Worried - feedback from teacher

I have been told by my daughter's ballet school that her attention and independence are compromised when her bestfriend goes to class with her.


Her bestfriend is very independent and can dance very well.


My daughter on the other hand keeps looking at he bestfriend and does not take the class seriously.


We are going on holidays for a month and have been told that if that is the case, she may not be ready to sit for her ballet exam in July this year.


She's been to ballet classes for a year already.


The kids go to the same school mon-fri and same ballet classes every saturday. So far, my daughter is getting good grades at school (although only at kindergarten level).


They will start ESF together and now I am thinking whether or not I should request that they be in different classes. The girls will be devastated, but naturally I want my daughter to concentrate better at primary level.


I will be separating them for ballet (different time slots) from now on but what about proper schooling?


Any advice? What a headache :-(

Wow, she is only 5 and you are putting so much pressure on her already??


At early primary level they just have fun learning and more importantly socialising with other children. There dont grade them in ESF primary schools. They don't have even have homework (my son who is in secondary school hardly has any homework).

agree with KAT8...for a teacher to assess a 5 year old as not being 'independent' and not 'concentrating' is a bit ridiculous...don't punish your daughter for being a child...those qualities will develop over time...especially if she's starting in a brand new school, likely with a bigger class of students, i think you should keep her together with her close friend (if that's even possible?...CAN you request which class your child will join?) to make the transition easier...chances are she'll make more close friends and be less dependent on the one in a short time...as for the ballet, if being with her friend in class makes her happy (she's 5 after all), maybe you can speak to her about the effects of her behaviour on the OTHER students, explain to her that her actions have consequences for others too...don't make ballet something that she learns NOT to like...my 2 cents...

Hi, thank you both.


I have spoken to my husband and we both think that our daughter is probably NOT into ballet. She's been telling us this for quite some time already.


We have spoken to her class teacher to find out if she's the same at school and the feedback is that she concentrates in class most of the time and she DOES get distracted but not more than the other kids.


You are both right, she is only 5 and should be enjoying her time with her friends.

I mean, it's not like I want her to be a professional ballet dancer when she grows up. It's only for fun. However, if her inattentiveness is disrupting the class and she's not interested, then there is no point.


I agree with you, funbobby that if she starts in a brand new school, it is better if she's together with her close friend. She'll enjoy it more and will be more confident. Sometimes I forget that the idea of school is to so that children will ENJOY learning rather than making the grades because they are forced to.


I will think of enrolling her in another activity.

Of course, as a child, or a 5-yr.old child, you can't avoid that problem [not concentrating and dependent]. For sure, when you enroll your child to a bigger class, she will start developing concentration and she will become independent, even little by little. And she should enjoy with her friends. And when she enjoy things, learning will be easier for her. So, don't put so much pressure on her yet. ;)