Factors that you should think about when you are looking for dance classes for your child; first and most important is whether the school has a good quality dance curriculum. The curriculum will make all the difference to whether you child will advance or just give up on their dance lessons.

Consider the challenges of teaching young children: Teaching young children presents its own set of challenges. When you are contemplating dance lessons for your child you will need to understand the specific needs of your child regarding their age and learning abilities. When you have established this, you can better access a dance school curriculum that is just right for them.

For starters, everyone learns differently. A teacher without suitable training will usually just try to train everyone at their speed and make up the classes as they go. A curriculum is basically a learning plan, allowing the teacher to modify for different student. Young children, in particular, need some entertainment blended into their classes to keep them interested.

For young children, a boring dance class will be tedious and their attention will soon focus onto other things. Teaching children any discipline must take into account the need for different strategies- like breaking the lessons into smaller portions to facilitate learning. Anyone with children knows how hard it is to get them to concentrate for long periods, so it makes sense.

Realizing potential: many young children have potential at a young age but it’s difficult to be sure of. A curriculum that is particularly designed for young students will allow your child to recognize their potential. You may not actually realize this until your child tries the dance lessons. Once they do this and prove successful, you never know how far they will go. It will also give them further confidence in other learning fields as well as dance.

The right environment: the ability of young children to learn at this age depends on the right environment, too. It is essential to take this into consideration when looking at dance school curriculum. It is important for young children to have a pleasant environment for them to learn how to dance. A good quality learning environment for your child is a must when trying to look for a school.

A good teacher will also know some activities that will combine music and fun with the development of a sense of rhythm and muscles that are essential to dance. A good teacher will also know how to bring out untapped creative skills in your child- something that cannot be recognized without proper training.

Dancing lessons should be an enjoyable and inspiring experience for your child, opening up new avenues of learning for them. Choosing the right curriculum will guarantee that your child will acquire the most out of their dance lessons. So make sure you check out some schools before you enroll your child into a dance school, so that you can decide on the finest curriculum for optimum learning.

Kobe Bean Bryant, named after the Japanese beef, is the shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. This American All-Star, along with Shaquille O’Neal led the team to three consecutive NBA Championships form 2000 to 2002, making both of them household names.

With the departure of O’Neal in 2003, Bryant became the team’s star player, leading the league in scoring in the 2005-2006 and 206-2007 seasons. He is an 11 time NBA All-Star, 2008’s NBA MVP and 3 time NBA Champion, along with having won a gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics as part of the US Olympic Men’s Basketball team.

Bryant has spent his entire life around the sport; his father was a player for the Philadelphia 76′ers and also coached the Los Angeles Sparks while Kobe was a child. Basketball almost lost Bryant to soccer when the Bryant family moved to Italy and he took an interest in soccer.

When his family returned to the US in 1991, Bryant began playing on his high school basketball team, where he was a star player. He decided against college despite his good academic record, instead entering the NBA at 17. His parents had to co-sign his contract with the Lakers, since he was still a minor; Bryant became the youngest person ever to start in an NBA game.

In his first year, he earned a spot on the NBA All Rookie second team and gained recognition by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest. By 1998-99, he was a premiere guard in the league and being compared to basketball greats like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. In 1999, with new coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson, he started his rise to the elite class as one of the best shooting guards in the league.

During the 2002-2003 season, Bryant averaged 30 points per game, posting 40 or more in nine games in a row! He was also voted to the All Defensive 1st Team and the All NBA team in this season. However, his reputation was badly tarnished before the following season due to his arrest for sexual assault.

In the 2003-2004 season, Bryant was criticized by many, including his coach who complained in writing that he was becoming uncoachable. He suffered another hit to his reputation with the Lakers first failure to make it to the NBA playoffs in more than ten years.

His next two seasons were not among his best; however, this was until breaking a Lakers record by scoring 81 points in a single game and amassing the second highest point total in the history of the NBA. His jersey became the top selling jersey in the US and China during the 2006-2007 season. He became the youngest player to ever reach a career total of 20,000 points in December 2007, when he was 29.

