The two-year-old is a natural explorer! Their world is full of intriguing opportunities, provocations, and objects to touch, see, smell, and try. Our loving Twos teachers embrace individual preferences, experiences, needs, and temperaments, creating a caring class community in which the ability to express emotions and develop empathy is carefully scaffolded. Opportunities for independence are woven throughout the day, as children navigate our sun-filled classroom spaces with increasing confidence.
In our 3- and 5-day Twos programs beginning in the fall (and our Tuesday/Thursday program beginning in January for children who have turned two between September and December), children gently transition into their daily routines, building trusting relationships with their teachers and friendships with peers. Throughout the year, activities focus on language and literacy (stories, rhyming games, songs), math and science exploration (patterns, sorting, counting, cooking, experiments with natural materials), and motor skill development (extended outdoor time daily on our beautiful playground, weekly Movement sessions with our in-house Occupational Therapist, work with clay and other art materials, investigation of varied manipulatives). All experiences occur within the context of our nurturing Jewish community, in which the values of kindness, celebration of Shabbat and holidays throughout the year, and caring for the environment and each other provide a warm and welcoming space for all families.
The three-year-old year is a time of tremendous growth, and our Threes teachers expertly nurture curiosity, inquiry, and experimentation, supporting engagement in the group learning process and participation in new experiences. Deepening friendships create opportunities to practice solving social conflicts, explore emotions, and work collaboratively. Cognitive growth flourishes through opportunities to sort, match, sequence, and hypothesize about outcomes. Drawing representationally, following the steps in a cooking or gardening project, and exploring puzzles and games are favorite activities. Vocabulary is expanded through storytelling, and children’s natural interest in language is fostered through singing, rhyming games, and a print-rich environment. Confidence in small motor skills continues to grow as children use a greater variety of writing utensils and art and building materials, and large motor development is fostered through daily play outside on our expansive playground and navigating thrilling obstacle courses in Movement. Children enjoy the Jewish rituals and traditions that bring us together as a community, and concepts such as tzedakah (giving to charity) and mitzvot (good deeds) add to the rich tapestry of Jewish experiences encountered at TSNS.
Children’s dispositions to wonder and communicate through creative expression and detailed oral language form the cornerstone of our Pre-K program, in which children’s growing confidence, competence, and independence is supported and celebrated, and a strong foundation is laid for Kindergarten by our experienced faculty members. Children continue to learn to problem solve, advocate for themselves and others, and listen to others’ ideas as well as their own. Large and small group and buddy play opportunities support expanding language development as children communicate their ideas, make plans, and define roles. When reading books together, children answer questions, make predictions, and examine illustrations for clues about the story. Time on our beautiful playground and in our large Movement space allows children to engage in gross motor play – running, skipping, jumping, climbing, biking, digging, sliding, swinging, balancing, and more – while the introduction of a wide variety of writing materials and manipulatives provide organic opportunities to support ongoing fine motor skill development. A positive sense of Jewish identity is reinforced as children learn about and celebrate holidays, are introduced to Hebrew through songs and blessings, and are exposed to Jewish values and traditions.
