Frog & Toad Essex Junction
Child-Centered Environments
About Us
Your Child Is in Great Hands
Philosophy
At Frog & Toad our philosophy is that each child is an individual, with individual needs, preferences, feelings, and learning styles. Likewise, we believe that each family has its own uniqueness. Our school is designed to provide outstanding care to all children and families. We do this by altering our teaching styles to reach each child, by communicating with families about their child and family each and every day, by fully understanding early childhood development, and by genuinely caring about the success of each individual and family with whom we work.
Health & Safety
We value the health and safety of all our students and staff at Frog & Toad. During this time especially, we have adopted the strict guidelines set forth by the State of Vermont Department of Health in order to ensure that our students and staff are well-protected.
The uniqueness of each child and family is especially evident during times of crisis (such as a pandemic), but our mission remains the same. We will work diligently to ensure the success of each child and family. We recognize that success can take many forms, and during challenging times, our focus will be on the mental and physical health and well-being of each child and family in our care.
Curriculum & Assessment
Every child is on their own unique developmental journey. At Frog&Toad Child Care&Learning Center, LLC we support that individual journey by consistently developing curriculum that is appropriately challenging, based in developmental standards, and of the children's interests.
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The Vermont Early Learning Standards provide the framework for our teachers to develop the most well-rounded educational experience possible for our students. Additionally, teachers develop curriculum utilizing their own unique teaching expertise, the interest of their students, and the Creative Curriculum platform.
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Creative Curriculum is a series of curriculums designed by Teaching Strategies that are specifically meant to meet the educational needs of children at all stages of their development. Teachers can use as much or as little of the platform as they like. They can also alter activities to better suit the students in their classroom.
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Additionally, the teachers of Frog&Toad perform regular assessments on the learning and growth advancements of all of our students. This is done by performing the ASQ (an assessment tool that many families complete at their child's pediatrician visits) twice each year as well as the Checkpoints Assessment through Teaching Strategies Gold (this is an assessment focused on educational milestones, and is in alignment with the Vermont Agency of Education requirements).
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Both the Creative Curriculum platform, and the Teaching Strategies Gold assessments "talk" to one another; which streamlines our curriculum, assessment, and portfolio process. In short, communicating effectively with families about the growth and development of their child is thorough and comprehensive.
Frog&Toad values it's teachers!
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At Frog&Toad we take the time to honor our staff in a multitude of different ways, but one of our favorite methods is to give them some public recognition for their efforts and dedication to the field of Early Care and Education! Here, as well as in our programs, you will see prominent displays of the Teacher of the Month as well as the Honorable Mentions. ​​
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February's Teacher of the Month is our very own Dr. Joanna! She came on as our Curriculum Coach a short while ago, and has been working diligently on getting to know all of the teachers and children across both of our sites. She has also been working to understand our current methods and practices so that she can better hone and shape our teaching skills to be of the best service to children.
Dr. Joanna provides relief to our teachers so that they can leave the classroom in order to focus on the development of curriculum, and fills in classrooms when teachers are absent. Along with this, she has been assessing our current practices and developing resources that will better serve our teachers as they plan lessons. She has also been designing a training on emergent curriculum for our staff in order to advance our skills with this style of teaching. Dr. Joanna also plans to start personal coaching sessions in the coming weeks. These coaching sessions will allow her to focus on each teacher's individual strengths, the needs of the different ages of children that we serve, and help staff to advance their teaching practices. We are excited about all that Dr. Joanna is getting ready to show us, and we are grateful for her genuine appreciation for/understanding of the importance of play in children's learning!
Izzy is this month's Honorable Mention. Izzy consistently provides a warm, responsive and enriching environment for the children in her care. She is empathetic, patient, and so loving, regardless of what classroom she is working in. Seeing the children's faces when she arrives to be with them tells us all that we need to know about the exceptional care that she provides! Before moving into a more consistent position with us, Izzy served as our Program Assistant, where she was also fantastic! Now she is helping us to train our new Program Assistant, and we are so grateful for all the ways that she supports our school!
