Pre-Primary Curriculum: Ages 2 to 3 Years
The toddler class size is small and inviting to make it feel like home for the youngest child. It represents a period of self-development, learning self-help skills, and preparation for the Primary Program. The class is designed to assist the child toward independence, social awareness, respect, and the development of motor skills and language.
Through song, dance, and freedom of choice, the toddlers have access to a variety of large muscle activities that offer them opportunities to jump, climb, balance, crawl, and skip. These exercises, as well as creative art activities, are offered as choices for each child. This freedom in a safe place is crucial to the toddler program. However, it is tempered by two important limits that will be beneficial for a lifetime — respect for others and respect for the environment.
The areas covered in a Montessori environment in our toddler program are listed below.
Practical Life
- Coordination of Movement and Exercises for Large Muscle Groups: jumping, climbing, dance, running, walking, carrying exercises, etc.
- Hand-eye Coordination and Exercises for Small Muscle Groups: bead stringing, pegs, puzzles, gluing, folding, pouring, transferring, spooning, grasping.
- Care of Self: dressing frames, hand washing, combing hair, and wiping face.
- Care of Environment and Grace and Courtesy: sweeping, wiping table, setting table, table manners, saying "thank you", "please", and other kind words.
Sensorial Work
- Refinement of the Senses: size, shape, color, texture, smell, and taste.
- Color of the Month: emphasis on a color. Art activities, sorting, and matching exercises are based on a chosen color for the month.
Language
- Building Vocabulary: classified vocabulary.
- Calendar: days of the week and months of the year.
- Story Books: There is a book selection of the month. Most of the books that we review are Caldecott Award winning books.
- Music and Finger Plays.
- Felt Story Board.