The 2008 Olympics made Bryant an international star. It may have been his first game as an Olympic athlete, but he was already far from a rookie when he won his first gold medal. He has set and broken many records in his career and despite his ups and downs, he may yet achieve more in the game.

Shane “Sugar” Mosley, born in September 7, 1971, holds several world titles in three weight divisions. Holding a fighting record of 46 wins, 5 losses with 1 no contest and 39 knockouts; Mosley has never been knocked out or stopped in his boxing fights. A native boxer of Pomona, California, “Sugar” is currently the WBA Welterweight Super champion. During the early part of his career, he personally trained himself from 1992-2004. He also sought Joe Goossen to become his trainer in 2004. He worked with John David Jackson in 2005. This year, he is currently trained by Nazim Richardson, which is best known for his work with Bernard Hopkins.

Every success story is not without struggle. Sugar Shame Mosley scaled and climbed every mountain to become a great boxer. He managed to fight his way towards winning world championship titles at lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight divisions. His fighting achievements made him known as one of the best fighters of this boxing era. His alias, “Sugar”, became a household name to many boxing enthusiasts; “Sugar” as in being owned in the league of other known “Sugars” such as Robinson and Leonard. He had overcome the odds of turning into a boxing pro. Through his years of dominating the boxing arena, Shane Mosley came up the hard way; winning fights and fighting the best competitions which eventually won him three world titles with the 1998 Fighter of the Year award.

Even as an amateur fighter, success was expected from Shane Mosley. He has won most of the titles in the amateur boxing division. During the period of years, from 1989 to 1992, he became the United States Amateur Champion at lightweight (1989), World junior Championships (1989), United States Amateur Champion at lightweight (1990), bronze medalist of the Goodwill Games in Seattle, USA (1992) and the United States Champion at welterweight division (1992). All in all, he compiled an amateur record of 250+ wins. The critics have said that Mosley’s stepping up to boxing pro is destined for stardom.

Shane Mosley’s February 11, 1993 fight against the former California state champion Greg Puente marked his debut in professional boxing. In this five-round blowout, he defeated Puente. However, due to promotional difficulties, Mosley was only noticed in the boxing scene until he brought a 23-0 record with 22 knockouts when he defeated the IBF lightweight champion Phillip Holiday. His display of brilliance in speed, power and ring savvy trashed Holiday at a twelve-round fight, walking away with a new world title. This was followed by yet another achievement. In his following fight, Sugar defeated Manuel Gomez by knockout at round eleven.

Throughout his career as a pro boxer, Shane Mosley has achieved much, defeating many of the best known names in the boxing world. He is famous for having been an undefeated lightweight champion, defending his 34-0 record nine times before moving up two divisions and facing Oscar de la Hoya, whom he defeated in 2000 to take the welterweight title. Today, Shane Mosley remains a big name in the sport, with his matches being followed enthusiastically by fans.

Representing the third generation of “racing Reutimanns”, David Reutimann is the son of DIRT Motorsports Hall of Famer (and still active participant in racing) Emil “Buzzy” Reutimann. The two still often race together at the “Clay by the Bay”, as Florida’s East Bay Raceway Park is known to racing enthusiasts.

He started as a dirt track racer and moved his way up into the ranks of NASCAR racers, being the 1997 Rookie of the Year in the Slim Jim All Pro Series as well as 2004’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Rookie of the Year. With many top ten finishes, although few wins, Reutimann is a racer to watch.

He was the winner of the 2005 Nashville Toyota Tundra 200, which he followed up with a 2007 win in the Sam’s Town 250 in Memphis, his first Busch Series car win. He ran the entire series on 2007, coming in second in the standings.

While living in Zephryhills, Florida, he has won several awards while with the NASCAR Southeast Series. David Reutimann began his racing career racing modifieds on Florida short tracks and moved up to the NASCAR Southeast series in 1997.

