May 8, 2020

How do we inspire our toddlers? We make learning fun, respect them as young learners and explorers, and convey our passion for the subjects we teach. Each child is a unique learner and has a different learning pace. It is essential to provide them time and opportunity to absorb information-how they process information helps us as teachers how to navigate our curriculum. We both enjoy teaching and watching them grow and develop in all aspects: physical, language, social/emotional, and cognitive.

Aria’s spider!

Janet’s spider inspired it!

Language/Cognitive/Literacy/Fine Motor Skills

The children listened to a story about a cloud, Little Cloud by Eric Carle. I asked the children to draw their clouds and to answer the below questions:

How would your cloud look?

What can it do?

Where is it going?

Asking questions as they draw helps them to begin using their imagination, creativity, and language. Writing their words enables them to understand that their words are essential, and each letter and word mean something.

Color/Creativity/Geometric Shape

Each child displays their techniques. Using materials that once had another purpose can be recycled to create art.

The children squirt some paint at the center of the paper and some droplets on each side. Then they folded and pressed the paper. They observed their painting as they unfolded, and formulated an idea of what it is or what it looks like to them. Creating art expands a child's ability to interact with the world around them and provides a new set of skills for self-expression and communication.

In the video, as Annabelle unfolded and observed her painting, she said, “Big Turtle!”

Teagan’s colors were at the center of her paper, and as she folded and unfolded the paper, she created a butterfly.

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Science/creativity/cognitive

Drawing with light and shadow is such an easy and yet fun activity for young kids. It helps them recognize and understand several important concepts in physics. By observing the different (funny) shapes created by sunlight at a different time of the day, children may even become more creative!

When an object is placed in the light's path, the part of the light that reaches the object will be blocked while the rest of the light keeps going. The blocked part becomes a shadow on another object (in this case, the paper).

Some great questions to ask the children: Does the shadow stay the same? Are the shadows the same size or smaller than the toys? -When you rotate the toys, what happens to the shadows?

Teagan appeared intrigued as she pointed a flashlight to see the shadows of her toys, and with her parents' help, she was able to see the shadows with more clarity. She seemed curious about the hippopotamus shadow. She observed and focused on its outline and appeared to have traced the outline.

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Our Virtual Class

We are providing a variety of fun learning activities!

We are always happy to see and speak to Ophelia and her parents and see her sister Juliette. Ophelia builds and rebuilds different structures of Magna-tiles, one of her favorites things to do.

Magna- tiles are versatile learning manipulatives that are developmental and strengthen motor skills, including pincer grip, which is so crucial to fine motor development control. These magnetic building tiles are innovative, colorful, learn basic shapes and patterns. They foster critical developmental skills, imaginative play, and creativity. Magna-tiles vary in shapes to build and rebuild different structures. The unique pieces engage Ophelia in in-depth investigations.