Events & News |TLC Academy for Young Children - TLC Academy for Young Children

Moving Up!

9/17/2020

Here at TLC, we make sure that when a child moves up to a different classroom, the transition is as comfortable and as seamless as possible. Here you will see Sutton during her first week moving from Young Explorers to a Toddler classroom. During the transition week, we slowly introduce the child to their new classroom. We start off with short visits in the beginning of the week and lengthen those visits each day. By Friday they spend their first full day in their new room!

It may seem like a big step to most, but we find that through continued routine and structure, it is very easy for a child to pick up on their new expectations. It is a huge benefit for the child to be able to see their peers following routine, engaging in activities, and using effective communication. Very soon after a child is brought into a Toddler room, their communication skills blossom as they pick up on how their peers deal with issues, play with each other, and communicate with their teachers. As you can see below, Sutton saw her peers decorating the potted branches and eagerly engaged in the activity with minimal teacher instruction.

Colorful Pasta Part 2

9/16/2020

After their colored pasta noodles dried for a couple days, Ms. Ashley's preschool class finally got to assemble their necklaces! Take a look!

Colorful pASTA!

9/15/2020

Take a look at what Ms. Ashley's preschool class discovered yesterday. Did you know food dye will color raw pasta?! The class practiced their colors, making sure to emphasize the beginning sounds of each word and having the children identify the first letter of the words. After the lesson, they got to pick a dye color and shake their bags until their pasta turned a new color! Stay tuned to see the adorable necklaces they will make with their colored pasta later in the week.

Smiling Faces of TLC

9/10/2020

What better to get us through these last couple days of the week than the adorable faces of our TLC infants and young explorers?!

Sticky Wall

9/3/2020

Reinvent the way your child plays with their toys. With this activity, your small children are going to be amazed that their toys are sticking right to the wall! Take this opportunity to work on words with your child and explore which of their toys do and don't stick to the cling wrap.

What you need: Cling wrap, tape and flat toys, like puzzle pieces or magnets. Tape your cling wrap to the wall and show your child how it works. If they try to rip the cling wrap down, try your best to redirect them by gently guiding their hand to grab a toy from the wall, play with them so they see how it's done and cheer them on when they get it right. Once they get the hang of it, start pointing out words, hand them different toys to try and stick to the wall and enjoy their smiling face!

Wall Art

9/1/2020

Need an activity to try out with your little one? Why not try out what Ms. Kendra's Toddler 1 class came up with. Ms. Kendra set up plastic ramps with a long strip of paper at the end. She had the children dip their toy cars in paint and watch them fly down the ramp. The paint leaves stripes on the paper that creates a really cool, abstract looking painting. A helpful tip: water down the paint so the wheels can turn easier and the paint spread farther. Look below to see how Ms. Kendra displayed their art.

After the kids covered the paper in paint, Ms. Kendra cut out square pieces and framed them on the wall. This is such a fun way to create wall art with your child that they can be proud of and brings back great memories!

Sand Painting

8/28/2020

Ms. Loretta's preschool class worked on a painting, but with a twist, they used sand!

They started with making a pattern on their canvas with painters tape. Then they covered the canvas in glue and used sand to make beautiful colors and patterns. Take a look below at the finished art.

We love to let our kids guide their own creativity when doing art projects. As you can see, one students chose to keep the tape on their canvas, another used the tape as guidelines, and the last took the tape off. All amazing works of art!

Fun With Textures!

8/27/2020

All of our classrooms love to do art projects and proudly hang them in the room or in our hallways. The kids love seeing their hard work displayed, proudly pointing it out to teachers and parents.

Here is what our Lead Toddler Teacher has to say about this project, "One of our biggest goals in our toddler room is teaching and encouraging positive ways to express ourselves. That is hard when you’re a toddler but expanding our vocabulary and tuning into our body’s 5 senses is a good place to start. Today we finished our textured flower! During this project we used oats, sand, corn meal, paint, watercolor, contact paper, wax paper, string, foil, shaving cream, cinnamon, and fabric. Exploring different textures with toddlers creates so much opportunity for them to organically express their senses and expand their vocabulary. " -Ms. Kendra

What To Do, What To Do?!

8/26/2020

Sometimes it can be difficult finding activities to do with your infant. At TLC, our creative and motivated teachers always find a way to keep a smile on all the babies face's. Here are some of our infant teachers favorite activities to keep the day interesting and the babies giggling!

Go Outside!

One of our absolute favorite things to do with our infants and young explorers is a daily walk or outside play time. Not only is it a good way to pass the time but it is so good for babies to get outside, get a change of scenery, some fresh air and sunshine. Spending time outside is associated with improved mood and happiness!

Staying Engaged: We love finding ways to work on our infants sensory skills as they discover the world around them. In nature there are so many things for your baby to discover: the feel of the grass or dirt, pulling leaves from trees, seeing and hearing animals, rushing water, cars, and so much more. With so much to see and do, being outside can increase their natural curiosity, building their confidence when it comes to experiencing new things.

Sensory Bins!

Putting together a sensory bin is a fun way for your child to stay occupied while still learning! You can fill your bin with anything that's safe for your child to touch, smell, and inevitably, put in their mouth. Some of our favorite things to use are items like uncooked rice and macaroni noodles, nut-free cereals, balls, water, sponges, plastic toys and what ever else you can think of. Not afraid of getting messy? Make a bowl of jello, cooked spaghetti or whipped cream and let them get messy. The possibilities are endless!

Staying Engaged: Sensory bins, as you could've guessed from the name, are great for developing sensory processing skills. Sight, touch and sound are involved in any sensory bin, but don't be afraid to implement smell and taste. Our toddler class loves to use cinnamon in their sensory activities! It also is great for practicing fine motor skills as your baby learns to gasp and manipulate the items in the bin. Sensory bins can also promote attention span, so what are you waiting for?!

Mess Free Fun!

8/25/2020

Looking for a fun way to create art with your little one? One of our wonderful assistant teachers, Ms.Jolie organized this craft for the Young Explorers. All you need is a canvas, a gallon sized zip lock bag, some paint, and painters tape. Stay tuned to see how the canvas' turned out!

Step 1: place pieces of painters tape on a clean canvas. This way after the kids are done painting, you can remove the tape to reveal the pattern of your choice.
Step 2: place your canvas in a zip lock bag and add what ever colors your little one wants.
Step 3: let your little one take the reins! Let them discover the different ways they can move the paint around; with their hands, feet, using toys, etc. Once the canvas is covered, let it dry and see what you and your child created together!

Staying Engaged: Practicing with paint helps develop hand-eye coordination skills as well as the idea of cause and effect. At this age, 10-18 months, your child is still learning about their own abilities and one of the best ways to learn is through doing. This craft allows them the opportunity to discover things like all the different way they can cause the color to spread on the canvas or that paint colors can mix together to make more colors. This also gives you the opportunity to practice words with your child by pointing out colors and other simple words involved in the process. They may not be able to ask and answer questions but they are always absorbing information.