For the last few years, he has been racing in the Nationwide Series as well as the Sprint Cup series for Michael Waltrip Racing. He hasn’t achieved the level of success of some NASCAR stars, but he has been a consistently high performing racer with top finishes in a lot of the sport’s most important races.

In 2009, David Reutimann has named one of his old racing peers as his crew chief for his No. 00 Toyota car, Rodney Childers, who first met him back during the 1999 Slim Jim All Pro race. Childers sites David Reutimann’s sense of humor and personality as a reason he searched out the position, when it became available.

While maybe off to a slow start, David Reutimann has burst onto the scene in the past year and he is becoming as comfortable and good as anyone else on the track. They are hoping to build on that and get in some top-10 finishes, so that the top-5 will eventually come and ultimately their first win.

With this being Rodney Childers fifth season as a crew chief on the Sprint Cup level, it may be the advantage that Michael Waltrip Racing and David Reutimann need. The relationship with Toyota and NASCAR is a promising future because of their commitment to the racing world and faith in the team.

While they may not be the most famous NASCAR names, they are making a run at becoming top in the upcoming year with Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann sharing the wheel of No. 00, Aarons Dream Machine, sponsored by Aaron Rents. This will be Aaron’s tenth year with Michael Waltrip Racing and getting Michael back behind the wheel is something fans have been asking for.

David Reutimann has shown tremendous progress in the Sprint Cup Series and 30 top 10 finishes in the Nationwide Series, and Aarons is excited to be a part of the upcoming racing series with him, according to their spokesperson.

The New York Rangers acquired Blair Betts in the 2005-06 NHL Hockey season and he has been with them, centering on the defensive 4th line. He is one of the New York Rangers most consistent face-off men winning a more than losing them.

The New York Post wrote that Blair Betts and his teammate, Sjostrom, could be the best penalty kill tandem in Rangers history and they had a franchise high of 87.6 percent. He has also been declared one of the most underrated players in the league.

Betts played for the Calgary Flames from 1998 to 2005 before being drafted by the New York Rangers. His professional career began in 2001. Regardless of which team he plays on, the Edmonton native is well known as a strong defensive center.

The New York Rangers, however, have not done so well. They are going through their highest losing streak, so it may be hard to determine where some of the praise for Blair Betts is translating into winning games for the team.

Blair Betts has been also plagued with injuries, suffering a broken orbital bone around his left eye in May, 2008, and recovering from an upper body injury in December, 2008. Prior to that injury, he had three goals and five points in 28 games this past season. In his fourth season with the New York Rangers, he has missed time with injuries to his knee, foot and face.

Of course, ice hockey in the NHL can be a rough and tumble game and many defensive players can get injured from rough play or fights on the rink. Blair Betts, at 28 years old, has been playing professionally since 2000, when he joined the AHL, Calgary Flames.

He actually began his career in 1996 playing for the Prince George Cougars in the Western Hockey League, before being drafted by the Flames in the 1998 NHL draft. Some may wonder if it is taking a toll on his health and ability to be a consistent player.

In the 2005-06 NHL hockey season, he scored eight goals and two assists with the New York Rangers. Since that time, he has been used primarily on special teams and has done well in penalty killing and winning face-offs.

In his over 300 games played since the 2001-02 season, Blair Betts has scored 27 goals and 18 assists, with the majority of those being since he joined the New York Rangers. The Rangers are suffering as a team this season with their record, and his time out with injuries could be part of the reason, although it seems that the offense of the Rangers could be the primary reason, having difficulty scoring points all year.

Experts blame the Rangers last place position on a lack of confidence and a failure of the players to gel as a team. Whether Blair Betts can do much to help bring the Rangers out of the slump remains to be seen. Other players, and Rangers General Manager, Sather could shoulder much of the blame. Blair Betts has a lot of work cut out for him with this team, and could probably do better on one that would do him justice.

Even before he was old enough to drive a car, it was obvious that Jack Nicklaus (also known as The Golden Bear) was destined to become a golf legend. At the age of 13, this son of a Columbus, Ohio pharmacist broke 70 while playing 18 holes.

