Toddler Program

The Classroom

Our classroom is a loving, caring, safe, and warm atmosphere for toddlers age 18 months through 3 years. It is a prepared environment that meets the physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual need of the toddler. The natural unfolding of the child is only achieved through the concentrated effort of the child. Toddlers must be free to experience and manipulate objects in their surroundings. Their sensitive periods are language, order and movement. During our group time, we enjoy traditional songs, games and finger plays incorporating the Spanish language. The class is taught by a certified Montessori teacher who is a native Spanish speaker and has 20 years experience in Early Childhood Development.

The Prepared Environment

A "toddler" is a child in transition - a child with particular needs and abilities which can best be aided through the Montessori environment.
This environment is different from the pre-primary class because the child is in a different stage of development and exhibits specifically different behaviors. It is for these reasons that the toddler class exists and that specific training is necessary.
Classically, we think of humans having five senses. However, in the Montessori toddler environment, we seek to aid the development of seven senses. The familiar senses; touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. The other two are the vestibular sense, which in short hand, is the sense of balance, and the proprioceptive sense, which is one’s sense of the bodies location in space.
The toddlers will work from open shelves on self correcting materials for language, numbers, art, sensorial, and practical life development. Three elements that must be considered in the toddler development are time, space, and freedom, which is why our classroom is designed to meet all these needs and the staff is trained to aid when needed. The toddler needs information, logical limits, flexibility and support.
In a Montessori Environment a teacher does not interrupt a child when they are concentrating on their work because it will stop the development.

The learning Method

The toddler is in the developmental stage that Montessori has termed the "Unconscious Absorbent Mind". The teacher in a Montessori environment is trained to put the toddler in touch with her/his environment aiding them in a lifetime of " The Love of Learning".
We provide children with their first steps in learning the Spanish language. We offer children sounds of a foreign language during a critical period of their linguistic development.
The children will be enchanted with soothing songs, rhymes, finger plays and words as they naturally absorb Spanish speech sounds and introductions. You will take great pleasure in your child’s extraordinary linguistic feats.
The best predicator for successful acquisition of a language is early exposure. Moreover, the child will be better prepared to learn subsequent languages and to reap the numerous cognitive, social, and academic benefits of multilingualism.

The Spanish Immersion Montessori Toddler Class

Your child will be surrounded by the Spanish/English language during her/his day. They will have all the benefits of a Montessori toddler class just with the immersion of the Spanish language as well . The teachers are all fluent in the Spanish language and have many years of experience working with toddlers.
Through songs, movement, finger plays and dramatic play, the children will start developing their linguistic feats in the Spanish and English. During this critical period, languages are learned easily and seamlessly. Toddlers are like little sponges, their rapid linguistic development is extraordinary and enviable.
The teachers in the class will speak both in Spanish and English to ensure the child understands. The objective of the class is to encourage and enjoy the Spanish language as well as making sure your child feels secure and comfortable at any given time, in the loving, caring, nurturing environment.