Toddler Program
Our two-year old classrooms offer very young children a unique year of self-development in a tender atmosphere of special understanding, respect, and support.
They are unique in that they provide a very specific structure which fulfills the social, physical, emotional, and psychological needs of each child. In these environments, there is space for movement, space for individual work, and space for group activities. Everything in the environment is proportionate to the child’s size and is designed to be safe and aesthetically pleasing for children. The toddler classroom is simpler and slower paced than the primary (three to six-year old) classrooms.
Two-year old’s are given opportunities to work in the development of language skill, art, music, sensorial, and practical life. The practical life area is particularly emphasized as the activities in this area give children the chance to develop skills to care for themselves and their environment in the following areas: control of movement, and grace and courtesy. Practical life activities are simple and can be accomplished by each child. They offer a repetitive cycle, which helps the child establish patterns of order and sequencing. Due to the fact that these are very real activities, each child becomes grounded in reality. Building the child’s self-esteem is the ultimate goal and this is accomplished through repeated successes with these activities.
Primary Program
Our primary classes are peaceful environments where concentration and independence deepen and grow. As with all authentic Montessori environments this is the children’s classroom and everything is designed around their needs.
The children spontaneously learn through concrete hands-on activities which draw their interest, spirit, and imagination. The classroom environment includes math, language, sensorial, practical life, and cultural areas.
The Primary environment offers an integrated and developmentally based approach to educating the whole child:
Practical Life
Practical Life activities help the child adapt to the environment. Practical Life skills encourage the development of a sense of order and logical thinking, as well as attention to detail, concentration, and the coordination of movement leading to self-control and independence.
Cultural
Cultural materials provide exploration that includes world geography, physical science, zoology, biology, botany, history, and art. Cultural materials introduce the child to the beauty outside the classroom through various hands-on learning and experience. Other than learning about the world around them and how it works, it helps children develop social awareness, open-mindedness, and respect.
Sensorial
Children can learn, identify, and classify what they see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. They learn to differentiate between sizes, dimensions, height, length, width, series, and form. We attend to their observations as they describe and enumerate similarities and differences of the materials presented to them. Sensorial materials continue to challenge children and prepare them for language and mathematics.
Mathematics
Mathematics materials are designed for “hands-on” learning for the child to be able to investigate, calculate, and measure. Children work with a lot of concrete materials to be able to experience how numbers progress in a tactile way. Mathematics materials provide exactness, orientation of order, systematic thinking from simple counting using manipulatives to mathematical equations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division.
Language Arts
Spoken Language, Reading and Writing exercises follow a clear sequence to help the child express themselves verbally and in written form, as well as to be able to understand and appreciate all of the written words around us.
Spanish Program
Early Bird Montessori School offers an optional Spanish environment in our toddler and primary programs. We introduce songs, stories , and the spoken Spanish language that open up the world of Hispanic culture, from literature to art to music and beyond.
Bilingualism has demonstrated cognitive, academic, and personal benefits, fostering strong thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills and heightened empathy. Bilingualism is also additive: the Spanish language skills learned support competency in English. In the Montessori language immersion environment, students develop intercultural skills and gain confidence in navigating the world and life.