Children love to move—climbing, jumping, dancing! Teachers offer your child many ways to be active, both indoors and outdoors. They also provide materials and activities that interest children his age and help improve his hand coordination, like scribbling with crayons and stacking toys.

Teachers model behaviors like sharing and apologizing so toddlers can learn by example. They give your child opportunities to try new social skills and to try doing things for herself. Teachers encourage children and help them express their feelings in positive, healthy ways.

Cognitive development is your child's ability to make sense of the world around him. It includes memory, language, thinking, and reasoning. Classrooms are set up so toddlers can learn to how to solve problems by sorting objects, doing puzzles, taking things apart and fitting them back together, and so much more! Teachers offer children a range of activities and experiences that inspire and challenge them, from building on their curiosity (“You've been watching that butterfly a long time. Where do you think it's going, Sebastián?”) to helping them use their imagination (“Oh, no, there's a leak in our boat! How else can we cross the moat?”).

Teachers spend a lot of time talking to children so that they learn how words should sound and how conversations go back and forth. They read books with simple stories and use songs, rhymes, and finger plays that have repeating patterns. They also help children by asking questions about the books they read (“Ivy lost her doll. What do you think will happen next?”), expanding on their answers (“You said, ‘Cry.' Do you think Ivy is sad about losing her favorite toy?”), and using new words (“Look how excited Ivy is now that she found her doll!”)