The purpose of the Toddler Classroom is to provide the opportunity to develop independence, concentration, and self-esteem within a safe environment.  The natural ability of the child to learn is cultivated with a consistent routine in  a secure and orderly setting.

Toddler’s exercises recognize that children learn by doing.  Materials are always accessible, safe and geared for a child’s success.  Del Mar Academy’s Toddler Curriculum includes Practical Life, Motor Skills, Language Skills, Math Skills, Sensorial Skills, Dramatic Play and Art.

Practical Life

Practical life activities encourage the child to take care of the environment with appropriate tools.  The children care for the outside through simple gardening activities and the inside through cleaning up after themselves.  We will also encourage exercises such as pouring, opening and closing, bead stringing and water activities.  These activities are aimed at enhancing the child’s development of fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, balance, sense of order, concentration and independence.

Motor Skills

 The toddler is refining both fine and gross motor skills.  Fine Motor skills are heightened through practical life activities.  Gross Motor Skills are heightened in physical activities like rhythm/music, movement, and outdoor play.

Language Skills

 Around the age of two, children’s speech development experiences an explosion of words soon to be followed by sentences.  Early language materials and oral exercises like storytelling and reading aloud support the toddler’s need to be immersed in language.  Activities include books, puzzles, and naming objects like shapes, animals, and fruits.  Singing and spontaneous conversation time encourage both social and language skills.

Sensorial Skills

 We all learn through our senses, and this is especially true for toddlers who are at the beginning stage of taking in and understanding the world around them.  Sensorial materials include objects for practice with dimension, tactile exercises like rough and smooth, musical instruments, and sorting and shaping.

 Math Skills

 To help prepare the mathematical mind, toddlers are exposed to the world of numbers through counting games and concrete materials.  These exercises encourage the development of important pre-math skills such as order, sequence, and sorting. 

Dramatic Play

Dress-Up Clothes and other dramatic play activities allow(s) the toddler to pretend to be whatever they want to be.  It allows them to use speech and body language while learning empathy and exploring their creativity.

Art

The toddler is able to use various materials to express creativity and to enhance fine motor skills.  Language skills are further reinforced through the child’s description of the art and its personal meaning.