Every day in our Toddler room is filled with different types of learning that your child’s Educators have intentionally planned to support children’s growth and learning outcomes. From the moment you drop them off to our Educators to the moment your Toddler runs back to your arms with a big smile in the afternoon, your child’s day is enriched by our age-specific 1–3-year-old Early Experiences Curriculum, to ensure every child learns something fascinating and exciting every day.
Curriculum highlights - starting with an obstacle course and mini soccer play!
Based on your child’s developmental milestones, interests, skills and more, our Educators set up the learning environment every morning and afternoon, indoor and outdoor, to ensure your child has a safe and fun environment to explore with curiosity, confidence and imagination. Our Toddler children have been learning hand-eye coordination recently, so today’s outdoor play is set up with an obstacle course and a mini soccer game!
It’s time for some group learning – colour experiments!
We know children learn best when they are interested in a topic, so our Educators observe children’s exploration daily and plan the educational program accordingly. Our Toddler children have been interested in talking about colours, so our Educators have planned some science experiments involving colour mixing, with the intending to extend children’s vocabulary through our language program (inspired by the Abecedarian Approach).
For some children, this experience is about learning the relevant vocabulary and exploring their fascination with colour mixing; for others, it is about the social skills required to participate in this experience, such as cooperation, confidence and learning to share space!
Through imaginative and dramatic play, our Toddler children learn about themselves and the world around them. They create and negotiate roles and narratives, which is when they make comments such as, “My baby is hungry!” or “I am making cake”. Toddlers are extremely observant and attentive to what’s around them, so through our curriculum, we ensure they are provided with the opportunities, time, space and resources to ‘act’ out the behaviours, interactions and scenarios they have previously observed at home and at school to explore their representations of the real world!
Key Learning Moments - Developing independence in everyday routine
Positive hygiene habits are a regular learning topic for our Educators to promote our health and well-being; hence, our children are regularly guided through our handwashing practices through playful songs, such as ‘Rub-a-dub-dub!’ We also learn other ways to care for ourselves, such as having a big sip of water during and after meals for good dental health and taking our shoes and socks off to prepare ourselves for rest time!
Mealtimes are also a time for learning, as our toddlers not only connect with their Educators but also with their friends! Our Educators continue to role-model and nurture social interactions during this time, prompting moments like ‘Cheers! Let’s have a big sip of water!’. The children are equipping themselves with lots of strategies to initiate and engage in sustained, shared interactions. And sometimes, they love to laugh their heads off just because a floret of broccoli rolled off the table!
Our everyday routine provides rich opportunities for children to learn and connect with others. Our Educators intentionally plan a consistent daily schedule to provide our children with a predictable sequence of the day, as it is an important life skill for children to begin recognising patterns of their day and organising their thoughts to make sense of the world around them. Schedules also support children to feel empowered to make decisions throughout their day and develop their independence. As we know, they are, indeed, small bodies with BIG egos!
Everyday Family Interactions
We recognise that our families will always be their children’s first teachers, so despite our expertise with children, there is a lot that we want to learn from you about your child, especially:
- Your child’s home routine and daily morning updates – how did your child wake up this morning? How was their sleep? Is there something we can continue doing for them based on their morning?
- What has your child been interested in recently? Are there any new words, phrases or gestures that would help us understand your child more?
- Have you been to some exciting events, I.e. the zoo, birthday parties, parks or grandparents’ house recently that your child may want to tell us about?
We love partnering with our families to nurture children’s learning and development together, so please feel free to come and chat with us and enjoy reading about your children’s learning on Storypark!