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 Mention. ​​
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Angelina is July's Teacher of the Month! While generally she is Lead Teacher in the Infant Classroom, she has been filling in for the preschool classroom recently. Her focus has been on acclimating a new child to our school. She has shown so much patience, love, compassion and understanding for this child who requires an approach that is unique. She has also been on double duty making sure her co-teacher in the Infant Classroom is getting the support that she needs. As if this weren't enough, when she isn't in direct service with children, she is actively working to ensure that our school operates smoothly by preparing snacks, meals, and doing school wide chores! Angelina has certainly gone above and beyond to ensure the success of the children that we serve, and our program at large!
Anna is July's Honorable Mention. Anna arrives early every day in order to be prepared and ready for the children in her Preschool Classroom. Anna is still relatively new to our school, but she really does fit into our Frog&Toad family very well! Anna is soft spoken, kind, curious, and supportive. The children have made it clear that she is a welcomed influence in the classroom by gravitating to her teachings! Anna brings so much to our preschool classroom, and we are all excited to watch her teaching develop as she settles into her role with us! The whole school rejoices in hearing all the songs that she teaches the preschoolers that fill our halls, and seeing her conduct all the fun activities that she plans for the children makes us all wish we could .
be in preschool too!