TODDLER (Starts at 18 months)

PRE-PRIMARY (Starts at 2 years)

The Toddler Community (also known as the Ladybug House) is a place for children between eighteen-months and three years of age, designed specifically for the needs of your child at this early developmental stage. This classroom along with the Pre-Primary Community (for ages 2-3 and known as the Bumble Bee House) allow for your child’s physical, emotional, and educational growth. The main goals are to help your child develop independence, concentration, along with gross and fine motor coordination. The Toddler environment (starting at 18 months) is where we lay a foundation for independence and learning that will prepare your child for the Montessori curriculum he or she will embark upon in the years ahead. At the Toddler level your child also learn to confidently use the toilet and will no longer need diapers. The Pre-Primary Community (ages 2-3) is for children who have already mastered this toileting benchmark and are ready for the introduction into classroom materials used at Primary level. This is where the AMI Montessori curriculum will build until the successful completion of your child’s Kindergarten year, and we have the fortunate ability to extend through Elementary to continue with their Montessori education.

Your child needs the freedom to do individual work because he or she is constructing his or her individuality at this age. The environment also welcomes group work, so your child learns how to relate with others. For both individual and group work, the environment offers repetition and concentration. The space is clean, simple, and organized with age-appropriate educational materials. In many ways, it looks similar to your child’s home environment. There are places for your child to work on low tables or on rugs, comfortable chairs in which to look at books, and shelves for holding materials.

The daily schedule in both the Toddler Classroom and Pre-Primary Community begins with a greeting at arrival, then proceeds to a morning period for individual “work”, community circle, snack, outside time, lunch, nap, afternoon outside time and a goodbye at day’s end.

Scope & Sequence

AGE OF STUDENTS:

18 months to 3 years of age

Pre-Primary & Toddler GOALS:

Toddler aged-children develop functional independence, gross motor skills, equilibrium, focus and concentration, initiate refinement of senses. Once a child reaches three, they start to develop full independence, fine motor skills, refine focus and concentration, the ability to sequence, begin development of self-control and normalization, along with continued refinement of the senses

LANGUAGE:

The language area includes music and art. The child is learning how to speak and learning several words of vocabulary everyday so there is a great variety of language material to allow the child to enrich his vocabulary. The emphasis in language is first on spoken language, especially the beginning and ending sounds. Next, the child begins to associate things with past experiences (memory) – this is the foundation of vocabulary acquisition and enrichment. Finally, the child attains an understanding of the context of language. Music and art are considered part of the language area because of the opportunities they provide for self-expression.

MANIPULATIVES:

The purpose of this area of the classroom is to help the child understand the form of nature of objects by the sense of touch, develop fine-motor movement as well as manual dexterity and pincer movement, and refine muscle memory. The child will draw on language and concentration to achieve a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

GRACE & COURTESY

There are many opportunities daily to help the child understand “grace” (control of one’s body) and “courtesy” (respect for others) in real-life, contextual situations in the classroom.