Infants and Toddlers

Infant Program

Children ages 6 weeks to 12 months are part of the Infant Program. This is a period of great activity in your child’s development cycle. One of our primary goals is the development of movement and of independence.  The environment we have designed is made to support and respond to the infants’ basic needs for independence, exploration and building of trust and self-esteem.

At Riverchase Montessori we are aware of the ability infants have of absorbing from their surroundings. The daily needs such as diapering, feeding and playing are optimal times for interaction.  Using these times for social learning experiences encourages full participation of the infant and the caregiver. These times become the opportunity for communication and for nurturing.

The infants’ curriculum is based on Physical and Motor Development:  Infants have a sensitive period for movement. Gross motor skills develop rapidly from three months to three years.  By providing the appropriate movement opportunities and maintaining a safe environment that does not restrict the exploration for the infants in the room, motor development is allowed to unfold naturally and at the infants’ own pace.

• Language Development: Infants absorb languages from birth through six years of age.  Therefore, the language spoken by the caregivers all day, as well as the songs they hear, vocabulary of association of objects and their names and the language of affection and love contributes to this phenomenal development of learning to speak.
• Self-Help Skills:   Infants are considered to be initiators, explorers and self-learners.  The caregivers are observers sensitive and available when direct help is needed from an infant, but not so intrusive while the infant solves his/her own body control difficulties.  Infants are encouraged and allowed to solve the problem and to reach their goals by themselves, instead of having this opportunity taken away from them by a well-meaning adult.
• Daily Report:   A daily report is given to parents in order to inform you of the different activities your child participated in, as well as the daily schedule they followed.  This is a way to keep you involved in the daily development of your child.  A schedule assigned by the parent is initially followed until the infant is ready to incorporate to the schedule of the group.

All meals, including breakfast, lunch and three snacks, are cooked and served at school daily as part of your monthly tuition. However, infants ages 6 weeks to 12 months are fed only and strictly what parents recommend.

Extracurricular activities are also part of your tuition: Multi-sensory Gym for Infants and Toddlers on daily basis, Music for Motor Development, Rhymes and Songs.

Toddler Program

Children ages 13 months to 17 months and 18 to 23 months are part of the Toddlers’ Program. This Program prepares the child for the Transition Class.  The curriculum for toddlers is based on a well prepared environment with activities in different areas such as:

• Language:  The program accommodates the child’s sensitive period of language by offering creative material and picture classified cards that contribute to the expansion of   growing vocabularies. The teachers build vocabulary by reading stories, singing songs and preparing for the teaching of the initial sounds with a phonetic approach, establishing the beginning of our reading program. Also, these exercises contribute to the preparation for initial penmanship, by giving the child the opportunity to practice how to hold the pencil.  All these exercises are a natural progression at this age level.
• Mathematics: The concept of quantity and of numeration, counting with manipulative objects from 1 to 10, and recognition of each number as well as initial penmanship of the numbers takes place at this age.
• Sensorial Development: The development of all senses is the primary purpose of this area.   Therefore, presentations regarding discrimination of color, size and shape as well as texture, and scent are given and made available in individual sets for the children to work independently.
• Practical Life: This particular area contributes to exercises related the beginning of Care of Self and Care of Environment. The classroom is carefully prepared for each child to have the opportunity to develop these two aspects by emphasizing the work with the dressing frames, hand washing, wiping face, watering plants, dusting, folding etc.  Exercises of Grace and Courtesy are very important at this age, including setting the table, table manners, as well as the use of words such as “Please” and “Thank you”.   There is an opportunity in the environment for the children to develop large muscle control such as walking, carrying, dancing, etc.  The development of small muscle control is developed through a variety of hand-eye coordination exercises, bead-stringing, pegs, puzzles, folding, pouring, spooning and grasping.  All kinds of transferring exercises set up for the child to fulfill his/her need for repetition is the characteristic of this particular age.
• Cultural Subjects:  Children at this age start to discover the natural aspect of their surroundings and of their environment.  The child’s vocabulary is enriched by the work they do through the puzzles relative to the Parts of the Plant, Leaf, and Flower, and external parts of the Fish, Frog, Turtle, Bird and Horse.

All fresh meals (breakfast, lunch and three snacks) are cooked and served at school daily as part of the monthly tuition. Extracurricular activities also part of your tuition are: Multi-sensory Gym for Infants and Toddlers on daily basis, Music for Motor Development, Rhymes and Songs.