+ Infants

Cognitive Development: This is the stage when children begin to learn about cause and effect, object permanence, and other foundational cognitive concepts. Much of this is learned through exploratory and purposeful play, scaffolded by my planning and curation.

Physical & Motor Development: My priority is to provide infants with plenty of opportunities to exercise their large and small muscles as well as motivation to move their bodies. This means lots of tummy time, developmentally appropriate toys that they can hold and manipulate, and an interesting environment to explore!

Social-Emotional Development: Having secure attachments to caregivers is critical at this stage of life. It's very important to me to nurture these attachments by being responsive to infants' bids for attention, creating a stable and consistent environment, and providing plenty of warm, loving interactions through cuddles, songs, and playtime.

Language Development: Even though they may not be able to produce words, so much language development happens in the first year! This is when children learn the sounds specific to their native language, how to imitate and understand intonation, and that they can use their voices and hands to communicate their needs. I help strengthen infants' language development by speaking to them directly using a varied vocabulary, labeling items in the environment and describing actions as they're performed, reading stories, singing songs, and integrating American Sign Language.

+ Toddlers

Cognitive Development: Toddlers' capacity for problem-solving and making associations between concepts develops dramatically during this period! I foster toddlers' natural curiosity by curating open-ended materials for them to work with, and I create thematic unit plans based on their interests that expose them to a variety of sensory and thought-provoking experiences.

Physical & Motor Development: This is the exciting time when children master walking, running, and climbing! To foster this developmental stage, I provide a safe environment with plenty of space as well as developmentally appropriate toys and furniture that challenge their fine and gross motor skills. I also maintain memberships to various clubs and child classes to provide a variety of settings for the children to run, climb, and explore. This is also when we start working on drinking from cups and eating with silverware, an endeavor that I encourage but do not force, and pursue as each child is developmentally ready for it.

Social-Emotional Development: Pursuing autonomy is one of a toddler's primary goals, and is also sometimes the cause of adults' greatest challenges! With their growing motor, cognitive, and language skills, they are now able to explore and express themselves in more complex ways. My goal is to provide a consistent set of boundaries that gives our toddlers the security to pursue their independence while knowing that they and their friends will stay safe.

Language Development: Once a toddler starts producing individual words, their vocabulary begins expanding rapidly and they start moving from single words to simple, two-word sentences. This is an amazing leap in their language ability that allows them to communicate and incredible array of ideas. To promote this development, I engage them in frequent conversation, modeling conventional English grammar and expanding on the short utterances they give. I also make lots of time for interactive read-alouds, which help expand their vocabulary and promote literacy skills.

+ Twos and up

Cognitive Development: Beginning to identify letters, numbers, shapes, and colors is a big early childhood milestone, and one that begins in the twos. The two-year-old curriculum will include more matching and categorization, as well as counting, learning the alphabet, and other important early math and literacy skills, which we will continue to build upon through age three and four.

Physical & Motor Development: As children leave the todller stage, the physical activities we pursue will adapt to their growing skills, including yoga, drawing, building, making crafts, and playing fun and challenging movement games. Age two is also typically the potty training year! I will work in close collaboration with families to determine when to begin potty training and what methods will be employed, in order to maintain consistency between home and school and ensure the smoothest experience possible.

Social-Emotional Development: Starting in the two's, as children start to play with their peers instead of just alongside them, socio-dramatic play (make believe) starts to become a playtime staple. This type of play is integral to a child's social, emotional, cognitive, and language development. Socio-dramatic play often is inspired by the real-life experiences children have, as well as the literature they are exposed to. With that in mind, we will go on more trips around the neighborhood and city, visiting museums, farmer's markets, the Lincoln Park Zoo, and other local places. We will also read more complex books together and discuss the content before, during, and after story time.

Language Development: With a vocabulary that's expanding every day, and a rapidly developing grasp on grammar and phonological awareness, two- to four-year-olds quickly become full-fledged speakers. They also begin interacting more meaningfully with literature and begin to recognize letters, particularly the first letter of their name. I scaffold all this learning by continuing to engage in developmentally appropriate conversations and read-alouds, as well as highlighting environmental text like street signs, numbers on houses, and words on packages. Plenty of time will be dedicated to practicing early forms of writing, and literacy and language development will be incorporated into all other activities.