Toddler
Welcome to our Toddler Community
Here at Cathedral Hill Montessori School we believe Montessori education provides children with a strong foundation for life. We felt it was important to offer a Toddler Community as well as a Children’s House to develop and instill in young children a lifelong love of learning, joyfulness, independence, and concentration. This environment focuses on meeting the developmental needs of children 16 to 33 months, includes purposeful materials based in reality, and provides opportunities for children to choose and actively engage in activities based on their interests.
Practical Life
We begin by encouraging children to practice independence by refining their practical life skills. Practical life materials lay the foundation for any Montessori environment and help create a bridge for the child between home and the community. There are several areas of practical life, including care of the self, care of the indoor and outdoor environments, grace and courtesy, movement of furniture, and food preparation. These activities aid children’s development of movement, language, and concentration, while helping them learn to sequence a series of actions and adapt to the culture of the community. In addition, the natural play yard outdoors engages children’s sense of exploration and sensitivity toward nature. We offer children experiences in the reality of life, which fosters self-esteem by sending the message that they are valuable contributors to their community. Children spend much of their day joyfully dressing and undressing, washing hands, learning to use the toilet, watering plants, sweeping, scrubbing tables, and preparing food in order to practice the skills needed to be independent.
Language
We provide our children in the toddler community with a language-rich environment. Adults speak directly to children and consistently use clear articulation, precise grammar, and specific vocabulary. Children at this age have a special ability to absorb language and we provide them with the best example of it during this sensitive period of spoken language acquisition. In addition to how speech is modeled, we also include books, poetry, song, nomenclature objects, and picture cards to develop language usage and vocabulary. Adults create a framework of trust and interest in which children want to communicate and share with others as well.
Art and Music
In the toddler community art is presented as creative expression and not to generate a product. These materials are always available in the environment for children to work with and include drawing, various forms of painting, chalk, and clay. Opportunities for sewing, using glue, and cutting with scissors are also presented. Another form of self-expression, music, is ever-present in the toddler community. A musical environment is prepared that includes listening to recorded music, playing instruments, and singing. Both art and music also provide extensive possibilities for broadening language and vocabulary.
Movement
Children are able to move about the toddler environment freely, within limits, which allows them to develop and refine large motor coordination. Indoors there are opportunities for movement games, yoga, and dancing, while outside there are climbing boulders, a bridge, tricycles for riding, wheelbarrows and wagons to push and pull, a balance beam, and plenty of space to run. We also introduce seasonal activities like shoveling snow, sweeping, and raking leaves. In general, movement is very meaningful in Montessori environments because it is integrated with the use of the materials. Children are allowed to use free, purposeful movement, enabling them to learn concretely.
