Toddler 1 February Newsletter - Child Development and Family Center

Hello Toddler 1 families!

The Spring 2020 semester is off to a great start with the five new practicum students in our classroom and all of our friends back for another semester. Ajoke (JoJo), Nick, and Sarah are our morning interns, and Samantha (Sam) and Tania are our afternoon interns. We also welcomed a new child to our classroom and we are excited to have Rakan join us.

Manners

In the first couple months of the semester, the children have been using manners in the classroom a lot more. The teachers have been encouraging the use of ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ ‘excuse me,’ and voicing when the children need their space. The children have started to pick up on these habits and have begun using appropriate words in the correct situations.

Self-Care and Independence

Our children have also started caring more for themselves and others in the classroom. After meals, they have begun carrying their own dishes to the sink and have been utilizing the mirror by the children’s sink to wipe their faces. Any spills that they may have made from drinking from an open cup, they have helped cleaned up with a paper towel. We have been encouraging them to pull their own pants up and down when going to the bathroom as well. All of these are great ways to help promote their independence.

Loretta using the mirror to wipe her face after a meal.

Helpful Friends

Their consideration for others continues to grow this semester. We have a handful of children that frequently ask for paper towels to help wipe the tables off after teachers have sprayed them with soapy water. Many children have been giving hugs to children that are crying, rubbing their backs, and asking if they are okay. Some even go as far as getting ice packs for children that are hurt and bringing it to the child. They have started to learn whose shoes belong to whom and have brought the shoes to the right child after coming in from outside. Some of our friends help children wake up after nap and then assist the child with putting on their shoes and socks. We definitely have a class of helpers!

Skylar, Loretta, Dakota, and Natalie helping wipe the table after soapy water was sprayed on it.

Physical Activity

We are able to go outside on days when the temperature is 15 degrees or above, including the windchill. On the days when we have to stay inside, we have been having lots of dance parties, spending time in the Large Motor Room in the afternoons, and bringing the outside into our classroom. We have brought snow into the classroom and we have painted with colored ice cubes. When it has been warm enough to go outside, the sled has been very popular. When the sled was first introduced, the teachers were pulling the children around on the sled. When children weren’t able to sit on the sled to be pulled because it was too full, they began helping the teacher pull the other children. Eventually, they began wanting to pull the sled by themselves!