possible.
I created little stars almost by accident. I was trying to find a syllabus that challenged my youngest dancers without being to strict and boring. I found personally there were either syllabuses where it was simple movements or creative play to different tracks or strict examination work and i wanted something in the middle. So before you think its impossible to get a two year old to remember a dance or learn first position. Think again. Its all about hiding the technique. The little stars syllabus hides the technique in characters, silly stories, funny word or sounds that a two year old will enjoy week after week.
Planning is key but don't be afraid to colour outside the lines.
If your making it up on the spot from scratch they will eat you alive! They are little bundles of crazy energy so if you pause they will run wild. You want to keep your classes fast paced and constantly changing to keep things engaging and fun. This is hard to do with out a targeted plan.
Why i believe little stars works so well is you can mix and match it to suit each class, level child and there mood down to the minuet! With each dance and prop linked to a core skill you can use them in what ever order you wish, you can cut them short or repeat them two, three times if you want to. So go in with a plan but if you need to mix it up the worlds not going to end. Remember the goal of any class is for them to leave with a huge smile!
Confidence boosting.
You can make such a huge impact to there lives at this age.
You are a vital part of helping them learn to work as a team, gain self belief and increase there confidence. Helping them learn to take turns, get used to talking to people other than there immediate family. All this and we haven't even started listing dance skill and physical development! Also on a purely personal level as a teacher you can see there joy and love of dance all over there face. Plus i have never been told 'i love you', 'Your so funny Miss Lauren' and 'i missed you' more than in my little stars class!
Positivity, Positivity, Positivity.
Kids can tell if your not into it, if your feeling like you just want this class/hour/day to be over. children have a sixth sense they will know! More than that they will act up and run you ragid. Go into every class thinking this is going to be the funest, best class ever and every child's going to be all smiles. Of course there are going to be moments when there going to be awful everyone has off days but keep smiling and it will get easier. I promise. I am also a huge fan of rewarding positivity over giving the naughty kids all your attention. If a child is naughty i usually give a firm, quick discipline bring them back into the circle / dance. after this make sure they get attention when there doing something right. Lots of people tell a naughty child off then ignore them (unintentionally) which just leads them to misbehave again as it's the only time they get attention. I like to praise for trying something new , praise them for doing the move, praise them for listening. Basically reinforce positivity at every turn!
Never underestimate the power of a reward.
Just before they leave you what to reinforce the fun, with a reward for there hard work (its also a sneaky little threat if there misbehaving ' well i guess no one wants a Smartie today) It doesn't have to be something big a single Smartie will be the most exciting thing! This is where our Little Stars sticker and award book works so well as each week they get a sticker for something they did really well. I make sure that when i give each child there sticker i say something they did really well in class today like 'Thank you Emma for such beautiful pointed toes today!' and then go round the circle giving them each a sticker and a compliment.
p.s make sure you end with let go some our mums/dads/nans what we got for such wonderful dancing today!
Take the fun home!
You want each kid to be talking about class to there parents and friends all week! You want them to take the fun of class home! We do this in a number of ways starting with the ' lets go show our mummy's/daddy's/nanny's what we got for doing such beautiful dancing!' The Little Star award book itself is a colouring book with a colouring page to match each dance skill and character. They get the sticker in class and then they can colour in the pages at home. We also have a number of special colouring pages for events such as start of term, Easter, Halloween, christmas, end of term, etc. One thing we have just started doing is sharing our playlists with our dance mums! They LOVE IT!! It also means that each week you teach a new dance or phrase they can show there family at home or if there Little Star has a favourite song they can dance to it all week! :D
Join our Little Stars Family.
Like what you've read email us to find out more and join our dance family and let us help you grow your own preschool program! What are some of your tips and tricks for teaching little ones ?
