Although I have tinkered with my method of teaching parent & child classes in minor and significant ways over the past decade, in recent years I have consistently offered what strives to be an age appropriate puppet show after a series of gesture games and right before snack. "The Flower in Bloom," tends to elicit such an enthusiastic response from infants and toddlers that I present it as a spring puppet show year after year. A number of you would have seen this last spring ("The flower in bloom is waiting, is waiting for whom . . . The beetle child . . . and soforth." I will send words to verses and songs once the class roster is settled).
Before its debut as a puppet show in my classes, "The Flower in Bloom" was and is a hand gesture game composed by Wilma Ellersiek. Because my nursery children seem so enchanted and transported and present and delighted by this gesture game presented just as a hand gesture game--that is, with my hands representing the beetle, the butterfly, and the bee--I want to see what is like if for the first two or three weeks, I present this in our Friday class as part of the pre-snack medley without the use of puppets. Perhaps there will be revolution and I will bring the puppets in week 2. Perhaps I will wait 2 or more weeks; I will bring the puppets at some point.
Please help by treating this as a normal part of the routine; no preview or explanation needed. Let's let it be a surprise (hopefully a pleasant one) when the puppets appear as if out of the blue one week. You might observe your child or other children over the coming weeks. I'd be interested if you notice a different affect or expression on their faces with hands or puppets. Thank you for your flexibility.
We will of course share soup and bread. And, it being spring, start dancing the Maypole.
With appreciation,
William
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