Carrying their own plate
Two hands, a plan for the door, and the discovery that going slowly is a choice you can make.
Programs·Toddlers1 – 2 years
Toddler care in Winter ParkI can try.
Toddlers are ready to move, explore, communicate and test what they can do. Teachers here create safe chances to make choices, attempt new skills, solve simple problems, and feel the specific confidence that only comes from having tried it yourself.
What a day holds
Predictable shape, unpredictable content. The routine is the safety; what happens inside it changes every week.
Long uninterrupted play
Blocks of forty minutes or more. Toddler concentration is real, and it is destroyed by a timetable that moves them every fifteen minutes.
Safe risk
Climbing, carrying heavy things, walking on a low wall with a hand offered but not taken. Managed risk is how a body learns what it can do.
Words for feelings
Big feelings arrive before the words do. Teachers supply the words — "you wanted the red one" — long before a child can say it back.
Real jobs
Carrying their own plate, wiping their own spill, putting the lid on the box. Slower than doing it for them. That is the point.
Toddler STEAM
Little hands investigate big ideas through building, pouring, sorting, mixing, testing, and discovering cause and effect.
Toddler Sign Language
Simple signs support communication while spoken language is developing—giving toddlers more ways to tell us what they need, notice, and feel.
Art & Sensory Studio
Paint, clay, water, texture, sound, and open-ended materials invite toddlers to explore with their whole bodies and create in their own way.
Music & Movement
Songs, rhythm, dancing, and movement strengthen language, coordination, listening, and joyful self-expression.
Outdoor Exploration
Fresh air and outdoor discovery are part of the day—not an occasional activity. Toddlers move, investigate nature, and experience their world firsthand.
Camera Viewing
Secure classroom camera viewing gives families an additional window into their toddler's day.
Family Communication
Families receive updates about their toddler's routines, experiences, milestones, and important moments throughout the day.
Life Skills & Independence
Putting belongings away, carrying a plate, cleaning a spill, washing hands, and helping with classroom routines turn everyday moments into opportunities for independence.
The Winter Park School · Toddler Room
Rhythm of the Day
8:00 AM–6:00 PM · A predictable rhythm with time for exploration, connection and growing independence
i can do it myself.
8:00–9:00
Greetings, classroom welcome, handwashing and busy bags
Arrival routines, toy investigation, dancing, singing and diapering as needed
9:00–9:15
Morning gathering
Community, songs and a gentle start to the day together
9:15–9:30
Transition time and music
Listening, rhythm, movement and smooth transitions
9:30–10:00
Outdoor time
Large-muscle movement, exploration and peer interaction
10:00–10:15
Transition and diaper change
Care routines, self-help skills and a calm reset
10:15–10:30
CAPE literacy
Language, stories and early literacy in small groups
10:30–10:45
CAPE math
Hands-on early math, sorting, counting and problem-solving
10:45–11:00
Social-emotional skills
Naming feelings, taking turns and building friendships
11:00–11:30
Social-emotional class
A guided group lesson in empathy, cooperation and self-regulation
11:30–12:00
Handwashing and lunch
Healthy routines, conversation and social learning
12:00–1:30
Nap and rest time
Rest and self-regulation
1:30–2:00
Diaper change and snacks
Social routines, communication and self-help skills
2:00–3:00
Outdoor time
Gross-motor development, exploration and social play
3:00–3:15
STEAM and sensory activities
Curiosity, observation and hands-on discovery
3:15–3:30
Creative expression and arts
Creativity, self-expression and imagination
3:30–3:45
Fine motor skills practice
Hand strength, coordination and early writing readiness
3:45–4:15
Gross motor skills and music
Whole-body movement, coordination and joyful expression
4:15–4:30
Storytime
Language, listening and a love of books
4:30–4:45
Music and movement
Rhythm, coordination and joyful expression
4:45–6:00
Afternoon centers, language and literacy, play and evening goodbyes
Choice, communication, early literacy and family transitions
Meals & bottles
No bottles in the toddler room. No food after 8:00 a.m., except scheduled snack times.
Health & hygiene
Wash hands on arrival, before meals, and after outdoor play and toileting. Children are changed as needed. No toys from home.
Connection
Teachers engage with children during transitions and sit with them at meals to talk and socialize.
Rainy days: parachute, balls, bubbles and thinking cards · Weekly themes guide the CAPE literacy, math and social-emotional lessons
Schedule is a guide and may change to best meet children’s needs. · Curiosity leads the way. ✶ Updated November 2026
Inside the toddler room
Under the play
What we are actually building
This is the year of the first experiment. We protect it.
Persistence
A toddler who is allowed to struggle for thirty more seconds learns something a rescued toddler does not. Teachers are trained on when to wait.
Language explosion
Naming, describing, narrating the experiment as it happens. Vocabulary at two is built out of adults who talk about what the child is already interested in.
Self as separate
Choosing, refusing, coming back. "No" is a developmental milestone, not a behavior problem.
Why we let it take longer
The slow way is the lesson.
A toddler can carry their own plate to the trolley. It takes four times as long and some of it lands on the floor. Tap a job to see what is actually being learned while we wait.
Wiping their own spill
Putting the lid on the box
Choosing between two coats
A moment from this room
A fifteen-month-old spent most of a morning putting pinecones into a tin, tipping them out, and doing it again. On the eleventh round he started sorting them by size — nobody suggested it, and nobody interrupted to praise it.
"again! again!" is a research method.
The practical part.
Small groups, capped by room. Nappies, potty learning and sleep all follow your lead at home, not a schedule we impose. Shoes that a child can actually run in beat shoes that look good in photos.
Programs & ages
Every age, one method. Pick a room.
Come watch them think.
Twenty minutes in this room on an ordinary weekday morning will tell you more than this page can.