If I gave you 1 million dollars...

We like to chat with the preschoolers while we take attendance and usually ask each of them each a question. This week we asked each class what they would buy if we gave them 1 million dollars. The answers ranged from Barbies to headbands to clothes to candy and then today one answer stood out among the rest. A 3 year old told us she didn't need anything so she would put the money in her piggy bank because she had a piggy bank.
Hands down, the most mature answer!

Yesterday, when asked what their favorite thing was to eat for breakfast, one student replied "corn dogs". Yep -- breakfast.

:-)

Dancing is...

It's back! Last year we were polling our students with "I dance because..." and having them write their answers on our dry erase board. We got to read some wonderful answers and have each one's picture taken to then share through social media.  Because this past recital celebrated 15 years of dance at ATD, all the pictures were printed and on display at the auditorium.

This year we've decided to try a new question. We'll be asking the kids to fill in the blank of "Dancing is..."

We're looking forward to seeing all of the creative answers again this year!

with comfort comes stories

Proof we're settled into the routine of the year and students are becoming more comfortable with their teachers and classmates...we're now seeing more of their personalities :-)

little L: "Um, miss Lindsay?"
L: "yes?"
little L: "I love ballet dancing!"


L: "Shrug your shoulders like this. 'I don't know?'"
M: "Yeah, like when someone farts... and you don't know who farted."

Welcome back!

We are 3 weeks into our 16th year already and our dancers are doing better than ever. We never got all the way to 200 but we were pretty close with 198 at one point!

We have a lot of new faces at the studio and all are already thriving. Several of our former students are back and excited for another year of dance! (One even told us she couldn't sleep the night before her first day back, she was so excited!) Wow!!

We're getting ready for our fall fundraisers: Jumpy Monkey coffee and Scentsy. Before you know it we'll be celebrating Halloween and showing off all of our awesome costumes! Time really does fly when you're having fun and EVERY day is fun at ATD :-)

We love our students & their families. Truly the best around!

Here's to year 16!

rockin' at summer dance

Our week of summer dance is almost over. We've had a few struggle with focus but overall we've had a super fun week!

Today one of our new students was noticing another had a cute shirt on and says to her, "Harper, you rock today! You ROCK!"

It was the cutest thing.

And,  you know you're doing something right when the only boy in class says "I don't want tap class to be over"



:-) Dance makes everything better.

farts are always funny

Tuesday tidbit was a little story about Jessa's newborn baby brother's poop. She told us it was crazy because it (and she got very wide-eyed) CHANGES COLORS! :-)

Wednesday, Ava informed us that the longer you hold in a fart, the louder it gets. And (because we asked) she said she knows from her own experience and research.


Thursday, Sophia asked if I was retiring. When I told her not for quite awhile she said "good. I like you as a dance teacher." After that we briefly discussed how maybe, some day, she could be a helper like Grace and maybe Grace could take over for me. We also decided maybe Sophia could be hired on as a consultant to help Grace manage her time in case she's already holding down a job and chooses to teach dance also


Ah, kids. Never a dull moment!

what's for dinner?

One of our preschool students has told us on more than one occasion how she and her mom enjoy Subway after dance on Tuesdays. Last week she informed us that they weren't going to Subway, they were going to have "a nice meal" at home for her sister's birthday.

What was on the menu? Spetti.

We think it's similar to spaghetti and no doubt, very nice. :-)

solid advice

discussion about boyfriends tonight during preschool tap

M: "I have a boyfriend."
L: "Oh you do? That's great! Is he a nice boyfriend?"
M: "Yep."
L: "Good. You don't want a bad boyfriend."
M: "Right! If I had a bad boyfriend I'd just exchange him."

ya gotta do, what ya gotta do.... :-)

toys for all!

As we were practicing our ballet moves across the floor, and pretending for the night that the dance room was a mall, we decided one of the stores we needed to visit was the toy store. The girls were told they could choose as many toys as they wished as they glissaded across the floor and M (one of our 4yr olds) pipes up and says, "I have a baby in my tummy so I will need LOTS of toys!"

Good to know she's planning ahead! :-)

who knew?!

It's costume try-on week!

The majority of the costumes are finally here and we've been having a ball trying them on and practicing our dances :-)



Tidbit heard today:

E: "I can't jump in first position because my hair is curled"

imagination

A big part of our preschool dance classes is using our imaginations. We often make believe we are dancing through something or around something or picking something up on our way across the floor practicing steps. The students are always eager to know "what are we going to pretend today?"

Last night, in the pre ballet class, we first practiced glissades across the floor pretending we were in a field of clovers and flowers, collecting them for our bouquet. On the way back across the floor, we were eating all sorts of different kinds of candy and treats. So, when we switched to the next move, the students were asked about something that would make their tummy happy (to help offset the sugar rush). Some suggestions were: apples, carrots, milk, strawberries and Nutella. :-)

Hey, whatever makes your tummy happy, right?

2016 brings 15!

Another new year of dance is in full swing and we couldn't be more thrilled! We've been so busy dancing, there hasn't been as much time for blogging....whoops.

This year we started our "I dance because" board. Each student will have a turn to write their answers on the board, have their picture taken & shared with social media. We've gotten an overwhelmingly positive response and each day nearly every student asks to write on the board!

We're going to compile all the pictures and have them on display at this year's recital (our 15th!!!) - can't wait!!


Of course there's a Tuesday tidbit from this week:
C: "I can lick my belly button!"
L: "That's great! I'm happy for you!" :-)

(the talent of our students never ceases to amaze)