Toddler Community

Our Program

The purpose of the Toddler Community is to encourage, assist, and protect the normal development of each child. A safe, beautiful and ordered environment is prepared to respect, support and respond to the basic needs of children 16 to 33 months old. In this program we seek to help the child follow his or her natural path of development, gain independence, be motivated from within by a natural curiosity, interact with the environment as an active explorer, and cultivate the desire to learn.

The children are encouraged and assisted to develop skills in caring for themselves, such as dressing and undressing. Through their own observations, children develop an interest in using the toilet. Simple, easily manipulated clothing assist the child in developing this independence. Activities to care for the physical environment aid children’s development of movement, language, and concentration, while helping them learn to sequence a series of actions and adapt to the culture of the community. We offer children experiences in the reality of life, which fosters self-esteem by sending the message that they are valuable contributors to their community. Children spend much of their day joyfully washing hands, watering plants, sweeping, scrubbing tables, preparing food, and setting a beautiful table in order to practice the skills needed to be independent.

Language activities are also very important as the young child is in the most sensitive period for acquiring spoken language. The child’s language is enriched through conversation, songs, poems, and books as well as beautiful materials that help promote language usage and vocabulary. Adults create a framework of trust and interest in which children want to communicate and share with others.

In the toddler community art is presented as creative expression and children are encouraged to experiment with paint, clay, chalk, glue, and crayons. These materials, along with many others, also assist the child to refine eye-hand coordination. Another form of self-expression, music, is ever-present in the toddler community. A musical environment is prepared that includes listening to recorded music, playing instruments, and singing.

Children are able to move about the toddler environment freely, within limits, which allows them to develop and refine large motor coordination. Indoors there are opportunities for movement games, yoga, and dancing, while outside there are climbing boulders, tricycles for riding, wheelbarrows and wagons to push and pull, a balance beam, and plenty of space to run. We also introduce seasonal activities like shoveling snow, sweeping, raking leaves, and caring for small gardening beds. In general, movement is very meaningful in Montessori environments because it is integrated with the use of the materials. Children are allowed to use free, purposeful movement, enabling them to learn concretely.