Toddlers and 2-Year Old Programming
"I'm just a kid, I have a lot of stuff to do yet."
~ Clint Eastwood
Our commitment to quality care continues in our Toddler and 2-year old rooms. Children at this age are eager learners who energetically interact with materials and people. We at the center realize that an environment and curriculum that encourages each child's growing need of independence is a basis for developing and mastering life skills and a positive self esteem. By playing in both large and small groups, these children will learn valuable social skills needed to effectively interact with others. While engaging in fun activities toddlers and 2-year olds will discover their likes and talents and will be exposed to fundamentals such as: colors, shapes, self-help skills, as well as social and language development.
Children under the age of 2 years old will have a notebook system for direct communication with their teacher(s). In this notebook the teacher will log the daily activities, feedings and the rest times of your child. Parents will be asked to list pertinent information that will ensure the individualized schedule of each child is up-to-date, to inculde but not limited to: the last time your child ate, slept and was changed, as well as mood and sleeping patterns of the night before. Parents of 2-year olds will find daily information posted in the Parent Area of the room.
Arts for Kids has an individualized program for the needs of children ages of
6-weeks to 2-years old.
All children will have individual contact and attention through feeding, diapering and learning experience.
Each child will follow their individual routine of feeding and sleeping set by their home environment.
The children will be provided with equipment to fit their educational development and creative expression appopriate to their age level.
Daily communication with parents:
~ A notebook for each child under two years of age will be sent home with parents summarizing child's activities.
Parents will bring back notebook with information for teachers.
Staff will ensure that throughout the day infants will be moved into different activities.
Potty Training Policy
If parents and the center are in agreement that a child is developmentally ready, Arts for Kids will begin to encourage potty training at age 2.
At 2-1/2 years old age, regular potty training is part of our daily program and routine. Children will be encouraged to wear pull-ups or underwear (depending on progress) and have plenty of extra pull-ups or underwear on hand. They will be taken to the bathroom every 2 hours (possibly more often at the beginning). If a child is wearing underwear, they will be put in a pull-up or diaper for naps, unless completely trained. We will use lots of praise for a "job well done" and lots of understanding when "accidents happen" if a child has a rough day.
Sometimes potty training can happen overnight and sometimes it can be a long process - we just need to have a lot of patience.
December 2024 News!
Toddler I
Hello Everyone,
Hope everybody had a relaxing fun Thanksgiving. Our class had fun doing Thanksgiving artwork.
We made footprint turkeys (I loved it when they giggled when I painted their feet)!
They turned out really cute! We learned a song that goes like this: “Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey, run away, run away if you are not careful you will be a mouthful on Thanksgiving day”.
I made a turkey puppet using a glove and I glue feathers on it and google eyes! They seem to enjoy it! They want to pick the feathers off! LOL! We practiced gobbling like turkeys and dancing
like turkeys too. We made really neat Family trees during Family Week. We used our arm (traced for the trunk), handprints on the tree for the leafy part, and glued hearts on with family names. This was a weeks art project; we added something new each day.
We want to welcome Maleni to our class. She is new to Arts for Kids. I had her brother Luca in my classroom three years ago! Our friends welcomed her and have been playing really nice with her.
During the month of December we will be getting ready for Christmas! We will be making presents for moms and dads! Merry Christmas!
God Bless you all,
Karen, Morgan and Marwa
Toddler II
Happy December!
It’s hard to believe that it’s the end of the year already. Last month we celebrated Thanksgiving and made lots of fun crafts. This month please be sure that your child has any cold weather items they may need such as hat, gloves, boots, jacket, and snow pants.
Thanks,
Ms. Kenzie and Ms. Tina
Toddler III
Hello families!
I cannot believe we are in the last month of 2024! It has been such an amazing year, and I’m sure 2025 will be just as great! We have a lot of fun things going on in December. The center will most likely be doing a dress-up week the week before Christmas, and I would also like to do a Christmas party, so keep an eye out for messages with details.
Some themes I would like to focus on this month are: Snow, Winter, Family, Christmas, and New Year’s.
