Infant & Toddler Program
Birth - Twelve Months
In the first twelve months after birth, an infant makes miraculous progress. In this relatively short time span, an infant sees her world through her senses. Babies gather information through touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. To help infants mature and learn, caregivers should stimulate but not overwhelm them. The overall goal is not to “teach” your baby but to interact and explore her world with her. Older infants are on the move. They take great pleasure in discovering what they can do with their voice, hands, feet, and toes. Soon they practice rolling skills, crawling, walking, and other great physical adventures. Through “the eyes of a child,” here is what you might expect during the first twelve months.
Our focus in the infant room is caring to basic needs while establishing a foundation of healthy relationships with caregivers. You will see us playing on the floor, singing, and talking with our babies as well as feeding and sleeping routines.
Twelve Months - Two Years
Toddlers are loving, affectionate, and responsive to others. They feel excited when others are excited and sad when others are upset. During this second year of life, toddlers are moving around more, and are aware of themselves and their surroundings. Their desire to explore new objects and people also is increasing. During this stage, toddlers will show greater independence which sometimes leads to defiant behavior. They begin to recognize themselves in pictures or a mirror and imitate the behavior of others, especially adults and older children. Toddlers also should be able to recognize the names of familiar people and objects, form simple phrases and sentences, and follow simple instructions and directions. During this stage of life, your child is beginning to define her/himself and the words “me” and “mine” are toddler favorites.
Our toddler classrooms are designed for children to create their own learning experiences through play. We provide an ever changing assortment of materials which the children can use to explore, create, experience and learn. Our program focuses on activities that spur imagination, exploration, confidence and vocabulary growth. Children at this age are naturally curious and love to explore cause and effect, so it is important that our classrooms keep children safe, yet allow them the opportunity to take some risks.
Two - Three Years
Two year old children have a growing desire to be independent and recognize they are capable of doing many things on their own. They have a growing comfort with risk taking at this age, but still want their caregivers close. Two year-olds experience huge thinking, learning, social, and emotional changes that will help them to explore their new world, and make sense of it.
In our two year old classroom we provide more defined areas of play as children begin to understand the concepts of sorting and classifying. Throughout the classroom, we provide loose parts and other materials that define each learning center. Teachers provide support to help the children navigate emotions, play independently or cooperatively, and communicate with peers.