A Lot to Love

January was a wonderful month of focus and concentration in the Celeste classroom.  The toddlers enjoyed working with some new materials for counting, sorting, and language.  Some of the favorite works were sorting elephants that were small, medium, and large sizes.  They also loved counting snowmen while using tongs to place them in a sorting tray.  Identifying different parts of a train, and sorting colored pegs was a favorite as well.  It’s been a joy to capture some of these moments in pictures or videos, and share them with everyone through Bloomz.  
 
The month ended with a long-awaited celebration of the opening of the sandbox on our toddler playground.  The children anxiously watched as our maintenance crew worked on completing the project.  They were excited to see them cutting wood, hammering nails, and using wheelbarrows to fill the sandbox with sand.  The moment that Mr. Ryan lifted the gate the toddlers have loved playing in the sand.  We’ve filled the sandbox with pots and pans, ladles, muffin tins, and cake molds.  Lots of pretend cakes and muffins have been the talk of the playground.  
 
February brings Valentine’s Day, and an occasion to celebrate our friendships’ with one another.  Toddlers don’t quite understand the concept of passing out Valentines, so they will be sharing a friendship fruit salad instead.  This allows the toddlers to work on chopping, peeling, stirring, and serving one another fruit.  Some new works will also be brought into the classroom that revolve around heart shapes include sorting colored hearts, using tongs to transfer some wooden hearts, as well as hanging some heart bracelets on a horizontal post.  
 
The end of the February will hold a parent night focusing on how to deal with difficult behaviors for infants and toddlers.  This will be a great opportunity to build a stronger connection between home and school.  This is also a nice time to chat with other parents, and share stories and get support.  

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