Pre primary dancing exams

[User4891]

When do kids generally take their Pre-primary modern exam? DD will be 5 soon and a couple of friends of similar age have been told they will be doing their exam in a few weeks but it doesn't look like she's been put forward to do it... She's been dancing since age 2. With very little feedback as to how she's doing it's difficult to know exactly what the teachers are thinking or how close she is to being ready to take any of the exams.They only do exams twice a year. I'm a bit concerned tbh that she attends every week pretty much without fail and yet isn't being put in for the exam. Am I being one of 'those parents' to ask how close she is to doing it and whether they intend to put her in next time? I just don't want this to turn into her being strung along and not being progessed as quickly as her peers as this will eventually knock her confidence. What age did your kids take pre-primary exams?

If I do ask them if she's doing ok it's usually met with no more than a shrug and 'yeh fine'. And tbh I can't imagine it's really in their interest to be honest...

To be totally honest, dance classes for small children are pretty much likened to herding cats until they are at least 5/6

This is such an accurate description.

Drop the teacher a message/email rather than trying to catch him/her at the beginning or end of lessons. You’re more likely to get a considered answer then.

You need to be more specific. She probably is fine for her age, most kids are. You need to ask what areas she needs to develop to meet exam standard, if that is your priority. Not following the choreography and paying attention are rather important.

Thanks. I just don't want to seem neurotic... I mean I know I am neurotic but I'm not sure I'm ready for her dance school to know that 😂

It happens at my daughter’s dance school too and it drives parents mad (and upsets children).

My DD is older than yours (10) and has been both the front line girl getting picked for the exam and the second line girl watching as her friends go up six months before her. It’s rubbish and I dislike it, but she loves the classes and sometimes it’s us parents that take it harder than the kids. Maybe there is a life lesson in there for the kids (not sure what it is though!)

Thank you. I know they can only enter them when ready but 6 months is a long time at this age especially to be stuck dancing with kids who are 2 school years younger or hardly ever showing up. I think the life lesson is that regular attendance doesn't actually make you any more favoured, that you have to actually make an effort to listen to your teachers to advance and that your dance school probably couldn't give 2 hoots whether you advance as long as you're paying them. I think all of these points would wash straight over a 10YO even though never mind a 4YO so it's out of our hands really. I guess my dd will probably have to figure it out the hard way. She probably won't realise/care right now but I imagine she'll eventually lose motivation if she gets further and further behind the kids her own age

Yes I agree with you. as a parent I think it would be better to let kids go up with their peer group. I think dance schools take it quite seriously though and only want to send kids for exams if they think they will score highly.

It’s frustrating but normal.
you could ask them the reason if you think it would make you feel better. A word of caution, my friend did it with her daughter (but also tried to complain) and got a snide comment in return and it just upset her more. Your dance school might have more supportive teachers of course! My daughter’s dance school really don’t like parents to intervene at all.

Yep I suspect that would also be the reaction if I bring it up too. I think waiting until the next set of exams wouldn't be so bad but I have no idea if this is their plan. If they don't put her in next time she'll be in what isn't much more than a baby class until she's almost 6. I'm not going to allow this as eventually it will be humiliating for her and I refuse to put so much time and effort into that. If they can't at least get her to primary modern standard by age 6 when she's been going every week since she was 2 then I'ĺl take the hint that she isn't cut out for it.

I went through this with my son, who didn't initially move up with his peers to take his Primary ballet exam. I know the 'old school' principal well as I take adult ballet classes myself.

She said different things take different times in the oven to cook, that is so true. Dance schools are focused on your child not only being ready to take the exam (ie pass with good marks) but also they are ready for the grade 1 in our case which is a big step up.

I say this kindly, but there is also a perception that dancing at this age is easy, a bit of twirling around. Child have to learn a number of exercises and a dance, demonstrating correct techniques. There is really no shame she isn't quite ready at such a young age!

My son happily settled with his new peer group, you will find she will know some children anyway as they don't move up in whole sets. In our case when he was eventually chosen to do the exam, he was struggling with the practice so he never took the exam and it was time to stop.

My advice would be to drop a line to the teacher or wait six months and see. You may naturally find dancing isn't for her...my son is now much happier doing tennis and karate and has found more suitable things for him personally.

It really sounds like there is a communication barrier somewhere between the dance school and you, but you will know better than us whether that rests more with the school, more with you, or equally between the two.

