Parenting Advice

Emily has been taking ballet for a month through our local parks and rec. I blogged about it previously here. She is really enjoying it. We picked this paticular class because it's close to our home and it was cheap. The dance studios wanted a $50 yearly registration fee and four 45 minute classes a month was $50. The parks and rec is only $32 with no start up fee.

But...

I have a major issue with it.

The parents have to wait in the hallway. As much as I would love to be in the room, I understand that parents and little brothers are a distraction. So, we all sit outside and peek through the windows in the door occasionally. This is not the issue though.

Two weeks ago, I peeked through and saw that the teacher had all the girls sitting down and lined up. She was calling them up one by one to do a move, like first position with your feet. I can't hear what's going on, but she appears to be asking what move the girl is doing and the kids will answer and so forth. The girls raise their hand to go up next. Emily was really raising her hand. When the girl up front is done, all the others clap for her. I thought the teacher was going to call on every girl. I didn't stay at the window because Ben went running down the hallway and I needed to tend to him.

When we got in the car, Emily said, "Ms. Sue didn't pick me to go up in front of the class." I realized then that only select girls got to go up.

I told her it was okay and that there isn't enough time in a 45 minute class for all 15 girls to go up. She'd probably get a turn next week.

Well, that was yesterday and she didn't get a turn again. Now, I don't want to be a parent that thinks my kid should get rights above anybody else. But, I was able to spend the entire 45 minutes watching through the window. David was working from home and Ben was napping, so I didn't have Ben with me.

I saw Emily raise her hand over and over and over again. I saw the teacher call up Emily's friend again and several of the same girls from the week before.

When we got to the car, Emily said, "Ms. Sue didn't pick me again and Alanah got to go up like two times." Then she said, "I guess I don't do it right." After I swallowed the lump in my throat, I told her that maybe Ms. Sue teaches a lot of kids and maybe she just forgets who she calls up. To which Emily replied, "I don't think Ms. Sue likes me because she doesn't pick me." I told her that wasn't true of course. Then, Emily just said, "well, it's not fair."

And she's right.

I was livid. Someone who teaches kids should know that they keep track. They know when they aren't being picked. I know it's difficult to learn everyones name and remember who got picked from week to week. So, do blondes one week and brunettes the next or something. Is it really that difficult to give each girl a chance?

Fabulous. I'm paying money to give my daughter a self esteem issue.

I was ready to stomp into the civic center today and demand my money back for the February classes that we already signed up for. But, Emily likes ballet and she says she wants to keep going. I give her credit for being resilient.

My other issue is Ms. Sue goes over a roster every week at the start of class. It took three weeks just to get a roster. She asks each kid their first and last name. The second week Emily said she didn't know her last name. She obviously does, but these are 3-6 year olds. Some truly don't know yet. The roll call takes 15 minutes.

Yesterday, there was the 15 minute roll call. Followed by Emily sitting in one spot for another 15 minutes while other chosen girls got to go up in front of the class. Finally, she got to stand up with only 15 minutes left of the class.

When David asked her what she did in ballet, she said, "I like sat there for a very, very, very long time."

And she's right.

So, I plan on talking to Ms. Sue about this next week. I don't want to be one of "those" parents, but I have to stick up for my daughter. I don't plan to be mean about it, just make some suggestions for the next class. I also feel they are just wasting way too much time on roll call. Would it be so hard to have a sign up sheet for the parents in the hallway?

I'm really bothered by inefficiency. I mean it REALLY bothers me.

Am I doing the right thing by talking to the teacher? Or should I just go get my money back and sign her up someplace else for a different ballet class? Am I just getting what I paid for? What would you do?

Or should I just forget the whole thing and be more concerned with the fact that my daughter uses "like" in most sentences?