All Starz Children's Academy

Young Freshmen

 

Approximately 12 to 16 months old

 

Moving from an infant program to a toddler program can be very challenging for young children. Our Young Freshmen room provides the perfect environment for this transition. As young toddlers are learning to walk and gaining independent feeding skills, this room offers the extra space and time they need.

 

The children in our Young Freshmen room are transitioning. They are going from sleeping in cribs to resting on cots, from eating baby food in a high chair to eating finger foods at a table, from drinking with a bottle to sipping from a sippy cup. This room and the educators in it provide a safe and nurturing space for young toddlers to become confident in these new skills.

 

In the Young Freshmen room, there is also more structure to the daily schedule than in the Infant Program. In the infant rooms, children eat, sleep and play on their own schedules. In the Young Freshmen room, there is a routine and schedule that allows for mealtimes, naptime, circle time, outdoor play, art activities, and trips to the indoor gym.

 

The Young Freshmen class introduces the concept of developmentally appropriate “learning centers,” such as blocks, dramatic play, books, music and movement, and manipulatives. This fun and safe environment is conducive to the one-year-old’s desire to discover, explore, and test each new toy. And since sharing is difficult at this age, there are always duplicates of their favorite toys.

 

The Young Freshman to Teacher ratio remains at 4:1, just as in our Infant Program, allowing these young toddlers the opportunity for closely supervised independence. The children in the Young Freshmen room are all about exploring their environment and are so proud of themselves as they accomplish each new task!

 

 

Activities

 

Cognitive activities include:

• Learning body parts

• Identifying animals and making their sounds

• Learning to predict “what comes next”

 

Language activities include:

• Shaking head for “no” and nodding for “yes,” maybe starting to use the words

• Increasing proficiency with sign language, potentially transitioning to spoken words

• Signing or saying “please” and “thank you” at appropriate times

 

Fine motor activities include:

• Learning to feed themselves

• Turning the pages of a book

• Holding a crayon, marker or paintbrush

 

Gross motor activities include:

• Walking

• Throwing balls

• Playing with a parachute

 

Social and emotional activities include:

• Participating in a short circle time with stories, puppets, songs, and flashcards

• Learning to use “gentle hands”

• Identifying friends and greeting each other

 

Independence activities include:

• Helping to clean up toys before naptime

• Retrieving their blanket from their cubby for naptime

• Retrieving their jacket or hat from their cubby for outdoor play

 

 

We look forward to helping your young toddler develop into an adventurous toddler.