September has come and almost gone, and we know that some of our parents are still on the look out for a pair of ballet slippers for their dancers. Sometimes we can find great slippers in consignment stores or that are handed down to us from friends and family, but how do you know if they fit properly? 
At Pegasus we use a 3 step fitting test and we want to share it with you

With both shoes on (this is important in case one foot is slightly bigger than the other), have your dancer stand up and bend their knees slightly. Make sure the whole foot is flat on the floor and feel the toes. Are they flat or are they scrunching up? If the toes are able to spread out flat, you have passed test number 1!
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*In this position, the dancer should not have any more than 1 cm of extra space. Any more than this and the shoe will become a tripping hazard. 

With one foot pointed out in front, you are looking for a small pinch at the back of the heel. It does not need to be a big pinch, but if you have a bit of shoe to grab you have passed test number 2!

Have your dancer rise up onto the balls of their feet, or as if they are tip toeing, and see if the toes still lie flat. Pay close attention to the baby toe and make sure it is not getting tucked underneath.
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*Sometimes, it helps to do this test first and have the dancer walk around on their tip toes. This helps the dancer relax their toes and test #1 goes a bit smoother. 

We LOVE books and use a different book almost every day in our Preschool Program. We have spent years putting together some of our favourite books for the fall season and our Harvest Time lessons and we want to share them with you! 

Apple season is starting up and here are two books to get your little on excited: 

Little Apple by Brigette Weninger and Anne Moller

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

And pumpkin time is also right around the corner. These are two books not to be missed: 

From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer

The Pumpkin Patch by Elizabeth King


We'd love to hear about your favourite or other books you love for this time of year. We are always building our library. Add a comment below to share books. 

Enjoy your reading!

September has arrived and we have started our new dance season! One of the biggest questions we have for you, our parents, is how we can communicate more effectively? We know you are often very busy and managing information and dates for several different extra-curricular activities on top of school. We’ve been trying different methods over the past few years and wanted to find out what is working and what we can add or cut to make our communication with you the most effective possible. 

Here is the top 5 ways we communicate: 

1.     All information is on our website – either on a page dedicated to that item (such as recital or the full year calendar) and/or important dates and info posted on our homepage and the coloured bar on the top of the website.

2.     We send emails re: important studio closures and dates through our student management program, Jackrabbit.

3.     We post signs around the studio about important dates and events

4.     We post important information on Facebook and Twitter

5.     We send a monthly e-newsletter as well as handing out a quarterly paper newsletter with additional forms, schedules and any other important paperwork attached. 

We would love your feedback! If these methods are NOT working for you, what would be better? If one of these methods IS working really well for you, we want to hear that as well!