Happy Spring Semester Toddler-2 Families!
We are excited for 2021 and these days of winter leading to spring, warmer and safe days heading our way. This newsletter will be a mix of sharing what we have done, what we plan to do and focus on areas of key developments for your toddler turning two!
Weather related information.
Toddler -2 has two scheduled outside times and we will be going outside every day as long as the “Feels Like” temperature is:
· between 10-15 degrees we will go out for a shortened amount of time
· above 15 degrees: our scheduled outside time, 1 hour in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon.
We need to make sure each child has snow boots, snow pants, coat, hats and gloves. This is many pieces of clothing to dress each child. Their independence in getting themselves ready is very helpful to us. Please, continue to encourage them to try to remove their shoes, put on 
snow pants, boots and coats. The children are learning to walk in all the snow gear, they are learning that if they take off the gloves their hands get cold! Sledding down the little hill outside our playground has been a highlight! We have some thrill seekers in our group!
This month we will be focused on the children becoming acclimated to our room and our schedule. Transitions are often hard for the children but keeping our daily schedule, using picture cards and transitional strategies. We are working on independent self help skills such as: taking off shoes, diapers and getting on outside clothing.
The children have done multiple paintings, on the table, on the easel, with brushes, cars and even 
sponges. We have been using blue and yellow a lot so the children are watching the mixing of those two colors creating the green! Speaking of colors the children are finally getting the hang of our Color Shout game, so if you hear them shouting out color names it is our fault! We have noticed an explosion of language happening in our room too! It is amazing to watch the communication between peers and with teachers!
Our curriculum just explodes this semester as the children will be able to attend and engage for longer periods of time. We will be focusing on shapes, colors, numbers, and problem solving, all while offering a good mix of physical play both outside and inside our classroom. We will also include creative and sensory needs the children need at this age. These activities will be provided daily and while it seems like we do a lot of finger paint know that it is about the process not the product!
Social Emotional development is a main focus for this age. These toddlers have big feelings and emotions they don’t quite understand. We will be providing guidance, modeling behavior and assisting with language to express these emotions. Breathing strategies, calming techniques and soothing activities will also help them through this time. We wanted to share a website http://Zerotothree.org that is filled with valuable information, strategies and articles. Each month we will break down some of the Social Emotional information including what you can do at home and we will share what we are doing in the classroom. Watch for handouts above the cubbies. Reminder: Please return ASQ and Welcome Back Forms!
Thank You!
Veronica and Pam
