My 5.5 year old goes to a dance school. She has been going since she was 2. She didn't join in at all at first but as far as I was concerned she has improved vastly and this was no longer an issue. She's taken her first exam and got good results. She takes every lesson that she possibly can at her age and we do everything we're asked to do ITO shows/events etc
Lots of the kids do 4 lessons in row on Saturdays. It's well known that they are all (understandably) tired by the final lesson. Some of the kids are frequently coming out of the lessons, some having borderline tantrums because they're so fed up. I thought my dd was fine as she rarely comes out or anything. However, today one of the younger teachers came out of the lesson looking flustered and went to fetch the owner of the dance school. The owner then went into the lesson, came back out after a couple of minutes, made a beeline straight for me. In front of all the other parents she said my child (x) has been refusing to do anything for the last 2 lessons of the morning for a few weeks in a row claiming to be tired etc. Apparently she has been going to sit down and refusing to do anything for the lesson no matter what the teachers do. I was very clear that no way did I expect them to tolerate her disrupting the other kids and that if they can't get her to join in they're to send her straight out to me. My dd insists that she loves dancing and wants to keep going but I've made it clear to her that if this is how she's going to behave then we'll have to stop. When the owner talked to me she said she 'doesn't want me to be wasting my money'....
2 things have really upset me. I don't think it was at all necessary to drop this bombshell in front of the other parents. I feel really humiliated by this. As far as I'm concerned this has sent the message that my daughter is solely to blame for the anarchy that is their last lesson. I don't deny that she's being a pain in the butt by the sounds of it but she really isn't the only one. The second is the owner's comment about me wasting my money. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive but I feel like that's her way of saying they don't want my dd there any more. If the owner hadn't made this comment I would have just taken on board their comments, kept more of an eye on my dd and quit the lessons in a few weeks if my dd didn't improve. However, this comment has made me wonder if they've already made their mind up that they don't want her there, in which case they're absolutely right I don't want to give them another penny of my money.
Am I being overly sensitive? What would others do in this case? I know I shouldn't be letting it bother me but it's really upset me. Dance is quite a large part of mine and my daughter's life. I don't want to quit if she really likes it but nor do I want her to go somewhere several hours a week where she's just considered a massive burden.
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Dance lesson. Am I right to be upset?
ISSTIUTNG · 09/12/2023 19:22
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Comefromaway · 09/12/2023 19:32
How long is each class?
I used to run classes for 4-6 year olds and they did 3 half hour classes back t back. Some were tired at the end. Any more would have been madness.
PostmansKnock · 09/12/2023 19:47
I know you don't think she's a burden. But they aren't saying that either.
What I was saying is that you have chosen quite negative language to describe what has happened.
GreenWheat · 09/12/2023 19:28
Sorry, what? A bunch of five year olds are doing four dance classes in a row? What is wrong with you all?!
Anoisagusaris · 09/12/2023 19:48
That’s a ridiculous amount of classes in a row for 5 year olds. And starting dance class at 2 is also crazy.
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Floralnomad · 09/12/2023 19:53
Your daughter is 5 , you need to sit her down and ask her if she wants to continue with the lessons and if so which lessons as you need to cut back on your current regime . Your posts do give the impression that dancing is’your’ thing and that’s why your daughter started at 2 , not because she was desperate to do so . I do think you’ve blown today’s comments out of proportion and seem more bothered about what the teacher / other parents think about you than the health and well being of your child .
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