The purpose of the Infant Development Program at Excellent Montessori School is to encourage, assist, and protect the normal development of each child. The primary goals include the development of movement and independence. Children in the Program will flourish in prepared environments which respect, support and respond to their basic needs for independence, exploration and the building of trust and self-esteem. We believe that any kind of group child care will not work without the cooperation between caregivers and the parents. Parental involvement is stressed; parents know their child better than anyone else. Parents and caregivers must feel comfortable in exchanging knowledge and experience about the child. During the early years of life, Dr. Maria Montessori felt that “the first thing the child’s education demands is the provision of an environment in which he or she can develop the powers given by nature.” Quite literally, the school environment IS the curriculum. The structure of the curriculum is based on five developmental areas: Sensory and Perceptual, Physical and Motor, Self-help Skills, Language, and Social and Emotional. Dr. Maria Montessori emphasized the need for a rich environment. While providing a structured, and thus. familiar environment, the needs of individual children are met.

The curriculum for toddlers includes practical life, sensorial, language, math, cultural disciplines, plus the virtue program. In addition, we are joined by specialty teachers who lend their expertise in teaching the children music, Spanish, sign language, and gardening. In practical life, attention is paid to developing large muscle groups, walking, and carrying exercises, dancing, etc. The small muscle groups are developed through hand-eye coordination exercises such as bead-stringing, pegs, gluing, puzzles, folding, pouring, spooning, and grasping. Care of self is emphasized with dressing frames, hand washing, combing the hair, and wiping the face. Grace and courtesy are foremost in the training, including setting the table, table manners, wiping, sweeping, and using kind words such as “please” and “thank you.” In the sensorial area, we are concerned with a refinement of the senses: size, shape, color, texture, smell, and taste. Building vocabulary with calendar activities, storybooks, music, fingerplays, and felt storyboard fun is a natural progression at this age level. Math is presented with calendar and counting games and associating quantity to a symbol. In the cultural area of the curriculum, great artists and composers are introduced with the exposure to their works. Even a brief introduction to the continents can be seen through the use of songs, games, pictures, and artwork. Like our Primary classes, the children enjoy special lessons in Spanish, sign language, gardening, and music. Some of the extra-curricular activities are also made available for parents to choose to sign their children up for individually.

Our primary curriculum areas are designed to broaden the child’s horizon while fulfilling the needs every child has for an ordered learning environment.