When only 16, Nicklaus won the 1956 Ohio Open and won the US Amateur in 1959 and 1961. He came in second in 1960, to no less a player than Arnold Palmer. He would make up for this by playing on the Eisenhower Trophy winning team and establishing a as yet unbroken 269 score in four rounds that year.

Nicklaus was playing on the pro circuit by 1962, when he won his first US Open. Defeating Arnold Palmer in this tournament made him a household name overnight. He would win the Masters twice in the 1960’s even though it would be 1970 before he would win his next US Open. He took nine more major titles in the 1970s, breaking the 13 title record held by Bobby Jones. His last major tournament can in 1986, when he was 46; the oldest player to win this tournament.

He joined the Senior PGA Tour in 1990, where he racked up 10 wins by 1996 - eight of which were major tournament wins. His made his last Senior PGA tournament appearances in 2005. However, he has stayed active in the sport, writing on the subject, designing courses and even holding his own PGA tournament, the Memorial tournament. Hi runs one of the world’s leading golf course design firms and has written autobiographical titles as well as instructional works on playing the Nicklaus way.

Perhaps Nicklaus’ popularity came with golf’s popularity when he beat Arnold Palmer in 1962 at Oakmont in the US Open. With the emergence of television, Jack’s charisma, good looks, and true rivalry with Palmer attracted many viewers to golf-something they hadn’t seen before on TV. He won an unheard of prize money of $60,000 in 1962 and reached third place on the tour’s money list, and named Rookie of the Year. In 1963, one of his best years, he won the Masters and the PGA Championship.

In 1964, he won the British Open at St. Andrews and established a new record for lowest score in the last thirty-six holes-66-68. His Masters win in 1965 set a tourney record of 271-which stood until Tiger Woods shot 270 in 1997. In the 1968, The Golden Bear let his physical condition slip, which most felt affected his playing skills, but Jack improved in the fall of 1969 where he returned to top form. Sadly, he lost one of his biggest supporters and mentors, his father, Charlie Nicklaus in 1970.

Once asked about himself and his career during 1970, Nicklaus said, “I was playing good golf, but it really wasn’t that big a deal to me one way or the other. And then my father passed away and I sort of realized he had certainly lived his life through my golf game. I really hadn’t probably given him the best of that. So I sort of got myself back to work. So 1970 was an emotional one for me from that standpoint-it was a big boost.” Perhaps this is true, as Jack became known as the “Record Setter,” being the first golfer to win all four major tournaments twice in a career.

In 1974, Jack Nicklaus became one of the first inductees to the World Golf Hall of Fame which he followed up on the next year by winning his 5th Masters Tournament and 4th PGA championship, as well as being named Athlete of the Year by ABC’s Wide World of Sports. It would be impossible for anyone but The Golden Bear himself, but Nicklaus took his 6th and final Masters Title in 1986. He still shares a record (with Tiger Woods) for having won all of the major championships three times). Nicklaus will always be a legend in the game for is amazing achievements and his work to support and popularize the game, something which he continues to do to this day. Jack Nicklaus may have retired, but it seems he’s still an unstoppable force in the golf world.

Curiously enough, Kobe Bean Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard is named after the Japanese beef. Along with Shaquille O’Neal, this All-Star player led the Lakers to no less than three consecutive NBA Championships (in 2000, 2001 and 2002).

When Shaq left in 2003, Kobe Bryant became the star of the Lakers, leading the NBA in scoring in 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. Kobe is an 11 time NBA All-Star, 3 time NBA Champion and voted the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2008. This basketball hero won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics for the US Men’s Basketball team.

Bryant grew up around basketball; his father played on the Philadelphia 76′ers and was coach of the LA Sparks when he was a young child. However, the young Kobe Bryant developed an interest in soccer when his family moved to Italy.

When his family returned to the US in 1991, Bryant began playing on his high school basketball team, where he was a star player. He decided against college despite his good academic record, instead entering the NBA at 17. His parents had to co-sign his contract with the Lakers, since he was still a minor; Bryant became the youngest person ever to start in an NBA game.

