Tumbleweeds
Hello hello!
Thanks for stopping by to check out what we in the Tumbleweeds classroom are all about! These young toddler years are full of explosive growth and it is such a joy to be a witness and guide in the lives of our students during this time. We teachers even find ourselves learning and growing right alongside them!
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 Tumbleweeds 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.
Communication Skills
In Tumbleweeds, our young students’ language skills are beginning to blossom. As a toddler’s receptive language develops, they begin to understand some questions and follow simple directions. They also typically gain about 50 words in their expressive vocabularies over the next year and begin to experiment with stringing these words together in two-word phrases. We find it important to promote this rapid language development by providing an environment rich with literacy through endless read-alouds, songs, and finger plays. Repetition through favorite songs and stories, as well as being familiar with what comes next in a well-known story, builds the confidence needed to try a new word. As a team, we work to keep up a constant dialogue between us and our students in order to provide them with exposure to content-rich language and a model of positive conversation traits. We also employ the use of sign language as another way to communicate with our toddlers, and encourage them to use sign as it gives them the ability to communicate their needs when unable to speak them. Some of the basic signs we focus on with our students include: please, thank you, more, water, milk, drink, eat, no, and so many more.
Social Skills
In this stage of life, learning to become a friend is another thing that separates a toddler from an infant. Turn taking, sharing, parallel play, and - for some - even one-on-one play with a peer are some of the many aspects we work on in our classroom. We work to promote a safe sense of community within our environment through large and small group times. We also focus on helping students know that it's ok and welcomed to let a classmate know that they need space and equipping them with the skills to do this in an appropriate manner. And then, on the other side of that, showing the other toddlers how to respect a person’s request for space.
Identifying various emotions is another key area of social intelligence we build upon. We foster this by building/creating bonds between students and teachers, and connections with peers. We believe that when a child is comfortable in an environment where they feel accepted and cared for by their adults, they will thrive and be willing to spread their wings and fly.
“I Can Do It”
We love teaching these children that they can do it and we believe in them. It can be from the simple act of moving from a sippy cup to a "big kid cup" (open cup), to taking a short walk down the sidewalk. Though they are so very young, we know that if a child is given the opportunity to do more than what is expected of their abilities they will rise to the challenge. Stepping back and allowing them the opportunity to figure it out can truly be an amazing thing to watch. They often surprise us with the problem solving capabilities they hold.
Daily Schedule
6:30 - 8:00 Arrival & free play
8:00 - 8:30 Breakfast
8:30 - 9:00 Free play
9:00 - 9:30 Large motor (outside or Great Hall)
9:30 - 10:15 Small group activities
10:15 - 11:00 Group time & free play
11:00 - 11:40 Lunch
11:40 - 12:30 Free play
12:30 - 2:30 Nap
2:30 - 3:00 Quiet activities
3:00 - 3:30 Snack
3:30 - 3:45 Group time & free play
3:45 - 4:30 Large Muscle
4:30 - 6:00 Free play & planned activities