The first three years of a child’s life are times of intense and accelerated development. The child’s brain and intellect are racing. The child’s personality is emerging. During this time, it is crucial that the child’s unique needs are met, that their growth is aided, that they encounter no obstacles, and that they are given the time to explore their world. All of this happens in a loving, warm environment created by a committed, nurturing teaching staff. The teacher’s role is to support the child’s discoveries, keeping them safe and secure. At MCH, all of the Infant/Toddler Lead teachers are Montessori certified.
Our Infant/Toddler Program gives each child the freedom to:
  • explore
  • move
  • be successful
  • make choices
  • take as much time as is necessary to master a task
  • join in or watch
The program provides:
  • a focus on self-care and independence
  • Certified Montessori Infant/Toddler teachers
  • low adult-child ratios
  • a loving, nurturing community
  • specially designed Infant/Toddler environments
  • a committed, highly trained teaching staff
  • an introduction to American Sign Language
  • extraordinary outdoor environments that include animals, gardening and explorations of nature

Infant Program

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A natural environment for a baby is one that provides careful and observant caregivers, and a safe, gentle, interesting place for the infant to  explore, rest, and develop.

Our Infant program nurtures the sense  of trust and security in each child within a warm, specially designed  environment. Infants, under the watchful eyes and guidance of caregivers, have a safe space in which to grow and freedom to move within that space. Physical, social, language, and cognitive development are a vital part of our Infant program. Most importantly, we talk to infants, rock them, hold  them and encourage them to try new things as they grow.

Along with our low adult-child ratio, this emphasis on individual care allows the Infant community staff to follow each baby’s own rhythms for sleeping, eating, and activity.
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Toddler Program

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The Toddler program is designed to meet the needs of each child, while emphasizing movement, play, manipulation, exploration, socialization and autonomy. Children are given a free choice of work and are encouraged to proceed at their own pace. Children learn according to their own individual capabilities and enjoy a sense of freedom and spontaneity within a secure framework of daily routines. 

The Montessori toddler curriculum includes care of self, meal preparation, care of environment, care of others, language exploration, music, fine and gross motor activities, and exercises of daily living. From low shelving and toddler-sized furniture to materials especially designed to meet each child’s  individual developmental needs, the Toddler classroom is carefully set up to be warm and inviting to these small explorers.

Since toddlers are especially committed to achieving independence, our teachers provide responsive individual attention as your child deals with positive experiences as well as frustration. 

Learn more about key components of the Montessori Philosophy that are practiced in our Infant Toddler Program

Concentration

​Dr. Maria Montessori spoke passionately about nurturing the inner freedom of children. She believed that all children have within them an inner teacher or guide that urges them to seek full achievement of what they undertake.  She also believed that teachers and parents have the capacity to nurture their inner freedom by allowing them to follow their inner guide, or obstruct it by interrupting or stepping in to help when a child shows any sign of struggle. 
 
Our teachers in the infant and toddler program at MCH take the role of nurturing concentration very seriously. This is done through close observation, a well-organized environment full of developmentally appropriate and enticing materials to spark their curiosity, and a gentle and loving approach that encourages independence. 

Practical Life: Self-Care and Care of the Environment

​One of the pleasures of watching a child grow is being shocked out of taking the mundane for granted. The most ordinary things that we seemingly know without thinking and can do without trying, are for the child wondrous, new discoveries and engaging, joyous challenges. This includes the everyday routines and practices of life: unpacking food, dressing oneself, toileting, cleaning, and more—known in the Montessori classroom as “Practical Life”. 
 
For the child, these activities are new, sometimes daunting, and exciting tasks that are visibly part of the human world and are empowering to master. 
 
This video shows how these monumental feats are accomplished at the infant and toddler level here at MCH.