“It’s my World!”
Our toddler classrooms are intentionally designed for children aged 18 months to three years old. They are housed in the charming and cozy “Brown Cottage” and feel just like home. The environments are orderly and scaled carefully to the children’s size, helping the toddlers feel they have control over their world and can predict how things will go. The classrooms include an outdoor play area for lots of gross motor exploration and movement.
“Talk to me, sing to me, tell me a story!”
Language acquisition is an important part of a toddler’s development. Our toddler classrooms offer many rich and meaningful opportunities for expression. The children are offered stories, poems, songs, vocabulary cards, and much stimulating conversation. These experiences build a strong literacy foundation for later reading, writing, and self-expression.
“Help me to help Myself”
Toddlers have a strong and innate drive to be independent and meet their own needs. They want to feed, dress, and toilet by themselves. The toddler program provides ample opportunities for children to practice at self-help skills leading to greater independence. They help to prepare their own food, care for their environments, and learn self-dressing and self-toileting skills.
“I’m an Explorer!”
Movement is an important part of Montessori education. Toddlers are working hard at learning to coordinate their bodies as well as strengthen their muscles. In the outside environments toddlers can climb, jump, balance, push and ride wheel toys, and even dig in their garden. Having lots of opportunities for movement helps to lay a foundation for future cognitive development.
“Will you play with me?”
Learning to be a good friend starts here. Toddlers learn a variety of social skills which help them to play and work collaboratively with others. As young children are always looking to the adults and imitating a lot of what they see, the teachers continually serve as role models in the toddler environment. The children are offered guidance in practicing to use their words to express feelings and communicate peacefully with others.
“New Developments, New Environments”
As the child inches their way toward their third birthday, new developments emerge! The child starts to become ever so aware of their world, acquired more language and has demonstrated capacities to meet their needs. As children begin to make these developmental transitions, the “Primary” Montessori environment begins to suit their needs much better. As such, children begin the transition to their next classroom between 2.6-3 years and begin to discover the exciting possibilities in this next space.