Green Grasshoppers
Dear NEEC families,
I refrain from boring you with all seven pages of my educational philosophy from college- that is always expanding anyhow- and share with you my basic philosophies of how to best educate your toddlers in the Green Room.
First and foremost, the children’s interests guide our day. I firmly believe in keeping the children constantly engaged- to increase learning and decrease those undesirable typical toddler behaviors. A rudimentary style of Project Construct is implemented with the lesson plans (always posted outside the door). Basically I take the children’s interests discovered at school and run with it. To mention a few topics- we have “studied” water, trucks, sign language, textures, bugs, tools, climbing, rough textured art and balls. We incorporate the themes in daily activities and conversation. Yes! We conversate with toddlers. How else do they learn language?
I believe that toddlers should explore nature, get dirty, and make messes-BIG messes. I never discourage interests in even the ugliest of bugs. After 30 years I still find beauty in every rock, piece of art, and expression.
For toddlers to learn they must dig right in. Inside our sensory table your children will find water, sand, dirt, rubber mulch, cotton, etc. The sensory table fosters not only their senses, but math, language, and social skills. The sensory activities are where I believe we learn the most.
Language! They are learning not only tremendous amounts of vocabulary, but intonation, tone, and expression. For these reasons, I encourage constant interaction with the learners and positive attitudes from all teachers in the classroom. I also find myself bursting out in song and making up songs to suit the situation. I am surprisingly suited for song!
Overall, the learning in the Green Room is fun, active, and developmentally appropriate. We are learning the most while we discover, play and make disarray!
Jaime Taylor
Lead Teacher