Teaching Children Dance

If you have a passion for children, there is a book you should read. This book is called Teaching Children Dance, Second Edition, by Theresa and Stephen Cone. Just in case you think that this book may not benefit you because you have no dance training, you do not have to have any experience dancing to teach it to children. This book is great if you already teach dance to children or if you want to start. Some questions this book answers are: What is children's dance? Why should it be taught? How does one design and assess a dance program? There are many benefits that children gain from dance. "Dance becomes the means through which children develop, express, and communicate their life experiences. As a result, they gain an aesthetic awareness about how the body and its movements are connected to meaning and intention." The Cones are very passionate about how much children can gain from dance, and you can feel that while reading this book. Since I am currently teaching dance to children, I now have a new passion for what I do. I feel like I am making such a difference in my students lives. Children need both functional and expressive types of movement to develop their full potential. The children learn how to use their body as an instrument for expression and communication. Some of the benefits that the book discusses are: develop the knowledge and skills to use dance for self-expression and communication of ideas, understanding, and feeling; increase their creative, imaginative, cognitive and perceptive abilities; acquire skills in learning to cooperate with, respect, and move with others in a social context; and develop motor skills, coordination, balance, strength, and flexibility and increase fitness knowledge and abilities. The Cones also suggest that after dancing students should be able to discuss what they did and their movements to help them benefit more. There are so many more benefits children gain from dance and the book describes them. Also, the last few chapters lay out a program for specific grade levels. If you are passionate about children and want them to achieve their full potential, you should consider including dance in your classroom curriculum and read the book Teaching Children Dance for additional ideas and support.