Innocence

Over the summer I taught a little girl that gave me a little surprise. Just a reminder that children will always be there to teach and surprise us. Even when you think we've got them all figured out.  With that introduction this is what took place.

She came to class dressed with a shirt and skirt, I did not give this much thought until we went into circle time. The technique part of class where we work on fine motor skills and  strength. For a good portion on this we are sitting on the floor. After some time I noticed that she was not following along, just sitting there with her legs tightly closed. I went and talked to her and soon discovered that she was worried about showing her panties to the class which I thought was mature of her at her age; most girls 3 or 4 years don’t even think about this. So after class I talked to her parents about putting little shorts or leggings on her so she would feel comfortable doing the class. The next week she came into class and she was wearing pants under her skirt so I thought all was well. However  circle time came again and the same thing took place she sat there with her legs closely pressed together. Once again I went and quietly talked to her about what she was feeling. She still felt uncomfortable, so I showed her the other  girls in the class and how they were wearing something under their skirts and how they were all covered up and still could dance and have fun. This did the trick she then was able to participate and she really started to enjoy herself. Through her comfort and enjoyment her abilities in dance grew over the remainder of the classes.