Last week we were able to spend some time visiting Marian Roth at the Richmond District YMCA in San Francisco.  Marian has been running the Dance and the Baby Movement classes for over 17 years.  She shared with us her background & some of her favorite experiences being a mentor in our community.

Tell us about the Baby & Toddler Class
We always start with a traditional dance warm-up.  It’s repetition, it’s muscle memory and you’d be surprised at how much the babies remember.

We follow with our creative, play time.  I use lots of props and baby massage and songs.  It’s fun and it teaches the parents what they can do at home.  Parents know they should play with their kids but they don’t know what to do or how to do it.

We also do seasonal playing  - so we’ll do a watered-down version of what the bigger kids are doing at that time.  For example, if it’s Chinese New Year we’ll do a song about that.  Or a Cinco de Mayo dance if it’s around that time.

We finish with a closing song and an ending that is always the same.  Again this reinforces routine and the babies know it’s time to end the class.

What ages are in the Baby & Toddler Class?
It’s 6 months to 3 years.  We used to separate this out but they learn a lot from each other.  It’s a challenge but it’s also really good to have the walkers with the non-walkers.  There is always plenty of stuff to do and it’s fun to watch all the kids interact.  Plus moms can bring their little one as well as their Toddler.

How did this class come to be?
I am a dancer.  I’ve been dancing for over 20 years.  I received my BA in Theatre & Dance  and my MFA in Dance & Choreography.  And then I was trained to teach dance.   I ran a studio in Chicago & here and trained dancers for years. Eventually I started a family and now have a son who is 17 years old.

When he was young there were no movement classes for really little babies.  All the research said to put your kids in classes around 4 or 5 years.  But I was now a mom and wanted to see what my son could gain if we started moving him at a young age.  I was a member at the Y so I’d come here to work out and start playing with him.  Other moms saw us and we formed our own impromptu music & movement class.  The Y asked me to create a class and I had been documenting my work so I had already created a syllabus.  I was excited to start working with the babies.

I started teaching classes for babies & toddlers and then as those students grew we adjusted the classes for older and older kids.  We added classes for kids up to 3rd grade and now we go all the way up to 8th grade.  I’ve seen babies grow in my program from infancy to some that are now in high school.

What are the benefits for the kids?
First off it’s a time to bond with their parents.  That’s the best part of the class.  It’s a playful, easy, fun time for parents & baby to get creative and enjoy time together.

Secondly, the children learn the empowerment of being able to control their bodies.  They gain a sense of pride at being able to tell their body to do something and have it do it.  They also learn color identification because we play with lots of colors.  They learn counting because we have counting songs.  So they get some preschool education as well.

Third, it’s a time for kids to be creative in a loosely structured environment.

Finally, it teaches parents what they can do with their kids.  It teaches them how to play.  And they don’t have to do this just once a week in the class.  They can do this at home and it’s not just entertaining the baby but it’s interacting with them.

What one thing would you like parents to know about your classes?
Parents think babies won’t benefit or learn anything from a class like ours.  When the truth is that babies are taking in so much and it’s actually quite amazing what they can learn.  We’ve seen 6 month olds who come to class and know our warm-up because they’ve done it here a few times & they’ve done it with mom at home.  Your child will get something out of our class even when they’re as young as a few months old.  Whether that’s bonding with mom, a sense of accomplishment, confidence in their own ability or even benefits that aren’t seen immediately, such as development of the brain & body.  We see kids who at 3 years old know how to clean up when mom sings our closing song because, again it’s the repetition.

All I’m doing is teaching the parents.  They are the teachers.  I’m just giving them the tools so they can play with their baby here and go home and play some more.  The bond between baby & mom is profound and our class helps it along.

You can read more about Miss Marian here and find her classes here.