I have successfully written and performed my first two independent Babygarten classes (a reading, rhyming, and listening storytime for babies 0 to 18 months). Both times I nearly ran out of breath from talking so fast and performing the rhymes (especially the stand up ones). I can never tell if the parents are enjoying what I'm doing except through verbal cues. One parent sighed in relief after we completed our Stand Up Rhymes today. I didn't know if he was relieved to put down his heavy child or if he was tired of it. Parents who don't want to do the stand up rhymes can always sit down, but I may cut back on the number that I do. The last two times two parents (out of 44 and 65 of the class #s) came up and said "Thank you." to me afterward.
My philosophy is to keep the Babygarten as highly energized as possible, but then I'm afraid I get the kids too wound up. I did pull a trick from my co-worker Jennifer and that's to start singing a rhyme as I'm collecting toys to focus everyone's attention back to me so we could do more rhymes. The kids were starting to get restless by the end so I cut a few songs and went straight to the toys. The children seem to be happiest when there's music playing so perhaps more songs? I don't like creating a mellow environment for the babies because I find that boring and it should be reserved for Lullaby Storytimes.
Any advice you, dear reader, can give on how to focus your child's attention or what works best when them when it comes to books, or through your experience with similar storytime formats would be helpful and immensely appreciated.
