In today’s world, there are so many distractions, it is hard for a child to focus between tablets, computers, cell phones, video games, and the television (not to mention school, family and friends!). I remember the good old days, when mom kicked you out of the house for the day and told you to not come back till dinner or in my case, dance class. We were forced to use our imaginations and there weren’t so many distractions. At Kaleidoscope, we strive to bring those old fashion values back and we hope to be of service to parents in helping them raise their children to become wholesome, confident individuals with high self-esteem.
Focus: What parent doesn’t want to see their child succeed in school. Great grades in school are a plus and believe it or not, weekly dance class is a huge benefit. Dance class requires children to observe their instructor, focus, learn new dance combinations every week, and get their body to achieve some pretty difficult positions. Our dance students are consistently on honor roll, in AP classes, and graduate at the top of their class.
Self-Discipline: Dance is all about discipline. While you may think they are just taking tap class to learn to tap, we are also teaching them good behavior and manners, which include learning how to take turns, following another dancer or leading the way, waiting patiently, working together with others and having a positive attitude. These are attributes they can use the rest of their lives.
Great Physical Health: I’ve written about this before, dance helps promote body and health awareness. It is great exercise of course, but it also gives your child more energy, provides stress-relief, an outlet away from school, and brain development which in turns means they will excel in school and be all around a happier individual. I receive countless emails, from dancers who are in college, who decided to pursue something other than dance, that say they added a dance class to their schedule because they needed that pick-me-up.
Self-Confidence: I believe our youth today have a lack of self-confidence. With all these social media outlets, they compare themselves to each other and what others have achieved. Dance class gives them an outlet to feel good about themselves and it is also a really cool thing to be a dancer. Dance gives them an opportunity to feel comfortable moving around a space, standing, and performing in front of an audience at our year-end performance. These experiences, make real world school presentations a breeze and eventually job interviews!
Time-Management: Children live in a world of distractions (Internet and social media) and gadgets (cell phones and video games). Kaleidoscope dancers, who are at the studio almost every day, are the most successful at getting their homework done and managing their time (they have to be!). Dancers who take multiple dance classes weekly, increase their ability to focus and balance their other activities, homework, and family obligations. The time-management skills they are learning from dance translates to school work.
Persevere in the Face of a Challenge: This is my favorite. Being a dancer is not easy. If it were, everyone would do it. Life brings so many challenges. Perseverance is learned over time. Dance class is all about mastering a skill set that is not easy. You have to keep at it even when it seems hard or challenging. Weekly dance class requires your dancer to master new steps every week and keeps you on your toes just like a real world job will do some day.
These are, in my opinion, just a few of the reasons why dance is so beneficial for children (and I tend to believe Kaleidoscope Dance does it better than anyone!). These activities are more than just learning some steps but instead, help to shape kids into who they are to become. So give your child a leg up and get them into a dance class pronto!
