L.E.A.P.® Curriculum
for Twaddlers
Our approach to education for twaddlers (2 to 2 1/2 years old)
Twaddlers still have the need to explore, but with far more to learn and experience—while still having lots of fun! Up until now, most of the play with infants and toddlers has been independent. To get twaddlers more accustomed to social participation, we start each morning with group circle time.
This stage also marks the beginning of a child’s potty-training journey. Our staff frequently asks each child if they have to go to the restroom, and then guides them through the process. Before you know it, you have a potty-trained child.
Our curriculum helps twaddlers explore, and it nurtures their increasing need to communicate. By this point in their early childhood development, twaddlers have expanded their language skills, and our curriculum helps to enhance their ability to communicate verbally.
What our curriculum for twaddlers includes
- Daily circle time to encourage social participation and verbal communication skills.
- Interactive play, music, and dance.
- Manners and etiquette lessons that teach the importance of sharing and kindness.
- Outdoor time encourages social engagement in plenty of fresh air and sunshine.
- Age-appropriate exercises keep twaddlers active and on the move.
- Self-help skills such as washing hands and picking up after themselves to foster social assimilation.
- Introduction to potty training with the help of our loving educators and caregivers.
Our programs for twaddlers
Manners and etiquette
We make manners for older toddlers the foundation of kindness and good behavior
The children are saying “please” and “thank you,” but also going above and beyond to act out kindness with their peers, by learning to say nice and encouraging things. Our proprietary character puppets are a great tool for the children, such as Penny Polite® who helps re-enact good manner scenarios. Our Manners Readers explore a variety of etiquette situations, including talking on the telephone, behaving well in a restaurant and in public, refraining from name calling and treating their peers with respect. This is a wonderful way to prepare them for the real world and build a foundation for good citizenship as they start to learn about the meaning of philanthropy.
American Sign Language
As our little learners build on their skills in American Sign Language, they’re learning to sign in connection with their lessons about the world. When learning about travel, for example, parents are always amazed at how their children can sign words like “passport” or “suitcase.”
At the beginning of every month, those signs are printed and sent home with families to extend the lesson in American Sign Language. The parents are also kept abreast of the Sign Language Alphabet as a resource, and can connect pictures to descriptions of the sign language in order to practice communicating with the children.
Physical fitness programs
TLE® makes physical fitness an important part of early childhood development with the help of our friend Flexi Flamingo, who teaches our older toddlers healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Starting at the toddler age, children are learning to move their bodies, as well as keep their bodies and minds healthy by identifying healthy choices.
At TLE®, they’ll also learn about going to the doctor and the tools medical professionals use to help them stay healthy. They’ll learn, too, about health and hygiene, expressing their emotions and calming their anxieties with soothing
yoga, and are even offered ways to develop their gross motor skills with balancing, walking, hopping on one foot
or two feet, and more.
Our programs for twaddlers
6:30-8:00 Early Arrival Program
8:00-8:30 Greeting the Children/Parent Communication; Free Choice Centers
Art, Sensory, Language, Math, Fine Motor; Child-Initiated Activities
8:30-8:45 Circle Time
Welcoming Activities, Finger Plays, and Songs
8:45-9:15 Snack Time
A Nutritious snack will be served; Manners Matter, Potty Time, Etc.
9:15-9:45 Art and Sensory
Creative activities enhance emotional development; Finger Painting, Pasting, Sand and Water Table, Etc.
9:45-10:00 Physical Fitness with Flexi Flamingo®
Children will engage in physical exercise and routines, and discuss healthy bodies and nutrition
10:00-10:30 Playground Time
Gross Motor Skills; Coordination, Balance, Tossing Balls, Etc. Children will engage in physical exercise and routines, and discuss healthy bodies and nutrition
10:30-10:45 Fine Motor Skills
Matching, Classifying, Exposure to Numbers
10:45–11:00 Language Skills/Library/Storytelling
Emphasis on Language Development, Puppets, Games, Age-Appropriate Books, Rhymes, Etc.
11:00–2:30 Lunch/Rest Time/Quiet Activities/Self-Help Skills
2:30–3:00 Waking Up/Diapering
3:00–3:30 Playground Time
Gross Motor Skills: Coordination, Balance, Tossing Balls, Etc.
3:30–4:00 Snack Time
Nutritious snack will be served, Manners Matter, Potty Time, Etc.
4:00–4:15 Circle Time
Finger Plays, Songs, Goodbye Songs
4:15–5:00 Free Choice Centers
Art, Sensory, Language, Math, Fine Motor; Child-Initiated Activities
5:00–5:30 Music and Movement
Rhythmic Movement, Singing, Listening, Dancing, Social Interaction
5:30–6:00 Table Toys/Quiet Activities/Greeting Parents
(Diapering is provided and supervised on an as needed basis. Potty training encouraged as a self-help skill as needed.)
Our year-end milestones for twaddlers
While each day is a fun new adventure at TLE®, the lessons and curriculum are preparing your child to meet important end-of-year goals — to ensure development at the right pace.
For our twaddlers, those goals are:
- Build on vocabulary words and use simple sentences to communicate
- Develop movement and physical development such as learning to stack blocks, how to kick a ball, stand on toes, etc.
- Be encouraged to complete simple activities to build confidence and independence
- Be encouraged to identify letters, numbers, shapes and colors
- Be exposed to penmanship by scribbling with a variety of writing utensils
Enrichment Programs for twaddlers
From six weeks to six years old, our older toddlers benefit from mandatory early childhood education enrichment programs implemented through our very own Charlie Choo Choo Enrichment Program. They’re provided in kit formats that are taken home at the end of the unit, giving families an opportunity to extend their children’s learning experience.
Dancing Feet, Music 4 Me and Yippee 4 Yoga
These three child enrichment programs continue into the toddler stage, further encouraging children to move their bodies, continue to develop their physical and intellectual muscles, and reinforce previously learned strategies to convert stress into positive and healthy energy.
Talent Sprouts®
Dramatic play takes center stage in Talent Sprouts®. In addition to further developing their fine and gross motor skills children also pretend and act out different characters, animals, and imaginary and real-world situations.
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