As always, please have weather-appropriate clothes in cubbies. Also, be prepared for snow! We do go outside every day in the winter as long as it is warm enough; snow gear will be needed!
Any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me!
Happy Holidays!!
Ms Erica
2's I
Merry December!
I can’t believe we are in December already! The year just flew by. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Our themes last month were: Healthy Habits, Football/Sports, Transportation, and Thanksgiving.
The kiddos enjoyed the Thanksgiving meal we had on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
My kiddos are working on using a spoon, sharing, drinking out of a regular cup, gentle touches, and potty training. Please be working on these things at home as well.
Our themes this month are: Gingerbread Man, Hot Cocoa/Holiday Treats, 2 weeks of Christmas, and then New Years!
Parents, please make sure your child brings a coat everyday. It is getting cold outside and we do go outside twice a day zero degrees and above.
Please check your child’s cubby for artwork and important paperwork. If you have any questions or concerns please message me on the parent app or personally.
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and New Years! I’m excited to see what next year will bring for the kiddos and me. Have a great month and Happy New Year!
Thank you,
Ms. Ashley
2's-II
Welcome to the last month of 2024 in 2sII!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with their families. We learned a lot last month by doing a lot crafts, large motor activities, and cognitive activities. The first month we learned all about our emotions. We made happy, sad, and mad faces. We used our eye-hand coordination skills to peel and stick stickers onto paper and we made a special treat. The children used their listening skills to make pancake and Nutella happy faces. We talked about the things we can do when we are sad and mad like stomp our feet, ask for a hug, or take a break. The following week we all had fun with our music week. We used our creativity to make music and used popsicles sticks to make art. We got to make a treat this week as well. We tried making a xylophone with crackers, frosting, and M&Ms, but the kids ended up putting the M&Ms everywhere lol. The next week our theme was all about transportation. We used our listening ears to make a yummy boat treat, being very patient and following directions. We loved driving the race cars down the paper with paint. The last week we got to celebrate thanksgiving by doing fun Turkey activities. We enjoyed the feathers and rice in the sensory bin and we loved playing ring toss on the Turkey cone. This month our themes will be snow/winter, gingerbread/hot cocoa, Christmas, and the New Year. The weather this month will get colder so please bring the appropriate gear for the kiddos. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with their loved ones. As usual if you ever have any questions/concerns please don’t hesitate to tell me.
Ms. Laura
2's-III
Hello All and welcome to December in 2’s III! It is hard to believe that we are at the end of the year already!
We have been working hard and having fun learning through play as last month we learned about Our Emotions, World Nursery Rhymes, Ways to travel, and Thanksgiving.
We worked on our language and social skills as we answered the question of the day and talked about things like how we feel, things about our favorite nursery rhymes, how we travel to school, foods we like to eat, and what kind of things we are thankful for. We sang our favorite songs, learned some new ones, learned some sign language, and listened to many books read to us. As we learn to communicate with others, you may hear us say “no, thank you, I don’t like that” or “that’s mine, please give it back”. We are also working on letting our friends know when we are frustrated, mad, or sad through words rather than pushing, hitting, or biting and are working on “making it better” through gentle touches like hugs or back pats when we make a friend sad through our actions.
We also built on our large and small muscle skills by having dance parties, doing yoga, driving cars carpet roads or through shaving cream, playing social games like tag, ring around the rosie and row your boat, marching, jumping, and doing art. Our art projects included painting, gluing, coloring, play dough, stickers, and even food!
Our eye-hand coordination and thinking skills were built by exploring sand and water, playing with puzzles and doing tracing, sorting, and matching activities. We built with Lego blocks, made pretend meals, and played with boats, cars, and trucks.
This month we will continue to work on our social, language, and motor skills as we do a variety of winter and holiday activities that incorporate all five of our senses.
As always, I am available to answer any questions you may have about your child or what we are working on. Feel free to message me on Lillio or leave a note!
Have a wonderful month and Merry Christmas!
Ms. Sara B. and 2’s III
