Below you will find 6 tips for teaching pre school aged children and managing your preschool dance class! If you are finding keeping your class of 2-5 year olds engaged and cooperative pretty hard work, then these tips will help you keep your tots coming back for more every week – and help you maintain your sanity!
1. Routine and Repetition
Routine and Repetition is very important for teaching pre school aged children. Use a couple of bouncy songs for your warm up, another couple for your stretch section. Set aside another couple of songs for your across the floor/travelling section. Then rotate these songs every few weeks. It would be boring to use the same songs every week, but you don’t want to change the songs every single week either. Use the same warm up routine, and ensure that you keep the same format to your classes so that there is enough routine for children to feel comfortable and confident. This will allow you and also your students to see their progress, which is very rewarding for the children and their parents alike.
2. Keep and eye out to what is popular
One big tip for teaching pre school aged children is to keep abreast of what this age group is loving and connecting with currently. From popular songs like ‘Baby Shark’ to cartoon theme tunes, if you can use these as references and themes in your class it is a very handy way to build excitement and keep your kids engaged.
3.Planning and Preparation
This is THE biggest tip for teaching pre school aged children! As mentioned about, children really do respond well to routine and it makes your life much easier when you plan your session and follow a set structure. Ensure that you also plan transitions, and how you move from one task to the other – even plan what you plan to say! All our Hip Hop Tots instructors have a operations manual that they work from. In addition, ensure all your materials and props are ready and in good working order, and this goes for music systems and microphones that you use. It is important that your class flows and isn’t slowed down due to a lack of preparation.
4.Props and other materials
A very important tip for teaching preschoolers is to make props your best friend! Props are fun and vital to keeping your dancers engaged. The decrease the chance for boredom and add an element of excitement to your class. Keep a great range of props handy and ensure that you rotate them every few weeks. Some examples are:
- Ribbons on sticks
- Musical instruments – egg shakers, maracas ets
- Costumes
- Flowers
- Bubbles
- Pom poms
- Teddy bears
- Parachutes
- Balls
- Scarves
- Hats
5.Energy and Passion
It goes without saying that one of the biggest tips for teaching pre school children is ensuring that you are lively and bouncy and energetic whilst teaching your class. The children will feed off your energy and will be more likely to engage in the session. You will need to have a good mix of not only teaching the children, but also entertaining them and maintaining control over the class.
You need to be aware of everything that is going on whilst also checking and correcting their technique.
6.Reward
The final tip for teaching preschool children is rewarding effort and good behaviour. Each child needs to feel like the star of the class every week, so it’s important to catch them doing the right thing and reward them for it in front of their peers. Our Hip Hop Tots sessions always end with a sticker and high five for every child. This makes the child feel good and they will want to keep coming.
We have that you will find these tips for teaching preschool aged children helpful.
If you need further help, then consider our Hip Hop Tots in a box starter pack, a great ready-made preschool program that you can implement into your studio. We include teacher training, music, prop ideas, marketing strategies all tested and provided for you. Just get in touch with us for more information.
©️Paula Sampson 2019
