One-Year-Olds
Young Toddlers
Our toddler programs allow children to engage in daily activities such as outdoor play, exploring the gardens and learning in nature. In the classroom, music and movement as well as self-directed and teacher-directed play is imbedded in our day to promote social emotional development, creative expression, language and motor skills.
Exploring Our World
Toddlers are by nature very busy. Our days include lots of self directed as well as teacher guided play. Our classrooms are always full of a variety of different activities selected with their developmental skills in mind. Our little ones will be exposed to play activities that will develop everything from gross motor, fine motor, memory, problem solving and cognition, as well as early math and literacy concepts.
Outdoor Play and Learning
Our young toddlers love the outdoors and have many opportunities to play and learn outside. Playground time is provided twice daily. Outside time is essential to the children’s physical development. Their little bodies are growing and developing every day as they move from taking their first steps to beginning to climb, crawl, run, jump and balance!
Movement & Music
Toddlers respond very positively to music and research shows it helps establish connections in the brain, for this reason music and movement is a big part of our toddlers day. We are singing and dancing, marching and moving to the beat! We play instruments and wave scarves, blow bubbles and just act silly, all to the sound of our favorite songs!
Unlocking Early Language Skills Through Sign Language
Sign language is incorporated frequently through the day. Oral language is a developmental skill. Children are able to understand and communicate language through sign, much sooner than they can verbalize their thoughts and needs. Sign language helps the child alleviate their frustrations by giving them a means to communicate. This in turns helps create a happier environment and deeper bond between the children and their teachers. Sign language not only gives the child another method of communication, but promotes brain development as well!
Learning to Play & Connect
The toddlers are slowly beginning to learn how to engage with others at this time in life. Social skills are a big focus at this age . Children learn how to play with each other, take turns and work together as a member of a group. Our job as teachers is to reinforce positive interactions through modeling of appropriate behaviors and provide positive affirmations for the desired action. We show lots of affection so the children can learn how to interact with each other in a positive manner.