Does your school offer a termly watch week or other way to see the children and what they are working on? Do they ever provide written feedback outside of the exam forms? If there’s absolutely none of that and you can’t sneak a look through a studio window or anything, then it’s worth thinking about this for the future. This is not how all schools work and strong communication as dancers progress makes for dancers with more awareness and responsibility for their own work as they get older.

Equally, emailing the school to ask politely about progress and what to work on does not make you neurotic, ‘that parent’, or a crazy dance mum. Every school runs a little differently and the only way to actually know what is happening is to stop speculating and address the situation with her teacher. My dancer has studied at three different schools over the years and each one of them would have a different strategy that would explain what you describe, just from the different set up for each. You need clarity from the person who knows. Just write concisely and without all the extra thoughts you’ve attached to this already - don’t try to couple it with a complaint. You need to know if any important exam dates need to be on your calendar and you need to check she is making an expected level of progress. Say she enjoys the lessons. Short and sweet.

If the response makes you twitchy or you don’t get a response over the course of a week, then you have the information you need to look at other options. All schools are not equal and it is okay to move around to find the right fit for your family! Nothing dramatic needed, perhaps even just quietly looking for something different for September. But it may actually be very clear from the response that all is well and there’s been a misunderstanding. So sort the communication first and then you are better prepared for finding out that DD is mixing up left and right or gets the giggles or whatever other reason the teacher may have thought it best to wait till the next exam session.

Remember schools often pride themselves on extremely high pass rates - and that comes from only entering those they are absolutely sure will
pass with flying colours.

I’d also add to the great advice above that the fact your DD started at age two doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean she’s going to be more advanced or even more ready than a child who started much later. Personally, I think age two is far too young and that waiting till about age seven is better. But many dance schools need to push “baby ballet” classes to keep themselves afloat, and there’s no problem in that, as long as the child enjoys it and you can afford it.

Our dance school is IDTA and they don't start the modern syllabus until they are nearly 5. (Examinations at around 6 for prep and primary is around 8)

@taxi4ballet I agree. I've danced for years and now my daughter attends at 3.5 and my niece is 8. This is partly the reason you don't start the Modern syllabus until they are 5.
Also they do rosette examinations not grade before they are 5.
Prep examinations (ballet) when they are around 5. Primary examinations around 7).

Simply speak to the dance teacher to find out what's what.

I also agree with @yoshiblue

There are no 'watch weeks' or windows in the studio. This is one of the big negatives of the school really because you just don't know what your kid is doing or how they compare to the other kids. They do a show every couple of years and this is pretty much it. I can get a reasonable idea of whether she's had a 'good lesson' or not from how much she's coming out to use the toilet/have a drink etc but otherwise the exams to me are the benchmark of how well she's doing.

If they were to tell me she's aiming to do the primary modern exam next sitting, for example, I would relax a bit as this is bang on the average age for taking it I'd say (she'd be 5.5) but much later and she'd be having to play catchup.

I realise that her first couple of years dancing were meaningless really and don't necessarily expect that to make her more advanced. However, I would expect her progress to be in keeping with other kids who are attending every week vs only coming every few lessons. I think anecdotally age 5-6 is an age where most kids really mature and are able to take instruction seriously so I'm not going to make any rash decisions but I'll be watching closely.

All dance schools handle things differently. Ours they look at the whole cohort and keep the same age togeher, exams are optional at all stages, you don’t have to do the exam to go up to the next grade, you can just opt to move up. (This is a dance school with large numbers of seniors and every year some go off to professional training to prestigious dance schools.). But they know most of their dancers are there to have fun and exams aren’t the be all and end all. I would email her dance teacher to get an answer, there could be a logical explanation, there’s never time to talk as they’re ushering one class out, the next one in, trying to grab a drink or toilet break and if not then look at what else is around locally.
I think DD did primary modern in year 1 and then primary tap/ballet in year 2 from memory.

Ballet for children under the age of 8 or so is not really essential for future more serious training. There are 2 professional dancers in my family, and neither of them started serious training until they were 11. I’m half professionally trained and have seen a lot of different approaches to teaching children.

Stop worrying about exams for a 4 year old! And if you don’t like the teacher’s or the studio’s approach, find a different studio.

