Pre-Toddlers: Ages 1 to 2
From the time a child is born, each one is considered a truly unique and special individual, respected as a valuable human being. Our work as the adults in each child’s life is to provide love, care and guidance every step along the way of life. The purpose of the Montessori Pre-Toddler program is to give these very young children the best environment in which to grow.
As in every Montessori program, the classroom environment is designed especially for the children it will serve. The teachers have been chosen because of their experience and natural ability and desire to work with children between the ages of twelve weeks and two years old. They are keenly aware of the needs and interests of these young children, and they want nothing more than to assist them in their development.
A child’s day in the Pre-Toddler program is much like a day at home-full of care, conversation, play time, rest time and lots of love. Each day is a day of growing, learning and individual steps along the way to becoming the person he or she is meant to be.
Toddlers: Ages 2 to 3
Provides a stimulating and developmentally fulfilling environment, supporting the young child’s need for exploration and drive for independence. Within the Toddler community the sensitive periods for movement, language, and order are fostered through choices in the curriculum and by the structure of the day.
The toddler curriculum contains components for the Primary curriculum, but varies from it because children 24-36 months old are in a very special stage of development. It is a period characterized by the need to explore everything, move and develop large motor coordination and strength.
Primary: Ages 3 to 5
The learning areas within the Primary classroom include a wide-ranging curriculum: practical life, sensorial activities, language, math and cultural studies (art and music, history and geography and science). Emphasis is given to the study of ecology and international studies. Ample opportunity is provided for the development of fine and gross motor skills. When appropriate, a foreign language may be introduced. WCM recognizes the importance of the child’s finding harmony between mind and body during this period of early learning.
Kindergarten: Ages 5 to 6
The purpose of Kindergarten, a year in which a child transitions into the Elementary school experience, is already incorporated into our philosophy of the third year in Woods Creek Montessori’s Primary Curriculum. In the third year, a Primary environment offers a child time to fully discover their abilities and what they find challenging. They have explored all areas of the curriculum and are ready to put their gained knowledge to the test. They are given opportunities to expand this concrete knowledge through advanced, hands-on work with the materials, such as proficiency in phonetic reading, composing writing with knowledge of the parts of speech, more abstract realms of higher math (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), and participation in science, history, geography, and art studies.