25 Months – 2.9 Years

Lily Pad & Turtles Nest

A Daily Summary

Our curriculum day begins around 9:30 a.m. and revolves around a weekly theme. Activities begin with circle time consisting of stories, finger plays and songs. The day continues with center–based learning that includes art, sensory, blocks, math, science and fine motor activity. Along with these activities choices, children can also play in the dramatic area.

Why choose us?

Clean

All toys are disinfected as they are used and at the end of the day to prevent the spread of germs.

Organized

Located at the door of the Turtles Nest are cubbies and coat hooks for each child. This is where you will find your child's individualized daily note, reports, or any other important information. Daily notes will inform you of your child's day including how often they were changed, how much they ate, and how long they napped. Additionally, your child's teacher may report if your child is running out of his/her supplies.

Safe

With full enrollment this room is staffed with a minimum of 1 teacher and 1 teaching assistant. Both of whom are First Aid/CPR certified.

Knowledgable teachers

This toddler room can accommodate up to 13 children. We chose to license only 9 for this room, thus making a low student teacher ratio. There is ample room for structured activities, as well as running, dancing, jumping, and gross motor games.

Active

The toddler outdoor playground has a large sand area with sand toys, a hard concrete bike trail for riding toys, and a grassy area for climbing structures, running, and kicking balls. With consent, the teacher may prefer to take students on a short walk. Children who are unable to walk are pushed in strollers. We also offer a large indoor play area for those extra cold or rainy days.

What we do

Group Circle

This occurs at the beginning of the day to welcome each child to school. Your child‘s teacher will read a short theme related stories, songs, etc. Children are encouraged to participate in finger plays as well as songs.

Art

Your child will create a project that is relevant to the theme of the week. In this area your child will explore their creativity through the use of markers, paint, glue, and other artistic materials.

Science / Sensory

Toddlers enjoy observing and learning through touch. We have a science/sensory table. This station encourages your child to notice cause / effect, make observations, differentiate between weight and sizes, and allow them to use all of their senses to observe daily happenings (leaves, water, ice, snow, sand, shells, oatmeal, cornmeal, shaving cream, wood shavings).

Math

We teach math to toddlers by teaching them to count a variety of items. Additionally, we also play matching games, classify shapes and objects and begin making patterns.

Fine Motor

Hand / Eye coordination is very crucial at this age. We provide pegs, stringing beads, lacing cards, buttons and crayons for your child to begin using their hand / finger muscles as well as to develop their grasp which will later be used in preschool years to write. Clay and play dough are also used to roll, pound and pull.

Blocks

Toddlers love to build and destroy their hard work; therefore, we provide a block area in the room. Located in this area, we have cars, trucks, legos, cardboard stacking blocks, wooden blocks and soft colored building blocks.

Library

Our center provides a large carpeted area so teachers are able to sit with the children and read stories. We provide a variety of non–fiction as well as fiction stories.

Dramatic Play

Children just love this area and we feel this is their favorite corner! In this area they use their imaginations and creativity. Your child can play with dolls, animals, use kitchen toys or play store and dress up. We often observe the children beginning to role play.

Language

Language is encouraged throughout the day. We ask many open ended questions to encourage verbal skills. We constantly label all objects and items in the classroom. We provide puppets for the children to communicate with as they begin using their verbal skills to converse with one another.

Self Help

During your child‘s toddler years you will notice them become independent. We encourage their independence by allowing them to wash their own hands, feed themselves with utensils, dressing and undressing and learning to drink from a child size cup.

Nap / Lunchtime

Children are assigned their own personal mat, which bleached at the end of every week. Naptime is scheduled from 12:15–2:15 p.m. Lunchtime is at 11:30 a.m.; the center provides a microwave if your child should need food warmed and a refrigerator for snack time juice. We provide two snacks a day; one at 9:30 a.m. and the other at 3:00 p.m.

Diapering

Both the Turtles Nest and Lily Pad include toileting areas. Diapers will be changed frequently throughout the day. Toddlers will be changed mostly standing up in the bathroom area to encourage using the potty. Each of our rooms also include child size sinks for hand washing. Children are required to wash hands before and after snack, lunch, art, and diapering.