Attendance:
Why Good Attendance Matters
Does your family prioritize dance classes? What happens when your schedule gets busy? Are you tempted to skip classes from time to time? We’re here today to talk about why good attendance matters.
We know just how busy everyone’s schedules can get these days. There’s a lot going on! Between school, homework, family and social commitments, and just feeling tired, it can be a lot to keep up with. With so much going on, it might be tempting to skip a few dance classes—but there are so many reasons why that’s not a good idea.
Why Your Child Shouldn’t Miss Dance Class
Learning to dance isn’t just about learning the steps; it’s about learning life skills.
At Extensions, our kids’ dance classes instill your child with a sense of commitment, teamwork, discipline, and structure. These are skills that go far beyond dancing and help build character and positive habits in a child’s life.
An Introduction to the Performing Arts for Kids
Every single class that we run at Extensions School of Dance in Middletown and Bristol, RI is essential to the overall tradition of the performing arts.
We realize that kids dance classes are not the same as university-level classes, but did you know that at the university-level in the performing arts, intentionally skipping more than three classes can actually get you kicked out of the program? Okay, that might sound a little extreme compared to dance classes for kids, but there are excellent reasons for that kind of discipline.
Remember, in dance, the lessons that your child learns cannot be learned from a book. To learn to dance, you need an experienced teacher watching and correcting the form of the students. Your child also needs the opportunity to try, experiment, and let their body develop with the movement. Every bit of practical dance time is essential.
Improving as a dancer is a cumulative skill that takes practice and dedication, one class at a time. If your child isn’t attending every class, then they’re self-sabotaging the very reason they enrolled in Extensions’ dance classes in the first place: to learn to dance and become the best dancer they can be.
Dance is an Ensemble Activity
At this stage in their learning, dancing is all about teamwork. We highly encourage good attendance because missing classes puts an extra burden on your child’s peers and diminishes the value they bring to the group.
Dance showcases are a vital part of the curriculum here at Extensions. Not only do our holiday and spring showcases allow our students to perform, but the process of preparing for these showcases is a life lesson in itself. The journey is equally important as the destination. The teamwork and preparation that goes into our Extensions School of Dance recital over weeks and months of hard work will build your child’s sense of work ethic, commitment, and achievement.
When students learn choreography with the intention of putting together a show, they’re building an ensemble — a team.
Our teachers and choreographers work together with your kids and their fellow students to collaboratively create a show that will challenge them and push forward their dance and performance skills and abilities. When choreographing a number, every single student in the class has an important part to play. If there is a missing student, it creates a gap in the choreography, which creates confusion among the other children, and is even more confusing for the missing child when they come back after an absence.
Additionally, when a student misses dance class, it takes extra time to re-teach the choreography for the missing students and holds up the progress of the entire group. A student skipping class can mean that a teacher will have to spend an additional 15 minutes or longer re-teaching the choreography.
Our showcases are also entertaining shows in their own right! We’re incredibly proud of our performances, which are the results of hours and hours or work. From learning and perfecting their choreography to the sensation of performing for an audience, your child will never forget it.
Missing Dance Class for Appropriate Reasons
Now, we want to specify that we are NOT trying to shame students into showing up to class, regardless of their ability to attend.
If a student is genuinely sick, then they absolutely should stay home to rest and recuperate. Attending class when sick could mean spreading it to the other kids and teachers, leading to more absences the following week.
If a student is experiencing some kind of injury, like a sprained ankle, for example, then dancing on it could exacerbate the severity of the injury. In cases like that, we suggest that they attend class to observe but not participate actively. That way, they won’t have so much to catch up on when they’ve recovered.
Bringing It Home
When we say “good attendance matters,” we’d like each family to consider if the reason for missing classes is an acceptable excuse. Remember, every class missed puts your child behind their peers, and also puts a burden on the other students and teachers.
Simply put, if a student CAN attend dance class, then they should be in dance class.
If an absence is unavoidable, please make sure to let the studio know by reporting it on your DSP portal at: https://dancestudio-pro.com/online/extensions
