Toddler Program

Ages 16 – 33 Months

Toddlers are a beautiful blend of curiosity, enthusiasm, love and light. They need a flexible balance of love and support, and opportunities for space and independence. Our Toddler Classroom offers children a first step in extending their world of trusted people into another safe and nurturing environment outside the home. Toddlers awaken to the joy of navigating new relationships and indulge their natural curiosity through new activities and the use of new materials.

A typical day in our Toddler Room looks like this:

• 8:50-9:15   Transition into classroom

• 9:15-9:30    Circle Time

• 9:30-10:00  Work Time

• 10:00-10:20 Activity Room

• 10:20-10:40  Snack

• 10:40-11:00  Music and Movement/Yoga

• 11:00-11:30 Work/Project Time

• 11:30-11:50 Outdoor Play

• 11:50-12:00 Transition Home/Lunch

Practical Life Skills

“Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement, the image of human dignity, which derived from a sense of independence.” Dr. Maria Montessori

A central focus of our classroom is encouraging self-care through the development of practical life skills.  Children gain confidence as they master new tasks and enjoy more independence.  The classroom is set up to encourage growth in everyday skills, such as removing one’s shoes and outerwear, putting on slippers, setting the table and clearing dishes, and using the toilet.  Other examples of practical everyday work skills include scooping, pouring, zippering, snapping, buttoning and sweeping.

Language

“Learning to speak, therefore, and the power it brings of intelligent converse with others, is a most impressive further step along the path of independence. ”  Dr. Maria Montessori

Language is an area of huge growth for children in the first three years of life.  Among toddlers, there is a wide range of language abilities.  In our classroom, children develop language skills through peer interaction, teacher modeling, books, and specific work that facilitates vocabulary growth and conversational interaction.

Sensorial

“The senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge. Our apparatus for educating the senses offers the child a key to guide his explorations of the world.”  Dr. Maria Montessori

Our senses help us to navigate the world around us.  Young children especially benefit from being introduced to sensorial materials and experiences.  Classroom sensorial materials include musical instruments, color paddles, textured blocks (for rough and smooth), beading, and sorting objects by shape or color.

Math

“Children display a universal love of mathematics, which is par excellence the science of precision, order, and intelligence.”  Dr. Maria Montessori

Toddlers are exposed to numbers through counting games and songs and physical materials.  Toddler Math activities include counting books, stacking and nesting cubes, number puzzles, and sorting.

Fine and Gross Motor Skills

“Watching a child makes it obvious that the development of his mind comes through his movements.” Dr. Maria Montessori

If Toddlers are awake, they are moving!  Whether they are using their gross motor skills to crawl, walk, run, climb, jump, dance, or roll; or, their fine motors skills to paint a picture, zipper a coat, or pick up a small piece of food… Toddlers need to move!  In our classroom, Toddlers enjoy a variety or both fine and gross motor activities to meet their needs and release their energy.  Fine motor exercises include using tongs to transfer small objects, drawing, beading, flower arranging, pouring and scooping.  Gross motor equipment and exercises include: free standing stairs, rocking boat, tunnel, slide, stepping stones, yoga, music and movement, and outdoor play.

Art

“Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.”  Dr. Maria Montessori

In our classroom toddlers enjoy the use of water colors, acrylic, finger paints, colored pencils, markers, play dough, glue, tissue paper and other art materials to explore with and create their own artwork.

Enrichment Programs

The Toddler Program is fortunate to have excellent enrichment teachers in the following content areas:

       Spanish    •     Music      •     Sign-Language    •     Joppa Flats Nature Presentations