Vista Montessori School Toddler Program
serving children ages 12 months to 3 years of age

Maria Montessori defined the first three years of a person's life as the "unconscious absorbent mind stage." She observed that infants and toddlers soak up everything from their environment without any conscious censorship. She believed, as we do at Vista Montessori, that children should enter this world in a protected environment which provides safety and stimulates development of large and small muscles, visual and auditory discrimination, and refinement of senses of taste, smell, and touch through active involvement with materials and the world around them. The children observe caregivers and want to care for themselves and their environment using real objects, such as pouring water, cleaning tables, washing windows, and sweeping. Letter sounds, counting, and musical notes are also absorbed by toddlers. Some activities the children participate in through the year are: contact with nature in the garden that is planted and cared for by the toddlers; walking heal to toe or tip-toeing like a kitten at circle time; singing rhyming songs and listening to classical music.

One of Dr. Montessori's observations was that young children love order and that most tantrums are the result of the interference with the child's strong need for order in the environment and in their daily routine. Following the same routine every day helps the child develop trust in the world and his or her perception of it, when the order is disrupted the child becomes quite agitated. At Vista Montessori School children between the ages of one and three are provided an orderly classroom with a daily routine suited to the children's needs and developmental stages.

When the children know what is expected of them and are clear about the rules and routine they become self-reliant, helpful, sensitive to the needs and feelings of their peers, calm, and develop a love of learning. Maria Montessori called these qualities "normal" because these are the qualities children are meant to have and develop. When the normalization process is allowed to grow and expand children retain these characteristics into adulthood thereby creating a more peaceful world. 
 

*Enrollment in the Toddler Program is based on the developmental milestones of  walking, sitting in a chair and the ability of the child to self-feed.  Children graduate to the Pre-K Program when they are fully potty trained.  These stages of development mature at different ages for each child.