Move. Create. Educate.
By maria, on January 22nd, 2012%
Setting goals is a huge topic. When I think of my own goals, I think of how many I have accomplished since graduating college. I also think of how many more I want to accomplish. Eeek, makes my head hurt! If you ask my husband, he says I have a new goal every week! He’s right, it is just in my nature to be ambitious. It’s good to have goals, but sometimes I dwell and think about them too much; I’m still working on the balance. Continue reading 6 Goals To Set For Your Littles: AKA My Hidden Agenda
By maria, on January 20th, 2012%
Have you heard about the book My Princess Boy? A mom wrote it about her little boy who wanted to wear dresses and jewelry instead of pants and baseball caps. She decided to not make it a big deal and allow him to express himself with whatever he wanted to wear. When I saw this, I thought “wow, how awesome is that?” A brave mom who isn’t allowing the world’s impressions of gender roles affect her son. She is letting him decide for himself. Continue reading What Would You Do If Your Boys Wore Tutus?
By maria, on November 3rd, 2011%
 One of my most favorite songs to do with my three year olds is the itsy bitsy spider dance. They seem to never get sick of it. It’s such a classic, but there are so many things you can do with it that my imagination has almost exploded with the possibilities! Here are some ideas: Continue reading 5 Itsy Bitsy Spider Dances
By maria, on September 14th, 2011%
 Yesterday I taught my 4-5 year old ballet class straight and curvy shapes! It was awesome. In ballet class, it is most important that they know the difference. After we did the lesson, I was able to use the reference in the rest of the class. It was awesome to see that they understood it. I used the song from Leap n’ Learn. It’s a simple song, but switches between curvy and straight shapes to help us feel the difference. Continue reading Straight and Curvy Shapes
By maria, on September 2nd, 2011%
The wonderful DanceStudioOwner.com is offering an awesome giveaway for four (!) of my readers!  How awesome, right? You have a chance to win one box of cards from the sophisticated collection for your older students and one from the sweet collection for your younger students! That’s two boxes of note cards for each winner! If you win, it will be a surprise which covers you get! Continue reading DanceStudioOwner.com Note Card Giveaway!
By maria, on August 12th, 2011%
Hi friends! I can’t believe there is only 1 more week of summer classes! Can you? Are you done teaching for the summer, or do you have some more to go? This week in particular has been so exciting. I had new photos taken for this site and to use around the web. They turned out so wonderful and I can’t wait for you to see them! Continue reading A Must Read Breakthrough Story!
By maria, on August 3rd, 2011%
 Question for you. Do you ever have students in your dance classes who walk on their toes? And I don’t mean when you ask them to rise up on their toes. I mean all the time. Always tiptoeing. I have heard (and read) that it can be compared to sucking their thumb and they should grow out of it in 2-3 months when they are young. I also read that it could be a tight achilies tendon or signs of cerebral palsy. Those are both very different. Continue reading Tiptoeing
By maria, on July 15th, 2011%
Remember this hidden treasure CD I found a while back? Well, I found another song on the Wake Up and Wiggle CD that I absolutely love! It’s called… Let’s Get Jazzy. It’s really cute, and helps my 3′s isolate their body parts! Important to know, right? Continue reading Let’s Get Jazzy
By maria, on July 8th, 2011%
 One of my favorite animals to make a dance about is the giraffe. It’s amazing how many animal dances I make in a week, all a little different, but all so creative! Giraffe dances are my favorite for a few reasons. Tall necks and backs, long legs, and big reaches all lend themselves to dance class so well. The Giraffe dance goes a little something like this: Continue reading Giraffe Dance
By maria, on June 24th, 2011%
 Need a new song? Here’s one for you! My Blue Balloon. It’s awesome! I have used this song for years and I can’t believe I haven’t written about it yet. It works best with 2-3 year olds. They love it! Continue reading My Blue Balloon
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About 
Maria Hanley is an independent early childhood dance educator in New York City.
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