About us

WELCOME TO TOTS MY TIME

Miami’s Boutique Toddler Program

At TOTS My Time, we believe the earliest years of life deserve the deepest care and attention. Founded by seasoned child development specialists Marcela Teran and Martinica Barrionuevo—with over 30 years of combined experience—our program was born out of a simple yet powerful realization: families need a better way to support toddlers as they transition from the safety of home into their first structured group experiences.

In a world that often pushes children toward premature academics, TOTS offers a different path—one grounded in evidence, compassion, and play. Decades of research have shown that children learn best not through rigid instruction, but through joyful, meaningful play. That’s exactly what we offer: a play-based, sensory-rich, and developmentally attuned environment where your child can thrive emotionally, socially, and cognitively.

OUR MISSION

The Relationship With The Student Is Our Most Important Teaching Tool


Children learn to trust the world by the consistency, warmth and the emotional availability they experience in their interactions with their caregivers. Our teachers will nurture such relationships constantly so that the children have with them a safe space for the acceptance of All their emotions as there is no such thing as “bad emotions”.

We believe children and families have the right to live a comfortable transition. Quality, time, and respect are aspects that we strongly value, especially during the beginning of this journey.

OUR TEAM

Marcela Teran

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY DIRECTOR
Marcela graduated in 2004 with a Bachelors Degree in Occupational Therapy from Universidad del Rosario in Bogota- Colombia and she is fluent in both Spanish and English.

She and Martinica created an innovative mommy/ daddy and me program that launched 5 years ago. Marcela helped families understand early development in the first months of life using fun, interactive and play based activities.

Caregivers left the classes feeling empowered in understanding how to foster important skills at an early age and the classes were a wonderful bonding experience for the whole family. While developing this program she found out she was pregnant with her first child and decided along side with Martinica to turn the mommy/ daddy and me program into a drop of class.

The families that attended the program for over a year encouraged Marcela and Martinica to take it to the next level allowing children to stay for short periods of time in the company of the program leaders.

Today Marcela oversees and create the curriculum content for the fine motor, gross motor and sensory areas. She also evaluates and creates the personalized developmental plans each child follows. She supervises daily the teachers and loves leading some of the activities herself.

Martinica Barrionuevo

SPEECH THERAPY DIRECTOR
Martinica received her B.A and Master’s Degree in Speech Language and Hearing in 2000, from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires graduating Cum Laude.

After doing her residency training and working in pediatric rehabilitation in Argentina, she moved to Miami in 2008.

In 2012 Martinica partnered with Marcela and founded My Time Inc. a pediatric center were she lead the speech therapy division. Martinica has many years of experience evaluating, diagnosing and treating children with speech, language and communication disorders.

Along with Marcela, they created My Time TOTS in 2019 with the goal of offering a sensory, play-based and developmental appropriate program for toddlers and their families.

Martinica supervises and advices the TOTS team on creating and implementing language developing strategies appropiate for the 4 first years of life

We want to express our sincere gratitude to all the parents who have used developmental programs for their children. Your decision to invest in your child's growth and development is truly commendable, and it is a testament to your love and care for your little ones. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve you and your family.

 

Book for a tour and we'll show you around!


Contact