Toddler Montessori Program
The toddler environment of Sun Grove Montessori School is prepared to aid in the natural development of the child. Toddlerhood is a period of rapid change physically, emotionally, socially, cognitively and neurologically. Therefore, it is important that the environment for the child be physically safe, cognitively challenging, and emotionally nurturing.
The Toddler environment is an educational environment prepared for toddlers from approximately 18 months until approximately three years of age. It is a nurturing environment where very young children experience their first structured social community with other children. The focus of the environment is to offer children activity that supports the development of voluntary, controlled movement, spoken language and independence in daily life.
During this time, exposure to the appropriate materials and experiences is critical. The child is free to explore and manipulate, fully involved in learning projects. We allow children to do what they are ready and willing to do. We reinforce their self-initiated activities by paying full attention, while being quietly available, and by appreciating and enjoying what the children actually do. For example, toddlers who are mastering their toileting skills need free access to changing and toileting areas in order to take control of their bodily functions. In a Montessori environment, the changing and toileting area is on the child’s level where he or she need not ask to go, and other friends may watch and learn. The toddlers not only appreciate this opportunity, they also make good use of it by learning to use the toilet sooner.
A job chart is being utilized in the classrooms. The children are assigned tasks such as: holding the gate, helping with shoes, watering plants, helps with snack, cleaning work, handing out wash cloths, straightening the library books, putting work away, setting up the dish drainer, reporting on the weather, collecting laundry, setting up the cot room, and setting up lunch. The lunch helper will be in charge of taking out the other friends’ lunches and putting it on their plates.
Parents are invited to observe at any time. We encourage family involvement in all of our programs at Sun Grove.
Your child’s experience in school should be positive. Our environment is sanitary, and our friend to caregiver ratio is low (6 toddlers: 1 staff member). Sun Grove Montessori School is here for you and your child, providing quality care and valuable learning experiences.
Your child’s experience in school should be positive. Our environment is sanitary, and our friend to caregiver ratio is low (6 toddlers: 1 staff member). Sun Grove Montessori School is here for you and your child, providing quality care and valuable learning experiences.
Montessori environments for toddlers are prepared to be as homelike as possible. These environments involve small children in a routine of daily activities including quiet times and rest periods. The characteristics of these environments include:
- continuity of care
- an ordered physical environment
- consistency of activity
In environments with these characteristics toddlers build a sense of security, a sense of order and a sense of time. Continuity of care lays the foundation for emotional and social well-being. If toddlers interact with the same people day after day, they feel secure, and they have the opportunity to build lasting relationships and social bonds they can depend on.
An ordered physical environment lays the foundation of an ordered mind. If toddlers find things in the same place day after day, they learn to recognize those things and where they belong. In such an environment children grow confident in their ability to know and memorize things, in other words, they become confident in their own intellectual capacity.
Similarly, consistency of activity contributes to children’s security and intellectual confidence. A daily routine develops in infants an understanding of the passing of time. If, day after day, infants follow the same routines at the same time and the same places, they have further opportunity to discover that they know something when they recognize familiar things and events. If toddlers take part in the same activities, in the same order day after day, they further consolidate their sense of security, order and time.
Toddler Room Staff
This environment is organized and directed by a Montessori trained adult who is assisted by carefully selected adults. Activities in Montessori environments for children under the age of three are related to real life. They provide children with opportunities to develop voluntary, controlled movement, independence in daily life and spoken language.