DD and PE lesson orientated (following on from earlier thread...)

[northernmumuk]

Posted over the weekend about DD and PE teacher - issue was teacher wanting the class to be barefoot for dance and gymnastics etc etc etc

DD is still ranting about it (they have PE tomorrow and so similar...)

Is it really that uncommon or unreasonable to expect her to take part in dance and gymnastics activities in her bare feet? It seems normal and safe to me but she thinks it is the end of the world!!

Should I do anything?

Your DD needs to suck it up

The only thing you need to do it tell your dd that she's just going to have to deal with it.

Tell her to do as she is told.

I teach primary and all pe in our hall is done bare feet by all.

missknows - thanks for that, what reasons do you give? I assume you wear trainers?

If it is good enough for the Olympic and Commonwealth gymnasts, it is good enough for everyone else...

I do martial arts in my 40s and do it with bare feet. Great for balance and coordination.

dd is being a bit of a twit

She is lucky. In my day (now sounding very old) PE in the hall was done wearing just knickers and vest and bare feet.

Yep, bare feet.

Think about it, you can't do dance or gymnastics in shoes, you can't point feet, use those tiny muscles for balance, and they'd be like weights in handstands! Plus the risk of kicking someone with shoes on...

No socks because you'll slip.

She needs to engage her brain! How old is she? Has she never done any sort of dance before?

My dd attends a specialist vocational dance school.

She dances barefoot for some genres, mostly modern & contemporary. Serious gymnasts train & perform barefoot.

Some genres need specialist shoes, ballet for example, pirouettes are hard barefoot & in jazz it's hard to do drag runs barefoot. Also ballet shoes are an aesthetic thing.

However it would be unreasonable to expect ordinary secondary school children to buy expensive dance shoes.

It is extremely dangerous to dance in socks or tights. Occasionally when doing contemporary socks are worn but they are worn half over the foot so as not to slip. It footless/stirrup tights may be worn. The foot undees I linked to in my previous thread are sometimes worn to help dancers who need to be barefoot but are perhaps finding it hard in their feet ( multiple jumps etc & these kids are dancing 6 days per week)

You cannot dance in school shoes. The slip on type would fall off or the soles bend & crack. Heavy lace up types are just too heavy. You can't point, or articulate the foot at all. Trainers are ok for street dance as the moves that genre contain doesn't need the foot to be seen.

Would your dd play football or have a game of tennis in her school shoes?

So basically- she's being a diva!

Sugar, the rises & falls in ballroom/Latin would wreck ordinary shoes as they don't have flexible enough soles (been there ruined my shoes!)

MY DS does PE barefoot. He seems to have survived 3 years without injury as have his classmates.

Sugar - thanks for that. Part of her problem last week was that the dance was ballroom related (her words "weird partner stuff like on Strictly") and they wore school uniform but barefoot - ie she couldn't see why she couldn't keep her shoes on.

I think the PE she is doing tomorrow is PE kit though - at least she says she needs to take it in!

Just tell her she has to follow school rules the same as everybody else.

Just write her the excuse note she so obviously craves, and save her the bother of forging one!

Oh no I would never write her a note without a good excuse - it's important she understands rules and standards however much she disagrees with them.

What I might do is ask the other mums if their DDs have the same issues

If its any consolation I got similar (in my dds case pre-teen) moaning from dd about being expected to do dance at her previous school in plimsolls or trainers you can't dance & about the injustice of having to do PE at all.

She now doesn't do PE at her new school.

Why do that? It seems clear your DD is being unreasonable and that it is the norm to do PR and dance in bare feet at school. She is trying to overrule the teacher for no good reason. There is nothing wrong with bare feet! It's great for your feet not to be enclosed in shoes.
Maybe she's got verrucas or infected toenails and is embarrassed? There has to be a logical reason why she is making such a song and dance (!) about things. Perhaps you should have a chat with her about foot health and why exercising in bare feet indoors is an excellent thing.

Good God is this so going on? Your DD is 'still ranting about it' because you're still engaging with her about it. Check there isn't a legitimate reason why she doesn't want to go barefoot (embarrassment, pain, etc) then tell her to drop it and you drop it too!

I suppose ranting was a bit of an exaggeration sorry!! There's no legitimate reason apart from teenage stroppiness but just spoken to her friend's mum and it seems to be common in class.

Teacher wears trainers which is an issue for them - not sure whether she should or not tbh, think ours kept hers on when I was at school

It is highly likely its to do with not damaging the floor - we have a dance studio and the floor costs a lot to replace so it is bare foot only allowed in there. All our students even take shoes off for assembly in our sports facilities to keep the floors in good condition.

We are talking thousands every 5-7 years to manitain them.

They probably did it like that last week as a way to avoid students not having kit getting into trouble in first week of term.

When you ask her why it's such a big deal for her what does she say?

She just says "because it's feet" or "the floor is cold" or "everyone hates it" or "teacher wears her trainers why cant we?"