4 year old might get kicked out of ballet
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Anonymous
Ok, I am seriously trying to understand what went down here. Did she say that your child needed to do a better job listening, or that she was going to be kicked out of the class? Because those are two very different things. Either way, you didn't ask her what was going on, more specifically? I understand that there is a short time between classes, but presumably you made some response? And how did the inability to get a refund come up? Did you ask the teacher? Or management? And if so, why did you ask this question, rather than asking more about what was going on with your child during the class that was leading them to raise this with you? |
Anonymous
Just because the teacher is new to this class or this facility does not mean she is new to teaching. She may be experienced. Find out from the facility or studio if she is experienced with teaching kids this age. If she is -- and I bet she is -- you need to be aware that she sees something unusual and need to be objective enough to accept that. Ask her specifically for examples of what she means. Also, you can see on the monitor -- but can you hear as well? If you can't hear what's being said, and you can't watch the whole class, it's possible that your daughter is talking to other kids when the teacher is talking, or talking back to the teacher (even if it's not sassy "talking back" but just trying to converse with the teacher, it's still distracting to the other kids). You need to both hear and see entire classes. She might appear on a monitor to be doing OK but you won't know until you hear and see the whole scenario; however, don't ask to sit inside the classroom. That will make her either act just angelic or it'll make her act up--and it will annoy the teacher (who by the way does not have to permit it, if there is a monitor). Ask if there is a way for you to hear the class as well as see it without being IN the room. It may be that your daughter is just not ready for a structured class yet. There is no shame in that. She also may need more of a 'creative movement class" than ballet, if this is a real ballet class with classical positions etc. I would really find out more about whether the class itself is meant to be "pre-ballet" that really does start some actual ballet training (many studios around here pride themselves on "proper" ballet classes even for kids this young) or whether it's meant by the studio to be more like creative movement. You may be thinking of it as the latter when the studio means it to be the former, or this teacher means it to be more formal than the last one did. Both approaches are OK, but not for every kid. Just don't assume the teacher is wrong and your child is fine for this class. |
Anonymous
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It's possible that the previous teacher was too lenient or that other parents have complained about your child being disrupted.
As far as the no refund - it's likely in the paperwork you signed that if your child is asked to leave, you will not receive a refund. |
Anonymous
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OP's kid is like this one kid in DD's tumbling class. She is disruptive and never listens. It gets really frustrating and annoying for the teacher, the onlooking parents, and the kids who actually want to try and learn. Plus, this kid is a bit of a pied piper as she is trying to entice Larla to go with her over to the window to watch the snowflakes falling or jump on the trampoline or start tumbling out of turn or while the teacher is trying to focus on something else.
I'm paying good money for a tumbling class that my kid wants to be at and in genuinely interested, but the teacher (and class) is constantly interrupted by this bratty kid. OP - your kid may enjoy being at ballet, but is she enjoying and following the CLASS? It's one thing to "dance" around a big open room, but following instruction, authority, and respecting classmates is part of the package plan. |
Anonymous
I liked ballet, but my parents refused to let me continue after the big recital. I broke free of the group and did my own interpretive dance and lost 1 of my slippers during said dance. I was 4. I'm now thinking I was probably kicked out, but they didn't want me to know. I loved that tutu so they let me wear it to dance around the basement. |
Anonymous
| Fuck that place. Find another. |
Anonymous
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she may not be mature enough for the class yet.
I agree with previous posters that your standard "short of dangerous..." may be too liberal. I was a quiet kid, and I am raising a quiet kid who is a very good athlete. behavior of his team mates in early elementary school is why he quit basketball - according to him, for life. no one was dangerous, but a few were non-listeners who made every practice a chaos. |
Anonymous
a kid can goof off in a tutu at home. But in a group class that people are paying for, even a 4 year old is expected to follow directions. If she doesn't want to stand up straight, have good posture, than ballet class isn't for her. Or at least not a group class. And again, I say that as someone who isn't necessarily a fan of ballet culture. but you wouldn't enroll your kid for piano lessons and not expect the kid to pay attention to the teacher. Ballet is a very specific style of dance. As someone else suggested, maybe a mommy and me movement class would be a better fit. But ballet -- at any age -- is about discipline. And some parents are paying for their kid to actually learn ballet, and yes, even at 4. I would never actually enroll my child in ballet, because I'm not a fan of ballet culture. And I don't think kids need a ballet lesson to dance around and have fun. But I also wouldn't waste a ballet teacher's time. I wouldn't put my kid in a ballet class and then argue that she should be able to goof off in a tutu because, hey, she's 4. The same is true of gymnastics. Those girls start young, and even less serious gymnastics classes still are run very strict, even for very little girls. The idea is that both disciplines require a young start, but the kids need to learn early to have appropriate posture, follow instruction, et cetera. If one kid is being disruptive by goofing off, it isn't fair to the class or the teacher. There are other types of classes that are more appropriate. But I also don't believe every little girl needs to play dress up in a tutu. That's a different conversation. |
Anonymous
It's about learning how to function in society. Your child needs to obey her parents and teachers at this point. Don't you think? Or you're in for hell down the road. |
Anonymous
This is what stuck out to me. OP should've received a first warning. |
Anonymous
| OP, i agree with the PPs who said maybe she is just not ready for this type of class. My DD is the same age and has behaved abysmally in a variety of classes. She hasn't been kicked out or threatened with it, but I'm quite sure it would have come to that if I hadn't pulled her. |
Anonymous
OP did receive that first warning. It just included the fact that kids who do what her child is doing will be asked to leave the class. Better to know the consequence now than to be told "Your child isn't following directions" and think "Oh, that's OK because she's 4 ...." which seems to be OP's take on this. When you discipline a young child, don't you tell them the future consequence when you give the first warning? Then how else does the warning have any weight? That's what the teacher did here: Warning plus an announcement of the potential consequence, so the warning is taken seriously. |
Anonymous
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Haven't read all of the replies, but I would just call the main number and switch her to the same class with a different teacher/different time. And then tell her if she doesn't listen she won't be able to keep going.
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Anonymous
Does your kid do what you tell her to do, OP? |