Do drama classes really boost confidence ?

[Gunznroses]

thats it really. Do they really help ? I have a very shy 10yr old, who just will not make eye contct or proje t his voice when speaking outside, he's fine with people he knows.

Ive heard drama classes do wonders, before i sign up (£100 and sumfin a week) can you tell me if you have used any of these classes before.

Also are some better than others ?

[Gunznroses]

Bump

[MrsMcEnroe]

In the case of my dyslexic DS - yes, drama classes have made a huge difference to his confidence and as a consequence his reading is much more fluent. He is in Year 3 and has been doing drama lessons for just over a year - they are run by a drama school that has a partnership with my DCs' school. He has just done a LAMDA exam and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

[DeWe]

I think it depends on the child and the class, the other children and the teacher.
I'd wonder if he's very shy whether drama classes will be absolute torture for him. I can't think of anything worse than standing up and acting in front of an audience and I'm not that shy.

[Gunznroses]

Thanks for the comments so far.

Anymore views please, is there anyone who has actually used tophat, stagecoach perform etc

[Gunznroses]

Thank you Maryz so much for all your suggestions, our local scouts are all full, he was interested in sea cadets, but its far from us and he hasnt got the bandwidth for two nights a week from 7.30-9.30pm! Its a bit frustrating.

The drama people (performuk] approached the school, but i dont want to shell out over £200 for something that wont make a difference iyswim.

[saintlyjimjams]

Sorry see this is a week old hope you're still reading OP. DS2 (age 10) loves drama classes and it has boosted his confidence enormously. I signed him up as a tiny, shy, quiet 4 year old with some speech issues - not with any intention for it being anything other than something for him to enjoy - long story but disabled brother blah blah, wanted him to have some of his own time etc. I expected it to last a few years but he loves it and has just started (at his request) auditioning for parts and has had some professional theatre work now. His school head saw him at the theatre and stopped me to say how she found it hard to believe he could perform so confidently in front of over 1000 people given how shy and quiet he had been when he started school. TBH he's not at all alpha male, is probably a quieter member of his class and can still be quite shy at times, but is confident about standing up in front of people and performing and obviously projecting his voice etc. And he's getting more confident about just giving auditions a go -and realising it doesn't matter if you don't get it (or indeed that you don't have to go for something if you don't want to) he had a 6 hour one a few weeks ago but took it all in his stride (we were expecting it to last 10 minutes so turned up totally unprepared), which I guess has to be a good future skill.

Now aged ten I can see it's good for him to have another group of friends away from school and he has a good bunch in his group (including quite a few boys -which I think is important). I think for me that's the most important thing really - just a wider circle of friends, that in itself builds confidence, especially now in year 5 where there seems to be some jockeying for position going on in his school class iykwim). He's joining a new group next week for an easter activity - will see whether he enjoys that. He's also currently doing the 11 plus and I'm quite relieved that if it all goes pear shaped (which it may well do tbh) he can have the knowledge that he's still good at drama if that makes sense. I hate the way the 11 plus has the potential to completely knock a child's confidence and am pleased he has found something that suits him.

Something I hadn't realised before we signed ds2 up for a franchise is that there are quite a few local theatre groups that are a lot cheaper. For example our local professional theatre runs groups for kids that cost about £40 a term. Ds2 is probably going to do those next year (current classes clash with his theatre group and I'm not changing that because he has his friends there.) You could try something like that, or a holiday activity and see how your son gets on and whether he likes it.

I personally think the key to confidence is finding something the child is good at - and it doesn't really matter what the actual activity is. Drama has been the key for ds2, but for ds3 it will be something different - he does a few activities and hasn't really picked one that he loves yet. In your shoes if you think your son would enjoy it (how does he like school assemblies etc?) I'd be tempted to have a look for a cheaper group (unless you have money to burn) and one with a good mix of boys. But also look for any other activities he might like. Surfing has ended up being ds1's thing and has given him more confidence and really quite a different life.

[perceptionreality]

I have a dd in year 3 who has speech and drama classes at school. At first, she flatly refused to take exams, refused to do speaking parts in assembly and was very nervous but this year I managed to persuade her to take her first LAMDA examination at school and although she was reluctant at first, when the time came for her to do it she was feeling confident.

So I would say it really does help.

[saintlyjimjams]

Oh yes good point perception LAMDA exams are good, and start very short and not too scary. DS2 does those through school as well, and they are a good confidence builder.

[LoopyLoopsIsTentativelyBack]

I think any extra curricular activity that gets them to bond with a group of kids s good for confidence really.

[mummmsy]

hmm i would say that any group activity that builds on their already acquired skills/interests or helps them develop social skills would be useful...be it drama, ballet, guides, youth clubs, summer schemes