“We feel very fortunate to have found an environment like this for our child. It’s an incredible place and is unique compared to anything else we’ve seen in the Twin Cities. ”
A Beautiful Environment
Our beautiful and sunny toddler environment is specially designed for your child between the ages of 16 months and 3 years. It is a world scaled down to your child’s size. Here, while fully immersed in a rich language environment all day, your child paints, waters the plants, sings songs with friends and works with materials that develop fine and gross motor coordination.
Not a classroom, a community!
The children grow together into a close-knit, caring community. When children work, learn and grow together, they learn much more than any of them could learn alone.
Some refer to this developmental period as “The Terrible Twos.” We disagree; toddlers are terrific. We love everything about them – their energy, determination and curiosity – and purposefully created a very special place for your toddler to learn.
Help Me Do It Myself
Your child has a natural drive to be independent which we encourage by creating an environment where everything is just the right size for her to do things on her own. Child sized tools that fit her tiny hands allow her to prepare and serve herself a snack. A miniature broom empowers her to clean up on her own. She works towards achieving functional independence, which includes the skills of self-care and care of the environment around her. Your child learns important life skills through which she gains self-confidence. And, importantly, she develops the belief that she can choose to make a genuine impact on her world.
Practice Makes Permanent
Often, children who don’t do things for themselves simply haven’t been given the knowledge or the opportunity. We take a different approach – by observing your child closely, providing just the right lesson when he is ready and then allowing him to practice again and again (and again!) until he masters it. Mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities in an atmosphere of patience, trust, and respect.
Absorbing Language
We surround and involve your child in rich and stimulating conversations to support this once-in-a-lifetime period of rapid language development. Your child’s mind effortlessly absorbs new vocabulary which plants the seeds for writing, reading, and self-expression in the future and eventually becoming a world citizen.
An Environment Conducive to Learning
Where so many early childhood programs are chaotic and overwhelming, parents are often surprised to see the peaceful tone of our Toddler Community. The calm atmosphere and lack of distraction helps your child develop impulse control and concentration, preparing her for future learning.
A Joyful Experience
Maria Montessori once said, “One test of the correctness of the educational procedure is the happiness of the child.” Take a peek into our Toddler Community and you will see children who are happy, engaged, and deeply connected to their friends and guides. This helps your child develop a deep affinity for school and a true love-for-learning. She is making first friends and learning how to function within a community with peers, a life-shaping experience for your child.
Exploration
To be a toddler is to be curious. There are so many things to see, touch, hear, feel, and do in the environment! Beautiful materials that stimulate his senses are rotated frequently on low shelves to pique your child’s curiosity. He is encouraged to move freely around the classroom, to choose activities and explore his own interests.