IT’S BRING YOUR PARENT TO CLASS WEEK!
Dust off your dancing shoes, parents! We wanna see your moves!
Your dancers have joined us week after week for virtual dance class, and now it’s your turn. So we wanted to give you our Top 3 helpful tips for a successful virtual dance experience with us:
- Have your equipment ready before class
What you’ll need: yoga mat, chair (barre), and your dancer :) Hydration is important, so, while it’s not required, we recommend bringing a water bottle, too.
- Pin the teacher on Zoom
To avoid distractions from other dancing families, be sure to pin the teacher as the biggest screen to watch.
- Follow along
This seems pretty obvious, but have you ever heard the phrase, “Monkey see, monkey do”? Well, your dancer will be watching you to see how well YOU participate in virtual class. For those of you who feel you haven’t had success yet with getting your dancer to do virtual classes on their own, this is a GREAT way to show them how its done. It’s easy, simply listen and follow along.
**Other important things to note, not only for this class, but all virtual classes to come:**
As we head into our 9th week of virtual classes, many of you have expressed that it’s been a struggle to get your dancer excited for yet another virtual experience, staring at screen. We want to let you know… we TOTALLY get it, and it’s been a challenge for us as teachers, too!
We’re all craving human connection right now, which has been suddenly shrunk down to staring at pixels of people we were once able to hug and shake hands with only 50 something (who’s counting anymore???) days ago. This is a new life experience for all of us, so what we’ve perceived as “normal” might not necessarily be the same right now, and that’s O.K. It probably shouldn’t be.
One thing that remains true during this time, is that kids learn in many different ways, one of those being through observation. While it may not be your preference, even if your dancer is simply sitting, watching class, and eating a snack while they do, it is still a form of learning. So, we implore you to not be discouraged by your dancer’s lack of activity during class; rather, we’d encourage you to use Bring Your Parent to Class week to model the kind of behavior you’d like to see from them as we look ahead to the end of the season.
By dancing along side them, we’re hopeful that for those of you struggling with your dancer week after week, this opportunity will re-energize the both of you about how you want to finish out this dance season. Bring Your Parent to Class week can be EVERY week if you want it to be, because if you find that your overall experience with your dancer is more enjoyable when you’re with them, then you are more than welcome to come take class with them the rest of the season! We only have a few weeks left, so why not make the most of it?! Might be nice to switch up the routine a little bit ;)
We can’t wait to see you all on the virtual dance floor soon! BIG virtual hugs and kisses to you all! – The SD Atwater Team
Storybook Sunday with Miss Bea: I’m A Ballerina by Sue Fliess
Bring Your Parent to Class Week Tips! (May 9-15)
Dust off your dancing shoes, parents! We wanna see your moves!
Your dancers have joined us week after week for virtual dance class, and now it’s your turn. So we wanted to give you our Top 3 helpful tips for a successful virtual dance experience with us:
What you’ll need: yoga mat, chair (barre), and your dancer :) Hydration is important, so, while it’s not required, we recommend bringing a water bottle, too.
To avoid distractions from other dancing families, be sure to pin the teacher as the biggest screen to watch.
This seems pretty obvious, but have you ever heard the phrase, “Monkey see, monkey do”? Well, your dancer will be watching you to see how well YOU participate in virtual class. For those of you who feel you haven’t had success yet with getting your dancer to do virtual classes on their own, this is a GREAT way to show them how its done. It’s easy, simply listen and follow along.
**Other important things to note, not only for this class, but all virtual classes to come:**
As we head into our 9th week of virtual classes, many of you have expressed that it’s been a struggle to get your dancer excited for yet another virtual experience, staring at screen. We want to let you know… we TOTALLY get it, and it’s been a challenge for us as teachers, too!
We’re all craving human connection right now, which has been suddenly shrunk down to staring at pixels of people we were once able to hug and shake hands with only 50 something (who’s counting anymore???) days ago. This is a new life experience for all of us, so what we’ve perceived as “normal” might not necessarily be the same right now, and that’s O.K. It probably shouldn’t be.
One thing that remains true during this time, is that kids learn in many different ways, one of those being through observation. While it may not be your preference, even if your dancer is simply sitting, watching class, and eating a snack while they do, it is still a form of learning. So, we implore you to not be discouraged by your dancer’s lack of activity during class; rather, we’d encourage you to use Bring Your Parent to Class week to model the kind of behavior you’d like to see from them as we look ahead to the end of the season.
By dancing along side them, we’re hopeful that for those of you struggling with your dancer week after week, this opportunity will re-energize the both of you about how you want to finish out this dance season. Bring Your Parent to Class week can be EVERY week if you want it to be, because if you find that your overall experience with your dancer is more enjoyable when you’re with them, then you are more than welcome to come take class with them the rest of the season! We only have a few weeks left, so why not make the most of it?! Might be nice to switch up the routine a little bit ;)
We can’t wait to see you all on the virtual dance floor soon! BIG virtual hugs and kisses to you all! – The SD Atwater Team
Teacher Spotlight: Miss Meghann
Welcome to Miss Meghann’s Virtual Dance Floor!
Often accompanied by her teaching assistant, sidekick, and daughter, Maddie, Miss Meghann equips her students with the fundamentals of ballet, while also exploring the more modern and abstract movements of Contemporary dance. Her knowledge stems from years of professional experience, having performed in multiple modern dance companies around the country and eventually finding her current company home with Lineage Dance of Los Angeles. She is a gift to our teaching team and an inspiration to her students, who dance in her footsteps, many securing spots as Company members on the Sophie Dance Atwater team. Nowadays, she takes on the role of preschool, 1st, and 3rd grade teacher to her children, as she- like so many- tackles homeschooling for the first time. For fun, her family enjoys having dance parties, creating plays, and making rice krispie treats together. Yummm!
She’s thrilled to be sharing some of her Top 3 picks for Children’s Books, Movies, and Music below! We hope you and your dancer enjoy!
Top 3 Children’s Books: Giraffes Can’t Dance, by Giles Andreae, The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt, Oh, The Places You’ll Go, by Dr. Seuss
Top 3 Children’s Movies: Moana, The Greatest Showman, Frozen II
Top 3 Tunes to Dance to: Trolls Soundtrack! And the soundtracks from all her favorite movies (listed above)
Storybook Sunday with Miss Bea: Dance is for Everyone by Andrea Zuill