Minute Masterclass Episode 17

Welcome to your one-minute masterclass. I’m Andrea Trench, founder of DiscoverDance. In episode 15, I spoke about putting systems in place to avoid distraction and misbehavior. This is so you ultimately won’t have to discipline. So, let’s talk about across the floor time in our early childhood dance classes. Waiting for turns to go across the floor is the perfect opportunity for class to derail. Children will become bored and will find ways to get out of the situation, ever experience the dreaded potty train?? Developmentally, this is appropriate. Teaching dancers to wait their turn is a valuable lesson and crucial for patience and self-control development. However, this is a skill that takes time to develop and young children are not built to be still. They need to move! 

If you find your focus is being pulled from the dancers going across the floor to the dancers who are waiting impatiently, perhaps the time spent waiting is too long. The cure for this is one of my favorite management tools…. obstacle courses. I will dive deeper into obstacle courses in a future episode, but for now, think about the activities you do across the floor with your little ones. How can you create a fun spatial pattern around your studio space using those movements so there is more moving happening and less waiting? For more info visit DiscoverDance.com.

*Click HERE for prop options in creating obstacle courses in your classroom.