The Toddler Community

Our youngest students are the toddlers who begin school between the ages of 23 and 29 months. This is the only MCS classroom with students all the same age. The Toddler Community consists of 12 children with one Montessori trained teacher and one assistant or intern.

Toddlers come to school Monday through Friday from 8:15 to 11:30. The daily schedule includes time for individual work. Toddlers work with language enrichment materials, hand-eye coordination materials, art materials, and practical life materials (such as plant watering, mopping, and table washing). The class also has group time for singing, reading, music or movement. They spend time outside each day, weather permitting, and they have a snack. Typically, most toddlers wear diapers and are not yet toilet-trained.

Toddler Orientation
At the beginning of the year, the toddlers begin on a unique, shorter schedule so they can become accustomed to one another, their teachers, and their classroom. The class is divided into two groups. These two groups attend school separately for abbreviated periods for the first two weeks of school. In the third week the two groups attend together, but still for an abbreviated time. Each week the length of time spent at school increases, so that by the end of the three weeks of orientation, all of the children will be ready to come to school for the full three hours.