Children start their journey in a Montessori Primary classroom typically between the ages of almost three and three-and-a-half, and will remain in the same classroom for three (sometimes four) years and move from being the youngest to the oldest in their classroom community.

The younger children have been carefully watching the older children, asking for help from these ‘Big Kids’, not even knowing that one day they will be the ‘Big Kid’—the student asked to help a classmate, the student given big responsibilities like walking a friend down to the nurse’s office to get an ice pack or helping with zippers before recess, and becoming the ‘expert’ on almost every material in the classroom.

In a Montessori classroom, this happens if and when a child is ready. Right around the Kindergarten year we typically see that readiness:

• A growing sense of grace and empathy
• An increase in self-control
• An awareness of and care for others
• A child’s ability not only to know the right thing but to do the right thing

In Montessori we focus on each individual child, providing the right material at the right time, the appropriate opportunity to practice and grow a skill the child is demonstrating developmental readiness for. We will take our time or go ahead, at your child’s pace, always moving on from a place of mastery, so the child understands everything they’ve learned. The child’s last year in a Montessori classroom (the Kindergarten year) is the same; but what the child is ready for has grown.

As children in Kindergarten prepare for the next step–the Elementary years, our Primary program provides children Literacy lessons using Reading and Writing Workshop model.

Reading Workshop lessons promote fluency and provide time to nurture the love of reading. These lessons create a community of readers. Students get support from their peers and interact with one another to develop strong literacy skills. Reading Workshop is not just guided reading groups; it’s a sequence of mini lessons that helps achieve the literacy goals the teacher has for each student.

Writing is a daily activity. Writing Workshop lessons encourage children to write by focusing on the process. During the mini lesson, the teacher models what “good writers do” as she draws her picture and writes her words. For the youngest students, whose skills vary significantly, the goal is to elicit a story from a drawing, or allow the student to dictate a story from a drawing. We encourage the student to move from drawing to writing by guiding them to use what they’ve learned in our language lessons to sound out words.

These skills are fostered throughout a child’s entire time in a Montessori Primary classroom.  Then the skills are refined and solidified in that final Kindergarten year. Maria Montessori writes in the Absorbent Mind, that Montessori is an Education for Life.

Yes, absolutely curriculum goals for Toddlers!

Imagine your 16-month old feeding herself with a spoon. Your 22-month-old joyfully picking out his clothes and dressing himself. Your almost 3-year-old helping his kid-brother put on his shoes. This is the power of Montessori.

Our Toddler program at FWM offers a curriculum that emerges from each child’s unique skills and interests. Our teachers are loving, nurturing, and rigorously trained in child development. They create peaceful, supportive, and safe environments for our youngest children. In these classrooms, a child’s natural desire for wonder, curiosity, exploration, and discovery comes alive.

What are curriculum goals for toddlers?

Emotional goals build on the child’s understanding of emotions. They learn to recognize different emotions, express wants and needs, and develop a sense of independence.

Social goals help our children begin the process of understanding and responding to social cues. We see them engage in parallel play and develop a concept of personal space. Our teachers help the children navigate finding words, and Practical Life lessons give the Toddlers an opportunity to be part of and care for their community. 

Cognitive goals work to strengthen the child’s attention span while teaching the routines of the classroom. Children learn to understand the environment. The children observe the people and things around them and apply the skills they have learned to new situations. 

Language goals facilitate the child exploring language and learning how to communicate. Children learn and use new vocabulary, they learn to develop and understand the give-and-take of communication (known as “serve and return” in child development).

Physical goals focus on gross and fine motor skills. We help children gain an understanding of body awareness and control. Activities in the indoor and outdoor environments help to develop coordination, balance, flexibility, and stamina.

Sensory Goals expose children to different types of sensorial experiences. Having tactile materials the child can touch, see, smell, taste, and hear helps the child relate to their environment and the world around them. 

“Let the children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water; and, when the grass of the meadows is damp with dew, let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet; let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath its shade; let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them in the morning as it wakes every living creature that divides its day between waking and sleeping.” ~Dr. Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child, from Simone Davies, The Montessori Toddler: A Parent’s Guide to Raising a Curious and Responsible Human Being