Many working parents are looking for a safe and healthy environment for their very young children. Options for child care are limitless and varied in what they have to offer a young child. However, current research shows us that the most crucial part of a child’s development happens in the unconcscious absorbent mind, from 0-3 years old. That being said, why wouldn’t any nurturing parent want the most prepared and beneficial environment for their child? This article, Montessori Infant-Toddler Programs; The Best Beginning, from The Montessori Way will help you determine if a Montessori Toddler program is the best fit for your child.
“This is a time of great sensitivity to language, spatial relationships, music, art, social graces and so much more. If, during this time, the mind is stimulated by the child’s exposure to a rich environment, the brain will literally develop a much stronger and lasting ability to learn and accomplish.” Read more...
Current research and various studies support Maria Montessori’s approach to Early Education. She discovered that children 0-6 years old were in an absorbent mind, where children absorb information from their environment with little to no effort. Montessori wrote and spoke about “Sensitive Periods”, which are periods in a person’s development when they are more responsive to certain stimuli and quicker to learn particular skills. She also taught us that when these crucial stages are missed (which she referred to as “dropped stitches”, learning becomes a more difficult process. For example, children who are exposed to a second language in their first six years have an advantage over people who learn a second language later in life, when the sensistive period for language development has passed.
Simply put, a child’s early years lay the foundation for all that is to come. In recent years, researchers have learned that the human brain develops the vast majority of its neurons, and is at its most receptive to learning, between birth and three years of age. In fact, the intake of new information is critical to the formation of active neural pathways (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).
MCS Toddlers do scrubbing work.
The Toddler Montessori environment is carefully designed to meet the children’s needs in this critical stage of development. Exploration of their environment through the five senses coupled with a rich socially prepared environment with children of different ages and abilities allows Toddlers the opportunity to develop the following:
meaningful relationships, mutual understanding, and approprite social skills
values and ethics
motor skills
creativity & imagination
self correction and overcoming fear of making mistakes
self expression through arts, music, dance, building and exploration of materials
ability to process emotions and life events in a safe and loving environment
cooperation
development of language
independence
control of body
sense of order
Montessori Community School is currently accepting applications for our Toddler program. Toddler enrollment is limited to the beginning of the academic school year, August, and January. Contact us for a tour now!
