My daughter will be 3 in October. I took her to a friend's dance recital last may, and since then she has been obsessed with "ballet and tapa-tapa" dancing. So, I signed her up for a combo class for older 2 year olds/young 3s. If you think I'm crazy, I probably would have agreed with you a year ago or so. I have an older son, and he wasn't ready for any kind of organized activity like this until he was 4 or 5, but she seems ready, especially since it's geared for kids her age.
At her first class, she was the only one there. Her teacher was wonderful, and dd had a great time, and talked about it all week.
Then we went to the second class (this was last week). There were two little girls there this time. One was trying out the class for the first time (I'll call her Kim), and the other one (i'll call her Ann) was typically in another class, but does dd's class every two weeks because she misses some of her classes due to mom's work schedule.
Both Ann and Kim turned two within the last month, so dd is almost a year older. The year between 2 and 3 is huge developmentally, and I know dd would not have been ready for the structure, etc, of having a non-mommy and me class at that age. I was surprised that they were allowed to enroll so young, since the class description specifically said older 2 year olds.
Anyway, to make a long story short, Kim started to cry. Ann's mom is bragging the entire time about how well behaved, brilliant, perfect, etc Ann is. Then Ann starts to cry. And they cry for almost the rest of the one hour class. I kind of waited for the moms to go in and get them, and Ann's mom said she heard that school policy was to not let the parents help, that classtime is classtime, and that she'd "usually be the first to run in and save her but policy is policy". The other mom looked completely unsure of what to do. I kept saying, "well, they are only two. going in there wouldn't hurt anything". Then Ann tries to open the door and her mom puts her hand on it to shut it. The teacher is young, not the owner of the studio and looks completely unsure of what to do as she tries to hold two girls at once. Then she gets dd to hold one of the girls hands to help her feel better.
Ok, so a) I'm appalled at the parents not going in and doing anything. I don't know if that's really the policy, but i don't care. b) if that is the policy, then that's insane. c) why are they letting 2 year old girls in that class when they are so not ready yet? how is this good for anyone (other than a paycheck). d) dd is fine with being there and has fun, but at the same time is not learning as much because the teacher is having to deal with the understandably upset children, plus we (ok, her grandparents) are spending money on this, and i want to get their (lol) moneys worth.
So what should I do? Dd loves it, talks about her teacher all the time, and is always trying out what she has learned in the living room. I really do love everything else about it for her except for this, but this is big to me.
Should I ask for her to move up to the 3-4 yo class, or would she be too young? Should I ask them why they're letting brand new two yo's in? Or why they're not getting the mom's help when they start to cry? Should we leave?
What would you do?
At her first class, she was the only one there. Her teacher was wonderful, and dd had a great time, and talked about it all week.
Then we went to the second class (this was last week). There were two little girls there this time. One was trying out the class for the first time (I'll call her Kim), and the other one (i'll call her Ann) was typically in another class, but does dd's class every two weeks because she misses some of her classes due to mom's work schedule.
Both Ann and Kim turned two within the last month, so dd is almost a year older. The year between 2 and 3 is huge developmentally, and I know dd would not have been ready for the structure, etc, of having a non-mommy and me class at that age. I was surprised that they were allowed to enroll so young, since the class description specifically said older 2 year olds.
Anyway, to make a long story short, Kim started to cry. Ann's mom is bragging the entire time about how well behaved, brilliant, perfect, etc Ann is. Then Ann starts to cry. And they cry for almost the rest of the one hour class. I kind of waited for the moms to go in and get them, and Ann's mom said she heard that school policy was to not let the parents help, that classtime is classtime, and that she'd "usually be the first to run in and save her but policy is policy". The other mom looked completely unsure of what to do. I kept saying, "well, they are only two. going in there wouldn't hurt anything". Then Ann tries to open the door and her mom puts her hand on it to shut it. The teacher is young, not the owner of the studio and looks completely unsure of what to do as she tries to hold two girls at once. Then she gets dd to hold one of the girls hands to help her feel better.
Ok, so a) I'm appalled at the parents not going in and doing anything. I don't know if that's really the policy, but i don't care. b) if that is the policy, then that's insane. c) why are they letting 2 year old girls in that class when they are so not ready yet? how is this good for anyone (other than a paycheck). d) dd is fine with being there and has fun, but at the same time is not learning as much because the teacher is having to deal with the understandably upset children, plus we (ok, her grandparents) are spending money on this, and i want to get their (lol) moneys worth.
So what should I do? Dd loves it, talks about her teacher all the time, and is always trying out what she has learned in the living room. I really do love everything else about it for her except for this, but this is big to me.
Should I ask for her to move up to the 3-4 yo class, or would she be too young? Should I ask them why they're letting brand new two yo's in? Or why they're not getting the mom's help when they start to cry? Should we leave?
What would you do?
