We’ve carefully prepared a warm and nurturing toddler room to help our youngest students begin a life-long journey of learning. We’ve carefully selected materials and scaled-down furniture for the classroom to encourage our students to grow, explore, and develop a sense of independence and self-reliance.
Our skilled and knowledgeable teachers use proper language at all times, and offer daily story times. They enrich students with educational materials that help develop language skills. We focus on equilibrium and locomotion, as well as gross and fine motor coordination. As the children develop, we introduce appropriate Montessori materials. We respect each child as an individual being, and lovingly assist them along the road to independence.
To encourage this individualized development, our curriculum focuses on practical life exercises, sensorial experiences, language, math, and cultural studies. In addition, our teachers lead a Music Garden and Movement Class twice per week for our Toddlers.
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We encourage toddlers to self-care. Under the guidance of their teachers, students learn to dress themselves and become independent in the bathroom. Toddlers at Pine Lake Montessori School enjoy preparing and serving snacks and care for their environment by watering plants, washing windows, and washing dishes. Grace and courtesy and control of movement are also modeled and taught, much to the delight of the children.
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Learning about shapes, sizes, colours, textures, tastes, and smells is an integral part of the Toddlers’ classroom experience. We provide carefully designed sensorial materials that help develop the children’s sensory awareness. These sensory discoveries are closely related to the rapid language development that children experience at this age.
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Toddlers are taking their first steps toward independence when they join us at Pine lake Montessori School. Recognizing themselves as separate and independent of others is a tremendous step in their development. Interacting with classmates and adults at this early stage establishes an important foundation that will be built upon as they grow.
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Math is integrated into many aspects of our classroom environments. Whether counting steps to the playground, clapping to the rhythm of a song, or measuring sugar and flour when baking, the toddlers are indirectly experiencing math throughout their days. Moreover, the sensorial materials in the classroom indirectly introduce the concept of length, volume, and sequencing. As teachers observe a child’s readiness, they will make Primary Montessori mathematics materials available for him/her.
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Toddlers acquire language skills rapidly during this development period. Teachers continually discuss what is going on in the classroom and offer the children appropriate words for the experiences they are having in the world. Daily sing songs and story times introduce children to the world of poetry and literature. We’ve provided carefully chosen classified cards (including household items, animals, food, and expressions), sequence cards, and storyboards in the classroom to help children broaden their vocabulary. As children become ready, teachers introduce special Montessori language arts materials for them.
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