After two rather difficult Toddler Storytimes (difficult for me, that is), I’ve made the decision to do what I knew all along was the best thing: switch to using pre-registration for this age group.

Though I fully understood that pre-registration was preferable for this age group and for the focused, curriculum-based model that I’m using, I had initially decided not to use pre-registration because of the small size of the town and because a Toddler Storytime is a new concept in this town.  I had hoped that I would be able to roll with the unpredicability of a drop-in toddler storytime, but the last two weeks proved that Judy Nichols (of course) is right in her admonition to pre-register no more than 12 children.

Not yesterday, but two weeks ago yesterday, attendance for the toddler group was 26 adults and kids, including three babies.  Many people arrived late, and not all at the same time, so my “flow” was interrupted over and over again, and I had to keep reining in my highly distractible audience.  Very difficult, and not very pleasant; it’s hard to move the storytime beyond ordinary when your audience isn’t focused or fully involved. 

Then, one week ago yesterday, attendance was only 12 adults and kids, and the group dynamic reflected the scattered nature of the previous week.  Kids were less attentive than they had been in weeks before, and the group didn’t congeal as nicely as I had hoped.  Part-way through the storytime, I made my decision, and announced to all present that the storytime would be shifting to 6 week sessions requiring pre-registration by the end of November. 

Group dynamics aside, another huge benefit of pre-registration will be ease of preparation.  If I know for sure how many kids are signed up, then I know for sure how many materials (nametags, handouts, giveaways) to create, saving valuable time and energy.  I spent the better part of the Sunday before last making two dozen clown nametags (and please do remember that I don’t get paid for any time I spend on the weekend doing prep work), and ended up using only six of those nametags.  Sure, I can use them again, but I would have liked to have a more relaxing weekend, too.  Life is short.  Why create stress when it’s not necessary.

So this past Monday’s Toddler Storytime will be the last drop-in storytime for that age group.  We’ll have a two week hiatus (Veteran’s Day and school vacation week), then begin our first 6 week session on November 26.  I’ll take sign-ups through the Friday prior.