Teaching Preschool Dance Classes
I believe there are 3 main characteristics that makes an effective preschool dance teacher:
- Patience
- Patience
- More Patience
No this is not a misprint; I’ve been teaching preschool dance classes since the mid-90s and I feel the best way to teach is to maintain patience. At this age, they’re not going to be perfect dancers so you can’t go in with the mentality of churning out perfect dancers. I think at this point it’s good to get young dancers excited about dance. I think the teacher needs to be patient and realize that for the little ones, they will have good days and bad days and you have to roll with the punches (and I actually mean this literally: I have been punched in the face by a 2 year old).
Of course, this is just my teaching philosophy for teaching preschool dance students. Certainly, other dance teachers have different philosophies and I applaud all preschool dance teachers willing to take on the task because I know while it can be very fun, it can also be quite difficult. It is basically not the job for everyone; I love it, but I am aware not all dance teachers do. It is very different from teaching a class with older students, where their muscles – and attention spans – have progressed enough to perform complex skills. I know a lot of other dance studio owners who prefer to teach the older more advanced dancers, hiring other teachers to teach the youngest dance classes.
But the dancers in these classes are the future of your dance studio, so it is important to hire a good preschool dance teacher who shares your philosophy for preschool dance classes. A good way to find a good preschool dance teacher is to use Dance Teacher Finder, the only job board/resume database online that’s exclusive for dance teachers. Dance studios that have a subscription can post job listings and they also have access to our dance teacher resume database.
When dance teachers submit their resume to Dance Teacher Finder’s resume database they can click off whether or not they can or are willing to teach Preschool Dance. I think it’s important to have a separate category for Preschool Dance because you need a teacher who understands the unique characteristics of teaching a preschool dance class. Also, by having this option, when dance studios need to find a preschool dance teacher quickly (or need a substitute teacher for one of these classes) they can search for dance teachers in their area who have checked that box. Similarly, they can check off that style when posting a job listing for a Preschool Dance Teacher.
I think this website then is the best option for studio owners looking for dance teachers for preschool students because of the ease and convenience of finding preschool dance teachers.
About Elizabeth Emery
Elizabeth Emery is a former dance studio owner. She owned Dancers Unite in Charlotte, NC for 6 years, where she helped run the studio as well as taught dance classes six days a week. She sold her studio to one of her teachers and now dedicates her time helping other dance studio owners as well as dance teachers with her new business, Dance Teacher Finder, which helps pair dance studios with dance instructors. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and double majored in Business Economics and Marketing. Elizabeth currently splits her time between Charlotte, North Carolina and Salt Lake City, Utah.