How exhilarating to read, sing, and dance with such an engaged audience! Any nervousness that I felt before going to the British Infants school melted away once I actually began my storytime. Having seem some of the staff here at Skokie do their storytimes–all of whom did it so naturally and passionately–I knew I had a lot to live up to when I did my own storytime. Each person’s personality shines through their storytimes. I hope that with more practice that storytime will come as naturally to me as our Skokie staff; and then I can shine too. The children a the school were all excited to tell me about their day, about all the bird facts that they knew (since birds was the topic of our storytime), and anything else that popped into their heads. Admittedly, I was not the best at getting them to calm down and listen to the story. I was just as excited as them and wanted to listen to everything they had to say to me. After storytime, some of the children cam up to me and shyly asked if they could hug me and my puppets. That moment reaffirmed my desire to become a Youth Services librarian.
Glad your first story time went well! It will be interesting to hear how you feel as you get more experience.
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Some of my favorite times in storytimes are when the kids are too excited to listen and just want to tell me things about their lives. Being a positive adult in a child’s life, even if only for a little bit of time, is so important! So glad to hear about your first storytime. — Shelley
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Quetzalli,
That sounds like such an amazing (and exhausting) experience! I can imagine that it would not only be hard to get little ones to calm down, but to want to get them to calm down as well. The energy and excitement about reading and learning new things is one of the many joys of entering into this career path.
Lydia M
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I’m sure you did a great job! You are going to make a wonderful children’s librarian!
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If the children were excited to talk *to* you it means they were comfortable *with* you! Thank you for choosing engaging books and preparing to confidently deliver the songs and stories. Here’s to more affirming hugs in the future!
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i think you make a really good point about each person’s personality shining through their storytime. So, it’s a matter of learning the transferable principles that make for a good storytime but also being yourself and considering what makes you unique to also be your strengths. Glad it went well!
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