Toddlers
A Curriculum Built for Toddlers
How Does Play-Based Learning Benefit Toddlers?
Toddlerhood is one of the most dynamic periods of early development, marked by rapid growth in language, movement, and self-awareness. Links to Learning channels that energy into purposeful, research-based learning experiences that lay the groundwork for a lifelong love of discovery.
In our Toddler program, children develop foundational language and literacy skills, expand their mathematical thinking through hands-on exploration, and build the physical coordination required to move through the world with confidence. Our curriculum introduces early science concepts, creative expression, and social-emotional skills through intentional, play-based experiences designed to engage toddlers at every stage.
What Will My Toddler Experience in Preschool?
- A structured daily routine that includes classroom learning centers and circle time
- Age-appropriate experiences with letters, numbers, and early literacy concepts
- Opportunities to investigate cause and effect through hands-on exploration
- Outdoor play designed to build balance, coordination, and gross motor strength
How Does A Research-Based Curriculum Benefit Toddlers?
Language & Literacy
In our Links to Learning toddler classroom, instructional experts engage children through high-quality literature, songs, and purposeful conversation, expanding vocabulary and building the listening and speaking skills that anchor early communication. Repeated exposure to words and phrases builds children’s confidence in expressing their thoughts and needs. Teacher-guided questioning encourages toddlers to use language actively and with growing intention.
Mathematical Thinking
Mathematics is introduced as a tool for understanding the world. Through toys, games, and puzzles, toddlers begin to recognize shapes, colors, and numbers, developing the ability to sort and match in ways that build the bedrock of mathematical reasoning. Our teachers use hands-on exploration to make these concepts concrete and accessible, ensuring early math learning feels natural and joyful.
Social-Emotional Learning
Social-emotional learning is woven throughout our planned daily experiences. Children develop self-help skills and begin to engage in parallel play, an important milestone in early social development. Guided daily routines, such as caring for classroom materials, build independence and a sense of capability. Group experiences introduce sharing and turn-taking, laying the social foundation children need to grow as confident, connected learners.
Wellness
Wellness is a critical component of early learning and development. Gross motor activities like climbing and running, paired with fine motor experiences such as stacking and coloring, build strength, coordination, and body awareness. In our Links to Learning Toddler program, physical development is an essential part of learning, ensuring children develop the bodily confidence to engage fully in every classroom experience.
Creative Expression
Creative expression gives toddlers a powerful means of communicating what they think, feel, and imagine. Through music, movement, painting, and drawing, children explore color, shape, and sound while developing rhythm, coordination, and fine motor control. With access to crayons, paint, and clay, toddlers discover that their ideas have form and that they have the ability to bring them to life.
Scientific Exploration
Scientific thinking begins with curiosity, and toddlers are naturally equipped with it. Toddlers investigate cause and effect, use simple tools, and observe the natural world, developing the critical thinking skills that define early scientific reasoning. Teachers introduce foundational science concepts through hands-on experiences, such as measuring plant growth or exploring with water, guiding toddlers to make observations, ask questions, and draw their own conclusions.
