Toddler

Your child has a natural drive to be independent which we encourage by creating an environment where everything is just the right size for them to do things on their own. Child-sized tools foster independence. A miniature broom empowers children to clean up on their own. Toddlers are taught the skills of self-care and toilet training. Your child learns a set of concrete life skills and self-confidence – but, more importantly, develops the belief that they can choose to make a genuine impact on their world.

Our students grow together into a close-knit, caring community. When children work, learn and grow together, they learn much more than any of them could learn alone!

Our bright and sunny toddler classrooms are specially designed for your child between the ages of 18 and 36 months. It is a world scaled down to your child’s size. Here, your child paints, cooks, waters the garden, sings songs with friends, and plays with materials that develop fine and gross motor coordination.

Often, children who don’t do things for themselves simply don’t know how or haven’t been given the chance. We take a different approach – by observing your child closely, providing just the right lesson when ready and then allowing them to practice again and again (and again!) until they master it. Mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities in an atmosphere of patience, trust and respect.

We surround your child with rich and stimulating conversation to support this once-in-a-lifetime period of rapid language development. Your child, trying to blow bubbles, might be encouraged with “Blow! Can you make the air move just like the wind?” Your child’s mind effortlessly absorbs the new vocabulary, which plants the seeds for reading, writing and self-expression in the future.

Making first friends and learning how to function within a community is a life-shaping experience for your child. Your child emerges with strong friendships that will continue as she moves through the rest of the programs in Montessori.

Where so many early childhood programs are chaotic and overwhelming, parents are often surprised to see the peaceful tone of our toddler classroom. The calm atmosphere and lack of distraction help develop impulse control and concentration, planting the seeds for learning in this classroom and beyond.

Maria Montessori once said, “One test of the correctness of the educational procedure is the happiness of the child.” Take a peek into our Toddler classroom and you will see children who are happy, engaged, and deeply connected to their friends and teachers. As a result, your child develops a deep affinity for school and a true love for learning.

To be a toddler is to be curious. There are so many things to see, touch, hear, feel and do in the classroom! Beautiful materials that stimulate the senses are rotated frequently on low shelves to pique your child’s curiosity. Children move freely around the classroom to choose activities and explore their interests.

Sometime between the ages of 2.5 to 3 years of age, your child’s language skills and self-expression will develop rapidly; he/she will express growing confidence in independence and a keen interest in broader concepts; he/she will want to know what lies ahead, outside of the Toddler Classroom. At this point, your child will move up to the Primary Classroom, for children ages 3 to 6.