You are sounding a bit like a pushy stage parent, I’m afraid. The way to stop that is to engage in a respectful conversation with your daughter’s teachers. Listen to the experts. You could also learn a bit about dance yourself. Get on a specialist ballet message board or go to classes yourself, or read up about ballet - there are several excellent books about training children.

@BlueHeelers
The child isn’t learning ballet, though.

You need to speak to the teacher, try an email or whatever method you use and just ask.

Look at the exam specifications because I've already told you that it appears to be age 5 minimum for Modern on the ISTD website.

If you're dissatisfied with the school then that's another matter entirely. When I researched for a dance school I looked for one offering private lessons and competitions and other performance opportunities. I also looked to see how well the pupils of the school were doing (via the social media pages) in competitions (though these can be less important and performance imbalanced, imo) associate dancer places achieved (Royal Ballet etc) and vocational school success (most important, if a good ballet school). This is an indication of good technique teaching.
I also checked the number of pupils achieving, schools who only write about the same tiny number of successful dancers, and none of their average dancers, or mainly the dance school owners child, are also to be avoided I was advised - reasons of inclusivity, teaching ability etc etc

She might be, in addition to modern. OP mentioned 'three main lessons' her child does.

She does tap, modern and ballet. I'm not as such dissatisfied with the school. Many of the older kids dance to a very high standard and go on ti dance professionally etc. It's the lack of communication I'm frustrated with really but it seems this is fairly typical. I'll see how it goes and email the school if I'm feeling brave

I don't think you sound neurotic.

If a child was in a year R class at school and wasn't progressing alongside their peers you'd speak to the teacher about it, ask how you can support them and ask what the plan is.

I never get why because extra curricula's aren't school and are paid for you can't ask the same questions? Nor get why they refuse to answer!

My ds is a swimmer. He progressed behind all his peers because physically he just didn't have the coordination. But I knew this and could see it. He was also very anxious about going from the small pool to the big pool (he was in the shallow end that's the same depth 🤦‍♀️) and speaking to his teacher we came up with a plan.

He then went into competitive swimming and continued to be behind those in his squad and moved up behind despite actually being one of the oldest.

He's now being classified by world para swimming to hopefully compete for Britain!

So as an above poster said where they are at a young age isn't an indicator of their future in the sport - but I also wouldn't want to be paying for classes in an environment where the teacher wouldn't even liaise with me over the sport I'm paying them to teach my child in.

So ask - judge your next move on the answer - look at alternative schools if you want.

I’m a dance teacher.

It’s really not a linear process, especially at this age. Some will have better concentration, some will naturally be more musical. Some kids will suddenly grow 3 inches overnight and lose all strength and spacial awareness. There are SO many factors with the littles. Coming from 2, or coming every week can’t overcome some of this, it’s a developmental thing. In my experience (15 years of teaching) they don’t usually level out until around 8, when effort, teacher skill and attendance really make a huge difference.

They also go in their own individual little spurts - so her peers might stagnate and she might burst ahead in another few months.

Are the teachers really intimidating? Send a simple email - something is up if you feel like you need to really be brave to ask a straight forward question about classes you’ve paid for. You may well find things are easily explained, but you just need to ask.

I'm not going to allow this as eventually it will be humiliating for her and I refuse to put so much time and effort into that. If they can't at least get her to primary modern standard by age 6 when she's been going every week since she was 2 then I'ĺl take the hint that she isn't cut out for it.

This way of thinking about dance and children will get you nowhere.

What do you mean by "cut out for it"?

Are you wanting her to be one of those awful "phenom" baby dancers doing the splits at 6? Do you want her to be a professional? Do you want her to pass exams to add to her achievements at age 5?

What about:
does she enjoy her classes?
does she like dancing?
is she learning to socialise well?
does she pay attention in class?
is she learning some things about music, rhythm, how her body has wonderful capacities to do interesting things?

My studio (I still take multiple dance classes as an adult & I'm pretty knowledgeable about classical & contemporary) runs the BabyBallet programme - no exams, learning about music, and the love of dance. Thank goodness.

In my experience (15 years of teaching) they don’t usually level out until around 8,

Hear hear! And then there are further developmental points for dancers - around the age of 14 is usually the real crunch time.

If she loves dancing, then it's important to find a studio which nurtures that love, and teaches the whole child as a dancer. Exams mean very little in the long run. The professional dancers I know and in my family have maybe two RAD exams between them ...