We have spent the first few weeks getting to know each other.  At around 18 months, there are changes in cognitive skills that help real friendships blossom.  Toddlers become more consciously aware of themselves and others.  Even when toddlers are playing side by side, without much interaction, they are still picking up play behaviors from one another.  These shared experiences help toddlers gain the play vocabulary they will need when they begin to play with friends.  We try to foster an environment that invites interaction, observation, as well as parallel play.  As teachers, we play alongside the children giving them simple words and vocabulary to help facilitate communication.  It has been so fun fun to watch the toddlers begin to bond.  We look forward to a year full of friendships.

Who said learning couldn’t be fun?

Welcome to the 2016-2017 Creative Tots Toddler Classroom! We are so excited to have so many wonderful friends, old and new, in our class this year. This was our first full week of school, and being at school for the first time can be tough for friends as young as ours, but they all did SO wonderfully! We just know this is going to be an excellent school year. We know that you, toddler parents, are curious about what happens in your child’s day at school. On our blog you will find weekly updates about what happens in the toddler classroom. In the coming weeks, we will be posting about our daily schedule, and you can get a feel for what our mornings look like. For the first couple of weeks, we wanted all of our friends to get very familiar with their new surroundings. They are already learning about sharing, using their words, and how to clean up their messes!

Below you can see a rough structure of our day. Our toddlers are already learning how to transition from one activity to the next. This helps foster a sense of independence, once they know what to expect as they get more and more used to the schedule of our day.

Center Time/Free Play

Whole Group Story Time

Outside Play

Small Group Time

Snack

Art/Discovery Bins

Music & Movement

We hope you enjoy seeing your children grow and develop through these pictures throughout the school year. We cannot wait to see how they thrive! 🙂