5, 6, 7, 8 Reasons to Dance

In this day and age, children have tons of sedentary activities put in front of them every day; video games, tablets, television, and even school. It is so important to encourage children to be active from a young age so that it becomes a part of who they are and the lifestyle they will choose to lead. Academic learning has become such a large part of a school day that school-aged kids do not have enough movement opportunities in a regular day. Younger children may not be in school yet; however, as parents get busier by the day, it’s easy to forget that children thrive on physical activity. Structured, physical activity classes provide that physical outlet. Dance classes are an excellent way to help out with this issue as they build confidence, coordination, and a love of fitness! Here are our top 8 reasons for why kids should participate in a dance class:

The 3 D’s 
Discipline, Determination, & Dedication are 3 life skills necessary to succeed at just about everything in life. Dance skills are not easy and it takes the determination to learn them, the discipline to focus on them, and the dedication to practice them at home to master each new dance combination.  The 3 D’s needed to learn and master a new dance move is a skill set that will carry children through the rest of their lives. Obstacles and tough stuff comes up every day whether its struggling in school, in a relationship, to pay bills, or at a job. The determination learned in My Gym dance classes will translate to determination to overcoming all of life’s obstacles. Discipline, determination, & dedication aren’t in the curriculum, but they’re among the greatest skills acquired in dance classes.

Teamwork
Teamwork is another vital life skill cultivated in My Gym Dance classes, even in a non-competitive atmosphere. As children learn to dance together, they learn to work together toward the shared purpose of perfecting a dance. Dancers work on sharpening their communication skills as they ask questions and help each other learn and perfect each combination. They learn to motivate themselves, set the example for others, and support their teammates when they forget or struggle to learn a new skill. All of those skills add up to improving social skills for childhood and success as adults in the workplace since being a team player is often a job requirement!

Valuing the fundamentals
Dance is one of those activities that requires participants to learn and master the fundamentals before moving on to more challenging, “fun” skills. Many times kids want to jump the gun and start reading books beyond their level, playing on a harder team for sports, or just doing the things older kids are doing in general. At My Gym our dance classes teach kids to value the basics and understand the fundamentals are the building blocks for everything else they will learn in the coming years. Younger children pick up approximately one new skill per class meaning that it takes them quite awhile to build the foundation necessary for success in the more challenging classes. Children need to be taught that learning to walk before they run is a valuable skill!

Memory
Memorization comes into play as dancers are expected to remember the skill names, how to perform them, and in which order they come for each dance. Memory skills also translate to comprehension skills. The more you can remember over time the easier it is to comprehend books, movies, conversations, and remember lists of tasks to be completed. Dance class is a true memory workout for children. Although you won’t see memory on a list of skills learned at dance class, it definitely should not be overlooked.

Timing & Overall Coordination 
Full length dances are all about timing and learning to move at the same time as the people around you to help the dance look “clean.” This requires an awareness of one’s own body and an awareness of those around them. That understanding of timing is not only crucial for all physical activities (riding a bike, jumping rope, playing sports) but also for educational activities (learning to sequence a story like a dance). As children learn dance skills they learn to control and strengthen different parts of the body as they isolate them to perform each move. That control helps to increase overall body coordination over time. Every child will learn the skills according to their own timelines, but they will learn and perfect them. The repetitive nature of dance classes helps to solidify each skill and combination until it can be performed well by all members of the class. Once a skill is perfected it is still practiced until it becomes second nature again translating to better coordination in each dancer.

School Achievement
The activities done during our classes are not just good for physical activity – they also relate right back to the classroom! Learning to memorize a dance helps children learn to chunk pieces of information and improve memory. Remembering a series of directions and the steps to complete a skill helps with reading comprehension.

Then of course, we have the big one….. FOCUS. In order to participate, learn, and excel in dance kids have to improve their focus in order to complete tasks and persevere when the going gets tough. Engaging activities and appropriately challenging skills help children stay focused and improve their focus over time. Automatically being able to focus, having good comprehension of tasks, and the hand and body strength and coordination necessary for handwriting all lead to success at school and beyond!

Confidence
Every parent wants to see their child become confident and happy. Each time dancers learn and perfect a new skill you can see the pride they feel all over their face as they perform it over and over sometimes not truly believing they “got it” until they’ve done it ten times in a row. Their classmates and teachers only add to that confidence as they cheer them on through the learning and perfecting process. Many dancers start off very reserved and not wanting their classmates to see them dance thinking they can’t do it as well as the others. With each class the kids slowly break out of their shells and begin moving around until they are truly feeling the music and dancing each skill full out to the best of their own ability. That requires the confidence and belief in themselves that they can do it and can do it well. Another boost to their self-esteem is working toward a goal and achieving it. Twice a year we hold full dance recitals along with many in class performances for parents and friends. It takes months to learn and perfect a dance and a boatload of confidence to get on the stage in front of the audience and perform their dance. Dance classes can help children sprint down the road to confidence as learn to feel and value themselves as successful.

Commitment to being physically active
As our dancers become successful at each dance combination they get more and more excited to practice and perform them for friends, family, or their stuffed animals! Over time they eventually start making up their own routines at home to favorite songs or with friends. This leads to helping them become more physically active when not in dance class. The confidence that they have gained over time from their dance classes will allow them to continue their love for dance outside of class. Instead of hours of screen time, they will want to dance, move and be active to continue that lifestyle.

