First week and Ballet for Boys and Girls.

   The first week of school is over and the excitement of school has wore off a bit. This morning, Monkeys were very excited to have their day off school. The only one complaining about lack of school-work was Little Monkey. I think that this had something to do with him getting a "smelly" sticker once he finished his work, and no school-work means no sticker today. The stickers were a great incentive not only for Little Monkey, but also for the two older Monkeys. I have bought them when I picked up their Math work-books and they are very cute. As an added bonus when you scratch the sticker they smell like fruits. The kids love getting them after they finished their copywork, or math, or Spanish lesson.

Funky Monkey helping Little Monkey

   So what is my review of the first week back?
I think it went smoother than I expected. I am glad that I spent all the hours planning the whole year, because it seem to have saved plenty of time daily.
I wanted the school work to be very consistent from day to day and self explanatory because when Monkey In-waiting arrives I will have my hands full with him. But it looks like I am already reaping the benefits of having the whole year planned out.

Girly Monkey doing her math

   This week we covered introduction to Renaissance from European History DeMYSTiFieD book we got from the library. We also studied Georgia O'Keeffe's first work, and listened to O Fortuna by Carl Orff. Monkey did well on the first week of copywork and math, even though there was some grumbling about it. Little Monkey covered 4 colors and tracing numbers 1-5. And we also learned about Canada (our first country this year) by reading a bit about it from National Geographic for Kids. This website is also awesome for their maps. We will also be doing a recipe from Canada tomorrow. We are making Poutine as a recipe from Canada. I get my recipes from Celtnet because they have a large selection of international dishes as well as many ancient recipes.

Little Monkey learning about colors

   I am also very impressed with all three Monkeys for doing their exercises every morning. I used Ballet Beautiful 15 minute workouts (total body and lower body) from YouTube just to try it out. I was looking for Ballet based workouts that would help with the strength and conditioning for Ballet dancers. These two workouts seem to fit the bill. Monkeys are going to start their dance classes next week and I want to help them along with keeping fit.

Funky Monkey's first classes

   So what made us put our kids into Dance lessons? I get this question all the time from many people. I get it even more when they find out that not only Girly Monkey but also my boys are taking Ballet and dance. We originally started dance classes for Funky Monkey when he was only 3 years old. He loved dancing at home all the time so I figured that providing a place where he could dance with other kids in a class would be beneficial. I always look at what my kids are naturally inclined to do or interested in when I pick an activity for them. I believe in letting the kids choose what they want to do since it's their activity. There is nothing more heart-breaking than watching a child in a sport or activity that they hate to be in. I would much rather that my kids enjoyed what they do (even if they are not very good at it, or even if they have no prospect of doing it in their adulthood) than forcing them to do something based on my unfulfilled dreams.

Funky Monkey learning positions

   The first classes Funky Monkey took were at the community center, with an instructor that would prove to be our favorite for many years to come. The class was called Creative Moves and introduced kids to dance. It was very simple and inviting to a preschooler, with kids songs, lots of hopping and jumping, and many encouraging words from Anelia, the instructor. Funky Monkey liked the class so much that he did level I through that first year and we signed him up for level II the next. The year after that we decided to put him into a dance school in order to provide more structure and more instruction in dance. I phoned few dance schools and started inquiring about classes for 5 year olds. Few of these schools stood out in my mind and each one of them informed me that their preschool class is Ballet oriented. I knew that Funky Monkey liked dance but he never tried Ballet. We decided to put him into the school that seemed most professional. I had to sell the idea to Daddy since he was not very open to his son taking Ballet at first. But as I researched a bit I found out that many professional sports players took or take Ballet to help with anything from strength, flexibility, to balance. Since Daddy always hoped that his son would play a sport of some sort he decided to let Funky Monkey take dance lessons. Daddy was a little nervous, though, of his son being the only boy, not just in his class but in the entire dance school. I had faith in Funky Monkey's ability to do well in a group of girls. By this time Girly Monkey was almost 2 years old and they were the best of friends. In addition, Funky Monkey had always played well with girls, and this time it was no different. He quickly made lots of friends and enjoyed his first year of dance. I was a little worried for their first dance recital since he would be preforming in from of about 800 people, but he did great. When the year was over we left the decision up to him of whether he wanted to come back to dance next year. He gladly chose to come back.

Girly Monkey has always loved dance

   That year Funky Monkey also got signed up for Flag football. We noticed that dance classes really helped him with balance and strength. We did get a lot of raised eyebrows from parents who could not understand why our son was in Ballet. I would always jokingly say, "He is an only boy in a school of about 100 girls, it's a wonder that more boys haven't figured it out yet!" But in reality I knew that dance was helping him overcome his shyness and gave him the confidence that he needed to do well in other areas.

   When Girly Monkey was just 2.5 years old we signed her up for community dance classes too. Growing up, seeing her big brother dance, sparked a love for Ballet in her. You can often find her practicing her dance moves while walking, doing chores, or even brushing her teeth. She now attends the same dance school as Funky Monkey and she often points him out with pride to her friends.

Little Monkey practicing with a partner

   Little Monkey was born with the love-for-dance gene too. At the age of 2 he begun taking community dance classes with our favorite instructor, Anelia, the same instructor who taught Funky Monkey and Girly Monkey. He loves his class and is already excited to start a new year of dance. When he is old enough he will join the same dance school and try out Ballet too.

Funky Monkey

Girly Monkey

   I know that some day our Monkeys will have to make a decision whether to continue with Ballet or whether to do something else. What ever each one of them decides I will be there to support them and encourage them. I will remember fondly all the times at their Dance classes and be happy that each one of them didn't just learn few dance steps, but rather they learned many life lessons that they will take with them into their future life!