He earned a place on the NBA Rookie all second team in his first season as a Laker and won the 1997 Slam Dunk competition. He was recognized as one of the best guards in the league by 1998, when he began to garner comparisons to Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

In the 2002-2003 season, he achieved a stunning 30 point per game average and even posted 40 or more points in nine consecutive games. This season saw Bryant being voted to the NBA All Defensive 1st Team and the ALL NBA Team. It seemed he was destined for ever greater things; however, an arrest for sexual assault before the beginning of the 2003-2004 season greatly damaged his reputation.

In the 2003-2004 season, Bryant was criticized by many, including his coach who complained in writing that he was becoming uncoachable. He suffered another hit to his reputation with the Lakers first failure to make it to the NBA playoffs in more than ten years.

His next two seasons were not among his best; however, this was until breaking a Lakers record by scoring 81 points in a single game and amassing the second highest point total in the history of the NBA. His jersey became the top selling jersey in the US and China during the 2006-2007 season. He became the youngest player to ever reach a career total of 20,000 points in December 2007, when he was 29.

Bryant’s appearance in the 2008 Olympics cemented his status as an international star. It was his first appearance in the Olympic Games, but Bryant was hardly a rookie when he became a gold medalist. Bryant has set and broken several records in his career.

Walter Payton’s Hall of Fame-worthy career set an example for every NFL player to come after him. Even though Payton passed nearly a decade ago, Bears fans remember him to this day as if he had only retired last week. Sportscasters still measure new players against Payton, an intimidating standard to be sure.

Payton was born in Columbia, MS in 1954 and came to the game relatively late in life for an NFL player. It was not until high school that he discovered his talent for and love of the game. He continued to play in college at Jackson State in Mississippi.

Payton was fourth in contention for the Heisman Trophy in 1975, the year that saw him becoming Chicago’s fourth draft pick. Walter Payton got off to a slow start his first season, with a mere 7 touchdowns and 679 yards, but gave the world a taste of what would come later in his final game of the season. This game saw the Bears facing off against the New Orleans Saints; Payton made a 134 yard run, something which had not been seen in Chicago since the Gale Sayers era.

His second year as a Bear saw him with 13 touchdowns and 1,000 yards, a performance which won him the NFL’s 1977 MVP title. The Bears went to the playoffs this year and Payton ran an impressive 274 yards in a single game, a record which stood for 23 years.

Known affectionately as “sweetness” Payton was a favorite with fans and teammates alike for his personality and his impressive record n the gridiron. IN his 13 year NFL career, Payton racked up an astounding 16,726 yards, 110 touchdowns and 77 100-yard rushing games.

Payton made it look easy, with 1,000 yards dashed in each season between 1976 and 1981. Payton played in every Pro Bowl from 1979 until his retirement. His rushing record has been broken since, but is record may still stand today were it not for NFL strikes which cut short the 1975 and 197 seasons.

With the addition of coach Mike Ditka to the team, Payton saw a new batch of players arrive and the Bears were better than ever. Payton lead a division-leading Chicago Bears and broke Jim Brown’s record for yardage in 1984; ever the gentleman, Payton dedicated this feat to athletes whose careers had ended early due to injuries or illness.

Everyone remembers the “Super Bowl Shuffle” of 1986, still heard from time to time in Chicago. This was the year that the Bears made their very first appearance in the Super Bowl and they did not disappoint the fans, despite Payton’s failure to make a touchdown in the game. The Bears triumphed over the New England Patriots 46-10.

The following year, Payton’s retirement was marked with a huge send off at the Bears home field, Soldier Field in Chicago. After his retirement from the game, he stayed active, sitting on the team’s board of directors, beginning a CART racing team and even opening a restaurant. He was name dot the NFL Hall of Fame in 1996, a fitting cap on an extraordinary career.

Payton stunned the world in 1999 with his announcement that he had been diagnosed with the rare autoimmune disease Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. Payton was placed on an organ transplant waiting list (it wasn’t his style to use his fame to receive treatment before those even sicker than himself). Tragically, he would pass away in November of that year.

