Waterfall
Hey there!
So you’re interested in learning more about the Waterfall community? Then you’ve come to the right place! Two and three year olds are entering into a very exciting, and sometimes challenging, time of growth. As teachers in this classroom, we work to come alongside each child right where they are at and facilitate their learning and development.
Below, you can view images of our classroom environment, read up on a few of the many things we focus on during a child’s time in the Waterfall community, and view our daily schedule. Please note: our schedule is very flexible and subject to change based on the students’ day-to-day needs and interests.
Fostering Independence
As toddlers get older, they begin the ever-growing search for autonomy. Understanding this desire for greater independence, we focus on building useful problem solving skills, encouraging our students to try everything on their own first and to continue their efforts even when it is hard or their plan doesn’t work the first time around. As a team, we are always following the students’ lead to tell us what they are interested in exploring further and adjust our plans accordingly. And finally, we ensure that the environment is set up so that all classroom materials are accessible to all children, allowing for full independence in their work as they move through the day.
Conflict Resolution
This is the time in a young child’s life when they start to engage in “social play”, meaning they play with their peers, and not just alongside them. With this higher level of engagement comes uncharted relationship territory as they explore ways to build up these new connections. However, two- and three-year-olds are highly egocentric thinkers. Not to be confused with selfishness, young children are still developing the ability to view the world from other perspectives. Expressive language at this age, though growing exponentially, is still fairly limited and can lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings between children.
Enter: conflict. Social conflict between kids (and all humans beings) is inevitable. We do not aim to create an environment where our students will never experience conflict. Rather, we work to help them develop important skills so that when they are faced with a difficult situation involving their peers, they feel ready to respond in a successful way. Research shows that children carry the patterns of conflict management they learned at two and three years old with them into adulthood. It is imperative that we start this work early, so that we can help build a generation of people with strong self-awareness, emotional regulation, self-advocacy, and communication skills.
Toilet Learning
Many parents are concerned at this stage about toilet learning, which often (though not always) happens in the Waterfall classroom. It is our goal to partner with families in order to help make the acquisition of this new skill as smooth as possible. In our classroom, we intentionally use a low-stakes, non-rushed, positive approach with all children. While we encourage them to sit on the toilet, we never force children who are not yet in underwear to try. In our experience, this process is most successful - and is the best experience for both children and parents - when prompted by interest first expressed by the child.
Daily Schedule
6:30 - 8:00 Drop off (wash hands upon arrival) . Area time
8:00 - 8:30 Hand washing & breakfast
8:30 – 9:20 Free-choice work time
9:20 - 9:30 Morning Meeting
9:30 - 10:00 Small groups
10:00 - 11:00 Large motor (Outside or Great Hall)
11:00 - 11:10 Whole group
11:10 - 11:45 Hand washing & lunch
11:45 - 12:30 Free-choice work time
12:30 - 2:30 Nap & quiet book time
2:30 - 3:30 Quiet book time . . Free-choice work time
3:30 - 4:00 Hand washing & snack
4:00 - 4:30 Area time
4:30 - 5:15 Large motor (Outside or Great Hall)
5:15 - 6:00 Free-choice work time