Toddlers are busy learning to move their bodies in more coordinated ways, learning language, expanding their social abilities and interests, and learning to control their impulses. Our teachers encourage the toddlers growing need for independence and to verbally express their needs and feelings.
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A Typical Day in our Toddler Classes
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Free Choice Centers- The children are guided in selecting what they want to play with. The teachers observe and interact to extend their play and learning. The teachers read, play, and sing with the children individually and in small groups.
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Table Top Activities- Children choose to participate in table manipulatives such as puzzles, play dough, counting and sorting, and other age-appropriate activities.
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A.M. Snack- Children wash their hands and eat a light morning snack together. They are drinking from open-top cups by November.
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Outdoor Play- Teachers supervise and interact with the children as they explore the playground environment and equipment. Some examples of outdoor activities include sandbox play, climbing and sliding on the age-appropriate play structure, rolling balls, blowing bubbles, building with blocks, etc.
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Free Choice Centers- Free choice centers, as noted above, are offered again following outdoor play and throughout the morning as art, circle time, sensory time, and math activities are also offered.
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Art- The children are offered art activities that encourage individual expression. Often the art activities are an extension of the weekly themes. Some examples of toddler art include painting with their feet (and brushes too), gluing feathers on an owl following the reading of The Littlest Owl by Caroline Pitcher, or just simply coloring or using dot to dot markers as they learn about colors.
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Circle Time- Children participate in a teacher-led group time where they read books, sing songs and dance, learn a finger play or listen to a flannel board story related to the lesson plans.
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Sensory- The children are offered many different types of sensory experiences including sand, water, frozen cubes of ice with penguins hidden inside, leaves, Insta Snow, etc. By experimenting with sensory items, children learn about natural sciences, textures, and measurement.
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Lunch- Children wash their hands and eat as a whole group. The teachers sit with the children and encourage conversation about the day’s events, the foods they are eating today or maybe the night prior, and other things of interest. The main focus of the meal is sitting together and teaching the children to become self-sufficient eaters.
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Math- Puzzles, unit blocks, pattern and matching games, beads, and counters are just some of the resources that allow our children to have many hands-on opportunities to explore quantity, size, and shape.
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Story Time- The teacher will read books to the children prior to the half-day departing. The children are also welcome to choose books from the library to read on their own.
The Full Day Schedule continues as follows:
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Rest Time- The children are provided a rest/quiet time beginning at 1:30. Sleepers are given the opportunity to sleep until at least 3:00 or until they wake on their own. Non-sleepers are provided a quiet time where they rest their bodies for at least a half-hour and then are allowed to participate in quiet activities.
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PM Snack- Children wash their hands and eat a light afternoon snack together.
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Free Choice Centers- The children are guided in selecting what they want to play with. The teachers observe and interact to extend their play and learning. The teachers read, play, and sing with the children individually and in small groups.
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Outdoor Play- Teachers supervise and interact with the children as they explore the playground environment and equipment. Some examples of outdoor activities include sandbox play, climbing and sliding on the age-appropriate play structure, rolling balls, blowing bubbles, building with blocks, etc.
