February 2017

The new year has brought several new friends to Celeste.  The children have been learning each other’s names, and like to say hi to one another. As these new friends have been adjusting into school it’s been wonderful to see how welcoming and helpful our toddlers can be.  There has been a lot of offering to get shoes from cubbies, and showing each other how to take deep breaths.  A few of the fine motor activities that the children enjoyed this month included using their pincer grasp to pick up small beads and string them on a pipe cleaner, as well as using a spoon to transfer wooden beads into a frog shaped container.  Counting and working on a one to one correspondence have also been a focus during the month of January.  During circle time there have been lots of requests for counting monkeys and cars!  The pink tower cubes also entered our classroom to help the toddlers of Celeste work on sorting small, medium, and large.  Some children even stacked the cubes from biggest to smallest, and commented on making Frosty the Snowman!  The thoughts and connections being made at the toddler level are always a wonderful thing to witness. 

February is a great month to focus on friendship, and helping the toddlers of Celeste learn how to socialize and work with their peers.  Toddlers don’t quite understand the concept of passing out Valentines, so they will be making a friendship fruit salad together.  The process of making this salad encourages the children to work together on the practical life skills of peeling, stirring, chopping, and serving the salad to one another.  The month also brings in some new works that deal with heart shapes in the form of sorting and gluing them.  The theme of friendship can also spread to our environment and animals, which is all about teaching the children to be respectful and kind just as they are with their friends.  We will venture out on our walks to see the goats, rabbits, ducks, and chickens.  Stopping to visit their environments and learning about how they are cared for.  February is sure to be a great month!