Of course there is one more great reason to get your child involved in dance…it’s fun!

These days, it is difficult to keep kids’ screen time to a minimum with so many technological distractions around them. My Gym Dance classes help give kids a reason to put down the electronics and get moving. The more they enjoy the activity they’re doing the more they will want to continue doing it instead just watching television. Building the love of fitness at a young age solidifies that lifestyle as they grow up and get presented with more options to be sedentary. Dancing helps children make great choices for their own well-being. We all have to do things we don’t like because they are good for us. Fortunately, dance class is not one of those things! Dancing leads to success in so many aspects of life and every child should experience dance classes firsthand.

Our dance classes:
We offer Pre-Ballet classes for children 2.5 to 7 years old and Zumba® and Hip Hop classes for children 4-12 years old.
Give us a call to get started today! 407-333-8069

Ribbit, Ribbit! Jumping is Calming?

This week in class we are working on a skill station called Springboard to Horse. The Springboard works on timing, jumping, leg strength and impact (joint strength and stability). And here is a FUN FACT…encouraging your child to jump around helps them to calm themselves down. Jumping is a muscle work activity and it can help children to work off the energy, calm down, and re-focus their mind. Who would have guessed?!  So, for this week, our skill of the week is Frog Jumps, which works on all of the same things as the Springboard portion of the skill station.

Try it out before bedtime and help your child prepare to climb into bed. How many jumps can they do?

For young babies up to 2.5 years –

Hold under arms and lift up, as they come back down they will bend their knees as they land, help them bounce back off those feet, repeat a few times.

For children 2 and 3 years old –

Encourage them to get small, jump up, then get small again and repeat. Encourage them to always land on their feet!

For children 4 and up –

Squat and touch the ground, jump up high with arms up, then get small again – repeat 3-5 times.

Challenge!

Jump higher

Jump farther

Do Frog Tuck Jumps! Very tricky and requires excellent leg strength, timing, and body control

 

Happy Jumping! Ribbit, Ribbit!

Skill of the Week | V-Sit

This week in all of our gymnastics classes, we are working on balancing on the Hot Dog. This helps with core strength as children walk across it. It also helps kids of all ages learn to focus on completing a task and building the confidence to know that they can do it!

V-Sits are a fun skill that you can practice at home, which also works on developing core strength and increasing focus. Two VERY important skills as the kids go back to school this week!

6 Months- 3 Years 

3-4 Years 

4 and Up

No hands touching the floor, legs together, hold and count to 3, 5 and 10 seconds

Happy Balancing!

Beat the Heat and Come to My Gym this Summer!

When? June 23-27 and August 4-8. Also, from June 3 through August 5, Fit & Fun Camp will be held every Tuesday from 1:00-5:30 pm.

What? My Gym Camp is hours of non-stop fun! Children will stay busy while participating in age-appropriate relay races, obstacle courses, gymnastic stations, games, team building activities and more.

Times? Each day, children may attend a morning session (8:30 am – 1:00 pm), and afternoon session (1:00 pm – 5:30 pm), or stay the full day (8:30 am – 5:30 pm)

Themed Activities? Yes. This year, our theme will be Disney/Pixar! All of our camp activities and our music will all be themed.

Food & Drinks? Healthy snacks and all-natural juice will be served to all campers throughout the day. All-day campers and morning half-day campers will be served lunch at noon.

Pricing?

• Non-Members: $40 per half day (4.5 hours)
• Members: $35 per half day (4.5 hours)

Sibling Discount? Yes :)   25% off for child #2 and 50% off for child #3 and beyond.

*All children must be potty-trained and at least three years old. 

Reserve your spot today! Give us a call at 407-333-8069 or send us an email at LakeMary@MyGym.com.

Why My Gym?

We are the experts in children’s fitness.

My Gym has developed an extraordinary program and facility devised to help children 6 weeks through 13 years of age develop physically, cognitively and emotionally. We have hundreds of locations in more than 30 countries offering structured, age-appropriate, weekly classes that incorporate music, dance, relays, games, special rides, gymnastics, sports and more. Children have loads of fun as they gain strength, balance, coordination, agility and flexibility while developing social skills, confidence and self-esteem. Our state-of-the-art facility, extensively trained staff, award-winning class programs, and excellent student/teacher ratio have earned My Gym the reputation as the best early learning program of its kind.

We keep children healthy by making fitness fun!

Childhood obesity has doubled in the last two decades, with 10% of all children between the ages of 2 and 5 in the U.S. already overweight. My Gym is dedicated to reversing this dangerous trend. Our facilities, programs and services empower youngsters by helping them acquire the skills, confidence and positive self-image needed to become healthy young adults. We are committed to nurturing children, treating them with understanding and positive reinforcement, maintaining a supportive and noncompetitive atmosphere, and making learning fun and exciting.

We improve the lives of children throughout the world.

The thrill of accomplishment from achieving a physical task builds self-esteem and confidence that carry over into all aspects of a child’s life. Interaction with our highly trained staff provides children the opportunity to establish warm relationships with compassionate adults, thus raising their level of comfort as they begin preschool/kindergarten. Our My Gym Kids learn more about themselves as they develop independence, self-discipline, social skills and even a sense of humor, all of which lead to an increased feeling of self-worth. A child who feels good about him/herself has a jumpstart on the path to success.