Brown Bears
Our curriculum is child-led and immersive. Teachers will use your child’s strengths and interests to help them develop new skills.
Ages
12-18 months
Class Size
Up to 6, 1:3 teacher-to-child ratio
During this period of your child’s life, you’ll see many changes in his or her development, such as: drinking from a cup with a top instead of a bottle, speaking in short sentences, cutting back to one nap per day, and learning to run.
In our Brown Bears classroom, we use routines and games to guide your child to make these transitions as he or she is ready. For example, we read and talk constantly so children can hear words used and pronounced properly. We do many activities outside and inside that help promote physical development of the large muscles used in gross motor activities.
We also enjoy fun sensory experiences in our daily experiences — in other words, we encourage kids to get messy!
At LB, we utilize a child-driven, play-based approach to teach age-appropriate curriculum. This means that we utilize the children’s interests to design lesson plans; consequently, no two years look the same for a particular age group.
Teachers plan activities and investigations based on the children’s interest and passion at a certain point in time. For example, teachers may design a unit around animals that includes a scavenger hunt to find pictures of animals around the school (strengthening their walking/stair climbing skills), puzzles in which children group similar animals (math skills, matching), activities in which we imitate the way animals talk and eat (language development, motor skills) and a visit from a real animal such as a dog to the class (social and motor skills).
The benefit of this approach is that it engages children by utilizing their interests, encourages curiosity, fosters a love of learning, and teaches emotional intelligence and problem solving — all through play!
It’s common for children this age to have “separation blues,” so plan to stay a few extra minutes until your child is settled into the environment, especially if you are dropping off during a transition. We will comfort and help him or her to feel secure and loved, and provide regular updates via our parent communication app.