SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Children learn how to navigate their future interpersonal relationships from their social interactions in early childhood; providing a social atmosphere for toddlers and two-year-olds when their language and motor skills are blossoming more than ever makes all the difference. Emotional development prior to the age of three will significantly impact the way that children approach decision making and conflict resolution for the rest of their lives.

When children play together, they learn to celebrate differences as they cooperate and collaborate - creating empathetic problem solvers. When a child’s play is guided and encouraged by their teacher, the child establishes trust, respect & confidence – essential to a lifelong love of learning. During these years, we watch as children's emotions transform from immediate and instinctual responses where they can go from happy to frustrated in a split second, to being more self-aware and calculated. Toddlers and twos begin to understand rules and will often test limits to see what behavior is acceptable.

Toddlers engage in parallel play before advancing to collaborative play and finally interactive play during their second year. During parallel play the children sit side by side and play with different toys. During collaborative play the children may trade a toy between them and are more interested in the giving and taking of the toy then interacting with their friend. During interactive play the children are actually playing together. Toddlers and twos are capable of forming genuine friendships and will have a preference for whom they play with.