Developmentally appropriate curriculum in the toddler room incorporates self-help skills, social and emotional well-being, relationship building and risk taking. We begin with building relationships to get to know each child by observing and taking notes. Once relationships develop most children gain confidence and become comfortable in a school setting. The most fundamental need of infants and toddlers is to have close nurturing relationships that help them build a sense of emotional security. Toddlers explore their environments using all their senses, they climb, run, feel, dump, use loud voices, and taste.
Through recognizing and adapting to each child’s individual development, teachers are able to offer learning experiences that are responsive, meaningful, and developmentally attuned to each child. Getting to know each child helps teachers know where individual children are in their development and what things they are interested in, this is a key factor to how we set up our environment. Family members, friends and teachers play an essential role in supporting cognitive development of infants by providing the healthy interpersonal and social-emotional skills to which cognitive development unfolds. Once the environment is set up we encourage independent play, and promote risk taking. We want to empower children to become confident in their skills and language for future educational success.