A Peek Into The Toddler Environment

Practical life - which consists of materials that allow the child to learn the skills needed to care for themselves and the environment.

The dropper work teaches the child how to use a dropper while strengthening his tripod grip. This fine motor skill will be helpful when he is holding a pencil and writing.

Hand washing, the way our pioneers washed, helps the child build concentration. It helps them follow a pattern of steps to complete a task.

The child has an innate need for order. This child has learned to clean up after herself utilizing tools that are just her size.

This child is cleaning his table which uses his whole body to accomplish the task. The excitement of a clean table is reward enough.

Being able to polish the decorative objects in the environment gives the child the skills to help beautify their surroundings. This helps the child notice the beauty in the world in their everyday surroundings. The child follows individual steps to complete the work while building concentration.

 Fine Motor

Nut and bolt work strengthens the hand and gives the child more opportunity to build concentration.

Language

The language work can be done on an individual basis or in a small group. As an individual material it consists of matching an object to an object, the object to a picture, or matching a picture to a picture. As a group, discussion can be had about each object and their characteristics, what they may be used for, where the child might find them, and many other types of discussion. Usually a small group increases in size with the natural curiosity of the children wanting to see what is being discussed (as you can see in the two photographs above).

Art and Music

The children are free to express themselves through song and movement utilizing different instruments.

Different art mediums such as painting, gluing, stamping, and play-dough are accessible for the children to create their own masterpieces.