Toddler Peek at the Week 02.17.25

Hello Wonderful Toddler Families!

We hope you’re enjoying this winter season! In the classroom, we’ve been focusing on a key area of development: Fine Motor Skills. Fine motor skills are essential for young children as they lay the foundation for later writing and drawing abilities. By strengthening hand and finger muscles, children improve their coordination, control, and ability to use tools like pencils, crayons, and scissors. 

We switched works this week after noticing both an interest in cutting and scribble work. This will help us work on hand strength, pincer grasp and wrist strength.

A couple of favorites so far are the dry rice transfer work, the tooth pick drop, and the heart one to one correspondence work.

We encourage you to reinforce these skills at home! Here are a few fun ideas:

  • Draw and Color Together: Use large paper and crayons or markers to help your child trace shapes and letters. Focus on using a proper grip!

  • Play with Puzzles and Toys with Small Pieces: Anything that requires picking up small items or fitting them together can work wonders.

  • Bead Stringing or Pasta Necklace Projects: These activities are both fun and build important hand-eye coordination.

Thank you for your continued support in your child's learning journey. If you have any questions or want more tips on how to enhance fine motor skills at home, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Warmest Regards,

Morahs Megan, K, Sarah

Toddler Peek at the Week 02.03.25

Hello Wonderful Toddler Families!

We are having a wonderful week! With the warmer temperatures, we are hoping to go outside. Thank you, in advance, for sending weather appropriate clothing and footwear for your child.  After a long, cold January, they are so happy for more outdoor adventures!  

Sleep has become a topic of discussion in our classroom. WHY are naps important? Because "sleep begets sleep!”  When your toddler sleeps well during the day, they are more likely to sleep well at night and vice versa. For your child’s internal clock and circadian rhythm to work well together, they need to have quality sleep in a 24-hour period (not just for naps OR nights – but ideally both).

When a child is not getting enough sleep, adrenaline and cortisol increase causing a hyper-alert state and irritability. Cortisol counteracts and suppresses melatonin (the sleep hormone) which in turn, makes it difficult to fall asleep. That’s why daytime sleep begets nighttime sleep in young kids. (Cortisol also prevents your child from sinking into a deeper sleep. Even if your child falls asleep, they will wake up more frequently throughout the night.)

HOW are naps best implemented? Establish a routine! In our classroom, we clean up after lunch, then do toileting / diapering, and then we read books for 5-10 minutes. During this time, we also darken the room, and have soft music playing. Afterwards, everyone goes to sleep. 

We realize that each child has different sleep needs. Some need more sleep than others. For those that have a shorter sleep cycle, we encourage them to sleep or play quietly. About halfway through, we assess the room. Those who are awake go to the Big Room or outside for gross motor play.

If you have questions or concerns, please call or come in right away. Keep us informed if something is going on with your child or family at home. We will do the same regarding progress and behavior at school. If they have a good, or less than ideal, sleep cycle the night before, let us know.

Have a wonderful week!

Warmest Regards,

Morahs Megan, K, Sarah

Toddler Peek at the Week 1.13.25

Hello Wonderful Toddler Families!

First, we want to thank all of you that took the time to come to our Parent Ed Night. We focused on the topic of the sensitive periods of toddler development with an emphasis on toilet learning.  For those of you that couldn’t make it, you missed an awesome night full of information and pro tips! If you haven't seen it already, we sent a packet of info home in your child's backpack.  Please reach out if you have any questions!  We're excited to be on the toilet learning journey with you and your children!

This week's peek is going to focus on our daily schedule.  We try to stick to a routine versus a schedule, doing the same activities in a certain order at relatively the same time, allowing for flexibility for “life” circumstances. This is a simple version of our daily routine and the approximate times we do each activity. Below, we have some further explanation about transitions, snack windows, etc.

Toddler Daily Routine

8:00-9:00-Arrival (Hang up coats and backpacks, put on slippers, place lunch, water and snack on shelves)

9:00-10:15-Work Cycle (Morning snack open from 9:15-10:00)

10:15-10:30-Judaic Circle

10:30-11:15-Gross Motor on Playground or in Big Room

11:15-12:00-Lunch

12:00-2:00-Nap

1:30-3:30-Transition from nap to Playground or Big Room, snack and work cycle

3:30-School Day Dismissal

3:30-5:30-After Care


It’s so important for your children to be at school no later than 9am, in order to transition successfully into the classroom, have time for a morning snack as well as a chance to complete a work cycle or two before Circle time.

Children go down for a nap at about 12:00, and as they wake, starting at 1:30 they transition to gross motor play on the playground or in the Big Room. Once several children are awake, they take turns, 4 at a time at the snack table. The children at the snack table have about 10 minutes to eat. If the snack table is full, they must practice waiting patiently for a friend to finish. This process helps teach time management as well as task initiation and inhibition.

After 3:30 pick up, we spend time in the classroom doing work cycles, art projects, and group collaboration. Then we transition to spend time in the Big Room or our playground for free play and gross motor movement.

I hope this is helpful for you to see a little more clearly into your child’s day in our classroom. If you have any questions about this or are wondering how you can adapt this to your routine at home, just ask! Thank you so much for trusting your beautiful children with us every day. It’s so delightful to watch them grow and change.

We are so excited to have the Whatsapp platform for us to communicate and share photos with you!  I think we've been able to connect everyone that wanted access but let us know if we missed anyone.

Finally, check out the Chai Tots Instagram page for some fun new Montessori content we've been sharing and will continue to share.    

Have a wonderful week!

Warmest Regards,

Morahs Megan, K, Sarah