Twos

Our two year old program is designed to begin introducing important preschool fundamentals to your child through a variety of different activities. A daily lesson plan is posted in the classroom for your review.The weekly themes promote independence through child centered and teacher directed activities throughout the day. Self-help skills such as eating skills, potty training, hand washing, and independently cleaning up are among the skills taught in this room. Each child is sent home with a daily report that explains toileting, eating, and rest time.

The program introduces children to circle time activities including calendar, weather, counting, story time, and songs. The age appropriate activities in this classroom promote taking turns, cooperating, sharing, and expressing feelings in appropriate manner.

Two year old’s are a busy group – physically and verbally! Our program fosters the critical relationship building that occurs at this age, supporting intellectual and social development.

Encouraging Curiosity and Play
Manipulative toys are used to promote eye-hand coordination. Teachers emphasize daily routines and social interaction through small and large group activities.

Fostering Awareness in Two Year Old’s
Teachers organize socio-dramatic play activities so children can dress-up and role-play. This develops new skills, such as problem-solving, self-care routines and conversation. Children are frequently read stories to build listening skills and are often asked to repeat the stories to develop memory recognition.

Your Two Year Old’s day will consist of indoor playtime, outside playtime, teacher directed/child directed activities, naptime and mealtimes. Two year old activities include the following:

• Language
• Music Time
• Art Time
• Water and Sand Play
• Story Time
• Gross Motor Activities

The skills and concepts we will work on will be numbers, colors, shapes, fine motor skills, language arts and weather. We incorporate circle time into the day to develop listening and learning skills. We recognize the importance of providing a variety of different activities to reinforce these skills in a consistent manner to keep your two year old engaged in learning and having fun.

Items You Will Need

• At least two extra outfits – Including pants or shorts, shirts, and socks
• At least one blanket – To be taken home on Fridays to be washed
• At least two crib sheets – To be taken home on Fridays to be washed
• child safe scissors
• 6 pack large size crayon
• pencil box
• Diapers/wipes
• water bottle/sippy cup (water only)
• Googly eyes
• Play dough
• stick glue
• backpack
• 2 inch mat
• Several family pictures

Developmental Milestones for the Twos

Toddler Time Social Development

• Enjoys singing and trying to copy finger plays with others.
• Greets familiar people.
• Engages in simple games in small groups.
• Helps with clean-up activities when prompted.
• Takes turns when prompted.
• Gives attention to stories for 5 minutes or more.
• Copies adults and peers.
• Understands “mine”, “his”, “hers” and “yours”.

Cognitive Development

• Attempts to draw faces.
• Understands what “one” and “two” means.
• Can name familiar objects.
• Counts to three by rote.
• Classifies objects by general categories.
• Counts up to 3 objects.
• Beginning to identify colors.
• Knows own gender.

Emotional Development

• Able to recover quickly after transitions or changes in routines.
• Separates from parent easily.
• Sows wide range of emotions.
• Can dress and undress self.
• Shows affection for family and friends without prompting.
• Shows concern for a friend who is crying.

Physical Development:
Large/Gross Motor Skills

• Runs easily.
• Pedals a tricycle.
• Balances on one foot for 2-3 seconds.
• Can hop on one foot at least one time.
• Walks up and down stairs alternating feet.

Physical Development: Small/Fine Motor Skills

• Beginning to draw vertical and horizontal lines.
• Beginning to draw circles.
• Builds with blocks and other building toys using at least 6 blocks or toys.
• Can work toys that have buttons, moving parts and levers.
• Draws or copies two lines that cross.
• Puts together 4 piece (or larger) puzzles.

Communication and Language Development

• Gives own first name and age.
• Follows 2 step directions without distraction.
• Beginning to understand “in”, “on”, “under”.
• Can name familiar objects.
• Has conversations consisting of 2-3 sentences.
• Can name friends and family members.
• Uses pronouns in conversations (I, me, we, you) and some plurals (dogs, cats, etc.)
• Can be understood 75% of the time by strangers.

Creativity Development

• Beginning to take on characteristics and actions of role play.
• Can pretend with imaginary objects.
• Uses language for creating and sustaining plots during play.

Potty training (24 to 36 months)
Potty training is one of the milestones parents look forward to the most—no more diapers! But keep in mind that the age when kids are ready for it varies widely. Signs that it may be time:

• Your child peers down at her diapers, grabs them, or tries to pull them off when they’re soiled; or she squats or crosses her legs when she needs to go. These actions show that she’s mature enough to understand how her body works.
• She shows an interest in things that are potty-related—wanting to watch you go to the bathroom or talking about pee-pee or poo-poo.

If these apply to your child, and she can get on and off the toilet and pull her pants down, then give toilet training a shot. Help her associate the about-to-go sensation with using the potty. As soon as you notice the usual signs, give a quick prompt like “Let’s use the potty” as you guide her toward it.

Learning empathy (24 months)
At this age, toddlers may begin to make the first connections between their own feelings and behavior and those of other people. This is the foundation for interacting with others and building friendships. To help your child’s developing empathy:

• Don’t try to fix it when he feels bad. Help your child learn to cope by identifying his emotions for him—whether he’s sad because his favorite toy broke or someone else is crying—and reassure him that it’s okay to feel the way he does.
• Watch your own emotions. Don’t be shy about telling your child when you’re angry, sad, or disappointed—but make sure that you’re not overreacting to the situation, which can make your child feel anxious or scared.