Dance Wave "Toddler Time"

Gaia and I went back to Dance Wave to try "Toddler Time". "Toddler Time" is a class for 12-20 month olds. (Dance Waves's Busy Babies is for 9-12 months).

The director of Dance Waves recognized me from the Busy Babies class and she asked me if I liked it. I said, "The yoga mats aren't enought cushion for babies 9-12 months and since my daughter is a crawler, circle time for her wouldn't be in a circle until she learns what a circle is." I told her that I was looking forward to trying "Toddler Time".

"Toddler Time" is taught by Juli Greenberg. The class began with writing and handing out name tags to the parents and children. One toddler fell asleep in its stroller. Juli told the mom to park her baby in the corner. The mom put the baby in the corner next to the stereo and giant speakers.

Juli placed colorful plastic circles on the wooden floor for the parents to sit on with their babies/toddlers. The babies/toddlers liked to pick up the circles and put them in thier mouth. Juli walked over the the stereo and turned on the the music. The volume level was unfortunately set very high. The mother of the sleeping baby ran to her sleeping child in the stroller and strolled him to the other side of the room. The baby didn't wake up at all!

Juli sang a few songs. Some of the songs were familiar. Juli sang "Shake Your Sillies Out" by The Wiggles. Juli had the parents walk the babies/toddlers in a circle until I broke a sweat. She was into parents moving as much as the babies/toddlers. As the mother's/caregivers danced around the room, some babies pointed to the toys on the shelf and wanted to play with them. A baby was so eager to play with a toy that she found a pair of shoes and played with those until her mother put them high up on the shelf. Juli read a story about a frog and played with a puppet frog and the children liked that. The children walked up to Juli and pointed to the pictures in the book. One toddler knocked over a baby and the baby hit the back of head on the wooden floor. The mother of the toddler did not say sorry and whispered to her friend, "She barely touched her."

Toward the end of the story, some children were tackling each other and one girl spun around and fell hard on the wooden floor. Juli told the parents that children shouldn't wear socks while in class.

The class ended with a get-to-know-you session. The parents introduced themselves. Juli ended the class by saying that this was her first time working child this age group (12-20 months) and that would be a learning experience for her.