Kidding About Blogs

Ah, toddlers! They can be a lot of fun, but they are active little people, aren't they?

I have several ideas that may help. Firstly, young toddlers have an attention span of only 1-2 minutes. A programmer needs to change activities 10-12 times in a 20 minute story time. Always make sure that the program plans are age appropriate. I think 20 minutes is plenty of time for this particular group.

Secondly, have a very friendly, but serious, conversation with the parents. What are their expectations? Ask for their help and input, while explaining your goals and expectations.

Thirdly, the children will mature as time passes and their attention span will lenghten. I promise.

Fourthly, MR has some very nice professional materials and books especially for toddler programs. There's lots of good ideas there.

Fifthly, toddlers love routine. Establish an ongoing opening song or fingerplay, then book, puppet, book, fingerplay, book, ongoing closing. The children will soon learn Miss Amy's routine and will tell you what comes next!

Those are some of my thoughts. Who else has suggestions?

Liz
 

My suggestion is music, movement and more music and movement. Songs that have been turned into books are great. Also books with simple rhymes and lots of repitition are favorites. They love simple flannel boards that they can help with. The real key is to keep them involved not just sitting and listening because they won't.
 

I agree about incorporating music. I already do this, and they love it. I just feel bad for the few toddlers that love to hear the stories and have the attention span for it. I feel like they're being punished because the others can't sit still.
 

Amy, having heard the story today, my advice would be to talk to each parent as they arrive with their child and explain that you need their help with the children in order to make it a good experience for everyone. There used to be a handout for parents describing their role in Toddler Time; if we can track it down you can also give them that. In order to reach all the parents, you might need to have another YS person or Sue help you catch them. But the problem you're having is so wide spread, that I think you need to let the parents know what their role should be. Also, try making your toddler times a little shorter with this group and perhaps a bit more like a baby time until they age. Keep me posted.
 

After holding my third week of storytime this week, I've decided to morph TT into something more resembling babytime. I decided this after seeing four of my toddlers walking around with pacifiers in their mouths for the duration of the storytime. They just don't have the attention span to handle books. I even had a book that only averaged three words per page. I hate to do this to the few who listen, but it's gotten to the point where they can't enjoy the stories because they are distracted by all of the commotion. There are too many parents to individually target, so I'm just going to gently explain to them that for the rest of the session, storytime will be following a different format that I think will benefit the children more.
 

Side note- I had one parent try to rein in her toddler this morning. I haven't heard screaming like that in a long time...
 

I agree with Tammy. You definately want to get any reading in early. Save the movement activities for later when they start getting restless.
 

I just read a section in the book titled Mother Goose Time; it really helped out a lot. They even break down the age group into "walkers" and "non-walkers". They suggested the best time to read a picture book to the group is to wait until the end of the program. They don't really go into detail about why they suggest waiting until the end. I think I'll try both suggestions to see how they work with this group. They do offer that chidren this young, who have not been exposed to traditional storytime have almost "a Pavlonian response to an open book: they back their bottoms into the lap of the adult reading the book" (Marino 33). This is exactly what had been happening to me! Without parents to rein them in, it got to be interesting.
 

For those of you who are interested, my modified toddler time went off without a hitch. I begin with a song then read two very simple easies. Then I brought out two big bouncy balls and let them play modified "hot potato". Then broke out the Wiggles for "Shake your sillies out" while they played musical instruments. Finished up with a board book, the song "Silly Dance Contest" and a coloring sheet.

Thanks again to everyone for their helpful suggestions and comments!