The toddler room has eight 1 and 2 year-old children with two teachers. Most mornings they separate into two groups of four, each with one teacher. The small groups make it easier for these young children to explore, negotiate, and communicate. A playground specifically designed for very small children is used exclusively by the toddlers.
The Toddler curriculum is:
- Designed to stimulate the children’s development across all domains.
- Responsive to each child’s individual developmental needs.
- Based on developmentally appropriate materials and best practices.
The Toddler teachers:
- Nurture each child in response to the child’s emotional needs.
- Encourage children to explore materials and the environment through demonstration.
- Help children develop the capacity to trust people, to feel secure when away from home and with people other than family members.
- Enrich children’s language development through books and songs, and by providing appropriate words for the children, like, “Help, please!”
The children will:
- Use play as a foundation for exploring, learning about others and the world, and finding delight.
- Enjoy people, both adults and children; be sensitive to others and a develop the capacity to interact effectively.
- Develop a curiosity about the world.
- Develop a sense of oneself as an important person who is cared about and who has an effect on the world.
- Comprehend language and events, and begin to express oneself in an understandable way.
- Gain self-help skills that instill qualities of independence.