Young Toddler Child Care Classroom

Ages approximately 12 months to approximately 24 months

Creating a young toddler child care program means understanding that young toddlers continue to grow and develop at an astonishing pace, and that it is important to offer supportive caregivers to help them continue to acquire language and physical skills and become more social. The Children’s Place teachers help young toddlers put words to their emotions so they can begin to understand how to relate to peers and adults. They become aware of their own emotions and begin to think outside themselves, learning how their actions affect others.

In addition to fostering social-emotional development, our early childhood education teachers continue to cultivate language development in the Young Toddler Child Care Classroom. Teachers take careful note of children’s interests and extend that interest by offering words to expand their knowledge. For example, if a toddler is intrigued by a picture of a butterfly, the teacher would point to the picture, and say, “butterfly.” After the child understands, the teacher might add other descriptors, such as “purple” or “pretty.” This approach is effective because a child’s learning is more meaningful when he or she has expressed an interest in something in the first place.

In the Young Toddler Child Care Classroom, teachers begin to introduce the concept of “choice time” to children. At The Children’s Place, we believe that children should be active participants in their learning process. Children are remarkable learners, and it is the teacher’s job to nurture the natural learning process. When children are curious about something, they are more engaged. Choice time not only fosters this type of natural learning, it helps children learn to play independently, think critically, and most importantly, to enjoy and appreciate learning.

View the Toddler Child Care Classroom daily schedule.