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The Montessori Developmental
Continuum, continued
Copyright © 1996-2007 NAMTA. All
rights reserved. No one may copy or redistribute this text without
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The
Montessori Infant-Toddler Program
 Adults
who are Montessori-trained at the infant-toddler level are
called Assistants to Infancy. The Montessori
infant-toddler program has several components that offer a
wide variety of options and opportunities for involvement by
parents. Schools that offer infant-toddler programs may offer
one or more of the components described below.
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 Prenatal
Classes
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Prenatal Classes advise
parents of their role during pregnancy and focus particularly
on the psychological and sensory perspective of the infant. Encouragement
is given for parents' "delicate attention" to the child's
developmental turning points in these critical early stages. |
The
Parent-Infant Class
The Parent-Infant Class provides an environment
in which parents and children interact alongside a Montessori-prepared
adult who uses the environment to facilitate their interaction.
Caregivers are taught how to observe what their
babies do in order to know what materials to offer them. The
parent and child typically attend a two-hour classroom session
once or twice a week. In some schools, a once-a-week, two-hour
session, held in the afternoon without babies, involves presentation
and discussion. |
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The group has a limit of ten parent/infant combinations with
two trained staff. |
The
Nido
| The Nido (Italian for "nest"),
often used by babies whose parents work all day, accommodates
no more than nine children from two months to fourteen months
of age with an adult-to-child ratio of one to three. |
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It is equipped with customized stands,
stairs, and bars that the babies use for pulling-up exercises.
The sleeping area is isolated and quiet, with individual mats
for each child. |
| The eating area is equipped
with child-sized tables and chairs instead of high chairs. The
physical care area is located next to a water source (usually
a licensing requirement) with low stools or benches for children
who are learning to change their own cotton underpants. |
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The
Young Children's Community
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The Young Children's Community or Infant Community serves children
who are comfortably walking (approximately age fourteen months)
to age three, in a small and intimate group of twelve children
and two trained staff persons. It has two program options, either
half-day or full-day child care. The environment conforms to the
physical needs of the children, both in the size of the furnishings
and in the opportunities for motor development. There is an observation
area for adults, minimal furniture, tiled floors, maximum natural
light, selected art placed low on the walls, toilets sized for
very small children, and defined spaces to challenge coordination
of movement. The parent-infant class and the infant community use
the same environment, which has three distinct areas: |
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The movement area includes
stairs and a platform; movement mat; push cart; wall bars;
materials for eye-hand coordination such as threading, bead
stringing, cubes on pegs, spheres on horizontal pegs, puzzles,
gluing, folding; and various practical life exercises.
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The practical life area includes
materials necessary for preparing and serving a snack, setting
and clearing the table, sweeping, caring for plants and animals,
dish washing, clothes washing, ironing, polishing, hand washing,
window cleaning, flower arranging, and so on.
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- The language area includes
miniature objects, language nomenclature cards (parts of the
body, family members, pets, components of the neighborhood,
the school, and the home), books (fiction, poetry, nonfiction),
spoken vocabulary enrichment exercises, and other activities
including art and music experiences.
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Program
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About
Montessori > Ages
& Stages > Infant-Toddler
in
affiliation with Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), Amsterdam, Netherlands
