Let's get right into today's discussion,
“Be the Broken Record”
Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
Where I will share some thoughts on Why Repetition is Essential in your Preschool Classes!
~
The first 3 years of life represent the most rapid period of brain development in our children’s lifetime. In the first 1000 days of life, a staggering 1M neural connections are made each second. These connections determine what kind of brain your baby grows. A brain that is balanced, stable, and resilient to stress. Or a brain that is unbalanced, over reactive and struggles to cope with stress.
~
Neural connections in the brain are vital in developing the ability to regulate emotion. This is why it’s critical that we provide our children with experiences that contribute to healthy brain development. While genetics provide a blueprint for brain development, it’s a child’s environment and their experiences that carry out the construction and essential wiring of the brain. Dance is a wonderful experience that contributes greatly to this construction and wiring!
~
Neural pathways require repetition to remain permanent. Repetition and patterns are the basic building blocks of learning. Patterns define day to day existence, or routines, which create the opportunities for accelerated learning.
~
Children crave repetition! Their brains are being inundated with new things every day. Children need repetition to make connections in their brain, which creates understanding, and then memory. Their brains are saying, “can you repeat that please” so it can make connections. This is why children sing the same songs over and over! Or ask you to read the same book, or tell the same story, or recite the same Nursery rhyme, over and over!
~
Adult brains are already practiced in this process. We already have a library of connections in our brain. Our brains have everything organized and categorized, so we need only hear things once or twice to file it away to memory. Children's brains are not practiced in this - they need repetition, repetition, repetition!
~
For information to become a known fact, that they can retrieve from their brain and use, children must “Use it or lose it”, just like muscle memory! So we, as Dance Educators can help with this!
~
In Points and Perspective’s first episode, we talked about the importance of using a Lesson Plan. This use of routine, pattern and structure, contributes to healthy brain development!
In Points and Perspective’s second episode, we talked about keeping the seemingly limited age appropriate skills fresh by reinventing them. Which brings us to today’s subject, Repetition!!
~
As much as we want to “Reinvent the Wheel”, and make the class interesting and fresh, remember that doing the same exercises and skills repeatedly is GOOD for your young dancers!! Repetition, Repetition, Repetition!
As much as we may be tired of reading the same book, telling the same story, singing the same song - Doing the Same Saute Jumps!! Do them!! Let them Saut de Chat over the sponges for the 12th week in a row!!
Help Children's Brains make connections. Contribute to their Brain’s construction and wiring. Encourage healthy brain development. Don’t shy away from doing the same steps Over, and Over, and Over!!
Be the Broken Record!
