First day of dance class

Emma had her first day of dance class today. There were only 2 students in her class today (including her.) One more is signed up but wasn't there today. Her teacher is very sweet. She didn't listen as well as she could have during the first part of the class (ballet), except when they got to wave ribbons around, but she really seemed to enjoy the second part of the class (tap.) She is way more into tap than ballet, well, I already knew that... She really wants to do Irish dance still, we'll see if she gets better at following directions! Here are some pictures from today:


This is Emma ready to go, dressed and hair carefully pulled up and clipped out of her face. (Bridey ran in as I was taking the picture.) Note the little backpack; she used to carry her clothes and Pull-Ups to preschool (and papers and used clothes home) in that, now it holds her dance shoes (and during the week her dance clothes, which she is wearing in this pic. The t-shirt comes with the yearly registration fee, and the pants she picked out herself, at Target.)

Here she is waiting for the teacher. There's a little area outside her classroom (the little ones are in the smallest classroom.) They have water dispensers which were a BIG hit with both girls. Here you can see her ballet shoes (kind of.)

This picture (and the others that look like it) are poorer quality because they're shots of the tv monitor that parents can view the class on CCTV on. Here you can see Emma not quite cooperating with the stretching...

Here's Bridey, she wanted her picture taken while Emma was in class. She played with Maggie, ran around, and later I got her a coloring book and crayons (which they keep in the main waiting area) and she colored Cookie Monster blue, all on her own, with no prompting and very carefully.

Here Emma is starting to get into it a little more, and is at least attempting the arms over the head. The other little girl who was in her class is a few months older than her, but has been taking ballet at The Little Gym for a year so was more experienced with the ballet they did.

This was the only part of the ballet portion of the class Em really seemed to like a lot, you can see her getting into waving the ribbons:

...and not listening when told it's time to go put them away, and going running off to the side and keeping on dancing with them instead!

After a water break and changing shoes, they started tap, which Emma enjoyed more. Unfortunately Maggie was fussing at that point and I don't have as many pictures. But here is Emma watching intently what to do with her feet...

...and enthusiastically copying it!

Here is Emma and her classmate, it was a bit of a trick to get them both smiling at the same time, as the little girl's one year old brother had spilled water on Emma and so she was having a sensory fit, and the girl did not know me and was a bit hesitant to smile for a stranger's camera.

So that was the dance class, it went as well as I had expected and I think as Emma gets more used to the teacher and the setting, she will do better and will be more willing to try things and follow directions. I'm really glad we enrolled her. Now, Bridey kept trying to run in and dance, too... She even tried to put on a pair of tap shoes someone had left in the cubbies in the waiting area! They have one class a week for kiddoes her age, I suppose we will have to consider enrolling her. (But it's in the morning. When she's usually asleep. Not that she wouldn't leap out of her crib joyfully to go dance...) Anyway, we're considering it!

All of our homeschool stuff is getting into swing... Emma's writing stuff is on the way and our reading book has arrived (though I decided not to start it until we can do writing and reading together, that should be next week, after we tried one lesson.) This is our important social event of the week as well as P.E. So I guess you could say we have officially started homeschooling even though so far it's just dance class! Yippee!