Infant & Toddler

Infant and Toddler Communities

The first few years of a child’s life are critical to his/her personality and intellectual development. To attain the best mental and physical capabilities, the young child requires a nurturing environment with interesting and beautiful materials, exposure to rich language, as well as one that promotes their very real need to learn. Our Montessori infant program provides appropriate activities for even the earliest stages of a child’s life.

JADES - AGES 8 WEEKS TO 15 MONTHS

The Nido Experience

Nido(the nest): Assisting the child to engage with the world.

Infant prepared environments at IMA feature sleeping areas with dedicated cribs for each baby, engaging materials on low, accessible shelving, lovingly-handmade mobiles displayed above a movement mat, and an area for self-feeding with infant-sized tables and chairs.

The Nido is designed to be a comfortable, home-like environment for the youngest children. The adults develop lasting, warm relationships with each infant and support the development of hand-eye coordination, self-feeding skills, gross motor skills, and concentration. Infants learn by engaging with each other and specially designed materials such as mobiles, grasping toys, and manipulatives. Infants also enjoy listening to music together and going for strolls around our spacious grounds. The care giving team includes a lead guide, morning assistant and afternoon assistant. The student-teacher ratio is between 3:1 and 4:1.

Infants follow individualized daily schedules provided by parents. Families also receive detailed daily reports. Cooperation and communication between the guides and parents is vital in ensuring a positive experience. Parents know their child better than anyone else, so both parents and caregivers must feel comfortable in exchanging knowledge and experiences about the child.

The Nido Program at IMs operates on a 5 day schedule:

Monday - Friday, 7:30 am - 6:00 pm

SUNSTONES - 14 MONTHS (CONFIDENT WALKERS) TO 3 YEARS

The Toddler Experience

The Young Children's Community. A Preparation for Life.

Children in our toddler programs flourish in a prepared environment that respects, supports, and responds to their basic needs for independence, exploration, and the building of trust and confidence. Our care giving teams are made up of an AMI trained lead Guide, a Spanish Speaking morning assistant, and an afternoon assistant. Our Infant and Toddler environment share a dedicated outdoor play space, and our student-teacher ratio is typically 5:1.

The curriculum is based on the five areas:

Sensorial and Perceptual Development

Motor Development

Self-Help Skills

Language Development

and Social/Emotional Development

The Montessori method focuses on helping children gain functional independence skills. That is, learning to care for their bodies and their environment. Gaining toileting independence is another important aspect of the toddler curriculum. Our toddler communities prepare food for snack daily, which usually involves baking. They also prepare and enjoy community lunch twice per week.

Construction of vocabulary is a part of every aspect of the classroom, from snack time, to working with materials, to group activities. Physical activity is an encouraged and important part of the toddler’s educational experience. Young Children at IMS have plenty of time for outdoor play and exploration. During inclement weather days, the multipurpose room provides a generous amount of indoor play space.

The Toddler Program at IMS operates on a 5 day schedule with two options:

Fully Day: Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 3 pm

Extended Day: Monday - Friday, 7:30 am - 6:00 pm

To learn more, come observe our toddler classrooms.

Infant and Toddler Curriculum

Additional Information

The first few years of a child’s life are critical to his or her personality and intellectual development. To attain the best mental and physical capabilities, the child must have exposure to the proper experiences. Infants and toddlers not only love emotional nurturance, but also an environment which promotes their very real need to learn. The montessori environment provides activities appropriate for even the earliest stages of a child’s development.

Children in a toddler program flourish in prepared environments which respect, support, and respond to their basic needs for independence, exploration, and the building of trust and self-esteem. Any kind of group child care will not work without cooperation between the care givers and the parents. Parental involvement is stressed. Parents know their child better than anyone else. Parents and care gives must feel comfortable in exchanging knowledge and experience about the child.

The curriculum is based on the five developmental areas: Sensory and Perceptual, Physical and motor, Self-Help Skills, language, and Social and emotional.

Sensory and Perception:

The young child absorbs the world around him or her through the five senses, and a rich environment should cater to the child’s senses.

Physical and motor:

Along with the mind, both fine and gross motor skills develop rapidly from three months to three years. Attention to these needs supports balanced development. Physical activity in the young child is an important part of environmental involvement, and thus education.

Self-Help Skills:

The focus is on helping the child enjoy independence; each individual must depend on himself or herself for education.

Language:

The construction of vocabulary is a part of every aspect of the classroom from snack time to manipulating a toy to group activities.

Social and emotional:

A well-rounded and happy child, whose balanced development and happiness have been supported by responsive individual attention, reacts positively with the environment, copes with frustration, and learns easily.