Toddler Program - New for fall 2011

The Toddler Program serves children from twelve months of age to three years. A child must be a confident and sturdy walker to be ready for this program. In this early education program the ground work for indirect preparation begins. The indoor and outdoor environments are carefully prepared to engage children in exploratory learning while creating a nurturing and harmonious community. The classroom is a place of respect for self and others. Everything is “right-sized” for this age, from the custom-made tables and chairs to the shelves, vases, plates and utensils, and even toilets. In an environment that offers such appropriately sized challenges, children can take on greater responsibilities caring for themselves and others.

Learning While Developing Independence
In the Toddler Community an AMI trained teacher understands the toddler’s need to “Help me to do it by myself." Toddlers embrace activities that develop motor skills: running, carrying, climbing, swinging; or grasping knobs, shoveling or raking, and handling paintbrushes. Learning to control their own bodies and practicing the daily activities of dressing, eating, and toileting independently are areas of interest and focus for the toddler.
The Toddler Program environment offers rich opportunities for physical, sensorial, intellectual, and social learning. Children may spend part of the morning learning vocabulary, skills in physical coordination, and new sights and smells by preparing fruit or vegetable snacks. The environment, AMI Montessori researched and developed materials, and the culture of the classroom community are all carefully prepared and coordinated to offer children many choices to grow at a time when both bodies and minds are developing at the swiftest pace in all of life.