Dance class so kid knows what to do at a dance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 8 year old showed recently she had no idea what to do at a dance by standing around watching and finally doing aikido moves instead of dancing! I tried to advise but I'm not much of a dancer so I have no idea how to really help her. Is there a dance class anyone could recommend that would be helpful for this situation? Would like her to feel at least moderately comfortable at future dances! Thanks.

Why do you feel you need to advise, OP? There will be some things that your daughter doesn't know how to do, or situations that will make her nervous, and that's okay. Take a deep breath and step back--she'll figure it out. That is better than mom/dad swooping in and protecting from every sling and arrow.

I say this as a mom of a slightly younger daughter who sometimes needs to remind myself of this. We don't have to solve every minor inconvenience; they need to build grit and figure things out for themselves. The kids will be alright!

Dancing is an actual skill. Kids have to be taught in order to know how to dance. They can be taught by their parents or friends. Or they can learn by taking classes. No one is magically born with the ability to dance ballet or hip hop.


If OP's daughter wants to learn how to dance, it's not helicoptering to enroll her in a couple classes.

New poster, but I think the helicoptering is because OP never said her daughter wanted to. OP doesn’t like her looking awkward. If the daughter is interested in dance classes, by all means sign her up. Also, most kids aren’t doing ballet at these dances, so a ballet class is not going to help. No one is claiming ballet isn’t a learned skill.

OP here: I should have said--she came to me and said she didn't know how to dance and wanted to know what to do. So it wasn't my discomfort prompting. Thanks for suggestions, all.