Pikas: Roughly 18 months to 2 years
The Pika room is where we see the child really start to gain new concepts. The skills that they have begun to learn in the Chipmunk room, are flourishing and the children are beginning to learn and understand reasoning and cause and effect. They are learning that EVERYTHING has its purpose and process and show an uncanny ability to absorb language in all its complexities. They are also beginning to toilet train and use fine and gross motor skills to thread, paint, and cut. The toddler will now enjoy anything with switches, buttons, or knobs, and will enjoy building towers. We also take this time to share and instill talents and skills that the child will use in their future (practical life skills) such as cooking, gardening, sewing, woodworking, and making music.
While the children are in a “sensitive” period for order in this classroom, the child spends a great deal of time sorting as a way of solidifying the concepts of organization and classification. The child’s concentration is an important element in this room and we do our best to respect that by allowing them to participate freely in an activity that is safe and purposeful. It is not often in our home lives that we find the time to do nothing but observe; however, the benefits of watching the uniqueness of each child are irreplaceable.