The number 34; Payton’s is one which instantly brings a smile to the face of any Bears fan. The foundation started by Payton’s wife Connie is yet another of his legacies, urging the people of Illinois to become organ donors. To this day, people in Chicago feel that they lost something truly special when they lost this remarkable man.

Roger Federer is a name sure to become legendary in the tennis world. He has won four Tennis Master’s Cup titles, thirteen Grand Slam singles titles, fourteen ATP Masters Series titles and an Olympic Gold Medal, all by the age of 27! Federer has won 19 Grand Slam singles titles (a record which still stands), 10 of which were won consecutively between Wimbledon in 2005 and the US Open in 2007. Federer is currently ranked second in the world, having held the number one rank between February 2004 and August 2008; he was also the winner of the Laureus World Sportsman award for four consecutive years between 2004 and 2008.

Federer was born in Basel, Switzerland where he still spends a good deal of his free time. He grew up in the Basel suburb of Munchenstein.

Even at the age of six it was obvious that Federer was a born athlete. He begun tennis lessons at the age of nine, working under the tutelage of a private coach by the time he was ten. Federer also played football and cricket as a teenager; both of which he also showed great potential for. However, he ultimately decided to make his career in tennis, though he continued to play cricket in the off-season. He had won all of the national championships open to him at the age of fourteen, being awarded with the opportunity to train at the Ecublems-based Swiss National Tennis Center. Feder joined the ITF junior tennis circuit in 1996, turning pro by 1998; this year saw him winning the ITF Junior Tennis championship as well as the junior WInbledon and the Orange Bowl.

While most tennis players are more at home on one type of court or another, Federer’s versatility has made him famous. One sportswriter has said that tennis players can be clay court specialists, grass court specialists, hard court specialists; or they can be like Roger Federer. He is best known for his powerful groundstroke, as well as for being a skilled volleyer and baseliner. Federer uses a hybrid grip which takes elements from the semi-western and eastern strokes.

In his career, Roger Federer has won a whopping 57 singles titles. He was named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people of the year 2007. Federer is engaged in charity work outside of his tennis career. He founded the Roger Foundation in 2003, to promote sports to young people and to help disadvantaged persons. At only 27 years old, we may have not yet seen the best of Roger Federer yet.

US Tennis Open winners have been held up high since 1881. This tennis championship is one of the oldest in the world and the fourth and final tournament in the Grand Slam each year. This tournament takes place during the end of August and the beginning of September. There are five different event championships which include the men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles, wheelchair events, and even events for juniors and seniors.

The US Open is different from the other tournaments in the Grand Slam like the Wimbledon. The US Tennis Open winners are determined by the person that wins the final set tie breaks. In the other tournaments the winners are determined by whoever wins by two games starting at the fifth set for the men and the third set for the women.

Even though it does not draw the crowned heads that one may see at Wimbledon, this is a tournament with a lot of prestige attached and the event draws thousands of spectators from every part of the world as well as many locals. With more than $20 million in prize money awarded in this tournament, it’s easy to see why over 600 players compete in this tournament each year.

The US Open is held in New York City, at the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, home of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Unlike Wimbledon, the events are held on an acrylic court rather than grass.

Since there is more prize money to be won, many players aspire to compete in this tournament. There is a $1.5 million prize for the winners of the main events, with half that amount going to the runner up. Semifinalists are awarded $320,000, quarterfinalists half of this and so on. There are many prizes to be won even by those players who leave without a trophy.

US Open winners in doubles events also receive large cash prizes. Doubles winners split a total of $1.8 million. There is also half a million dollars in prize money to be won in the mixed doubles. The qualifying 128 draw events for both men and women pay up to one million - in total, there is over $20 million dollars in prize money to be won in this tournament.

With so much to be won and the prestige of competing in a Grand Slam tournament, professional tennis players are always interested in this tournament. There are prizes given to the winners in many different events, giving players a much better chance to go home with a prize than in other tournaments; this generates a lot of excitement among fans as well, which makes this tournament incredibly popular year after year.