Older Toddlers

Older Toddlers Unit

 

In our older toddler unit, we have fun and play while we work on the children’s self-sufficiency. Older toddlers learn to put on and take off their own coat, put on their own shoes, clean up their eating area as well as dress themselves. We also are working on potty training where the children learn to pull down their own pants and take off their own wet diaper before being given the option of sitting on the potty. Importantly, potty training is very much a child – driven accomplishment. There is no time when it starts or ends. The teachers are here to support older toddlers as well as the family during this learning adventure.

Our curriculum is based on FrogStreet Early Childhood Curriculum which is a framework for setting individual goals for the children, setting up a learning plan, implementing the plan, and then using observations to assess how well the children are progressing. Our goals are based around helping the children to become the best they can be.

We focus on developing:

    • Physical skills: large motor skills like walking, running, and jumping as well as small motor skills like zipping zippers, using forks and spoons, or drawing with a marker.

    • Social–emotional skills: how to be a good friend and how to use our words to convey what we want.

    • Cognitive skills: understanding the world and developing positive approaches to learning.

    • Literacy skills: learning about letters, words, and books.

    • Math skills: learning about numbers and counting.

 

Our ultimate goal is to help the children to become confident about themselves so when they get to school, they are ready to learn.

 

Poppies Room

Sunflowers Room

Sweet Peas Room

 

Andrea, Older Toddlers Unit Lead Teacher

Hello, my name is Andrea.  I have been working at The Learning Gardens since August 2011. I have my Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology with a Clinical Counseling Concentration from Edgewood College.  I also have my Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction teaching license. I was previously a nanny for seven years, a lead teacher for the YMCA after school program, and I taught and designed my own art classes for two years at the Maple Bluff Village Center.  I look forward to having you and your child as a part of the Poppy classroom!