At Mission Montessori, the class size is small and inviting to make it feel like a home for the youngest children.It is a period of self-development, learning self-help skills, and preparation for the Primary program. Our program is designed to assist the child towards independence, social awareness, respect and the development of motor skills and language.

The children 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 song, dance and creative art activities are offered to each child to choose. This freedom in a safe place is crucial to the toddler program. It is tempered, however, by two important limits that will be beneficial for a lifetime: respect for others and respect for the environment.

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, bead-stringing, pegs, gluing, puzzles, folding, pouring, spooning and grasping. Care of self is emphasized with dressing frames, hand washing, combing hair and wiping face. Grace and Courtesy are foremost in the training, including setting table, table manners, wiping and sweeping and using kind words such as "please" and "thank you."

A look at infant/toddler programs

In the sensorial area we are concerned with refinement of the senses: size, shape, color, texture, smell and taste.

Building vocabulary with calendar activities, story books, music and finger plays and felt story board is a natural progression at this age level.

Math is presented with calendar and counting games, and associating quantity to 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.