Being late to dance class is actually kind of a big deal. Since warm-up exercises are designed to help the dancer’s muscles (and tendons/ligaments) prepare for the demands of class, late students should know what you expect of them when they arrive in the classroom so that they are not risking injury.
How you handle being tardy is up to you. Perhaps you just tell the student to do some plies and tendus before joining the class if it isn’t too far into the barre. If the student is more than a few minutes late, many teachers ask that they just sit and watch the class instead of trying to catch up.
If you have students who are late on a regular basis, it may be helpful to speak with the parents. As for deciding on make-up classes, it’s really a matter of what you are comfortable with. Do students just lose that class if they are too late to join? Or can they come to another class and substitute it for the one they miss? The important thing is to have a policy that you consistently enforce so that everyone gets the same treatement.
What are your rules? How do you handle a student coming late to class? I’d love to hear what various teachers are doing out there…
If you are just beginning to teach young children, you may want to keep in mind what I like to call the “two-minute rule”. Little ones tend to bore easily, so besides presenting an energetic demeanor, you can also make sure they pay attention by limiting each exercise to about two minutes or so (give or take).