Research clearlyshows that themost important pe-riod in a humanbeing’s educationaland emotional de-velopment is not,as originallythought, the yearsof high school and

college but ratherthe first six years oflife.

We know, of course,that the brain is nota muscle;however,like a muscle, thebrain developsthrough active use.This is especiallytrue in the years ofinfancy and earlychildhood.

We invite you to get more information about Montessoriby going to www.Montessori.org, reading The Montes-sori Way or How to Raise an Amazing Child, talking tothe school admissions director or head of school, orreading some other brochures in the series.

The Montessori Foundation19600 East SR 64 • Bradenton, FL 34212

941-729-9565 • 800-655-5843 www.montessori.org

At no other age has the child greater need of intelligent help…”

— Dr. Maria Montessori“

TheMontessoriFoundation© 2009

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Why Start in an Infantor Toddler Program?

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In the past, many peoplepictured a child’s mind as

a blank slate on whichadults, through instruction,could “write out” the content

of a good education.Likewise, anothercommon meta-phor was that ofan empty bowl,

waiting to be filledwith the contents of the school’s curricula. Dr. MariaMontessori demonstrated that both concepts were in-accurate.

The young child’s mind is more like that of an acuteobserver or scientist who is eager to learn, explore,try new things, and master new skills. But most im-portantly, she recognized that the earlier we begin aprogram of intellectual, physical, sensory, and artisticeducation, the more dramatic the results, as children

demon-strate theycan con-centrate,absorb,masternew ideas,and de-velop newskills.

This is atime oftremen-dous braingrowth inthe areasof lan-

guage, spatial relationships, music, art, social graces, andso much more. If, during this period, the mind is stimu-lated by the child’s exposure to a rich environment, thebrain will literally develop a muchstronger and lasting ability to learnand accomplish.

� Parent-Infant Programs: Theseprograms are designed to assist parents of veryyoung children in understanding child developmentand the Montessori strategies for helping parents torespond to the needs they observe in their infants.These programs give parents an opportunity to ob-serve their children and, through discussion, learnhow they can best respond to their babies’ needs.

� Montessori Infant-Care Programs: For those whoneed all-day care, there are a handful of MontessoriInfant-Care pro-grams, whichnormally acceptinfants aged sixweeks to fifteenmonths of age.With infants, theschedule of theday is dependent on their needs. Each baby has a dif-ferent schedule for feeding and sleeping.

� Toddler Half-Day Programs: These programs willnormally run for two or three hours a day. Some will

accept toddlersfrom fifteen monthsand older, althoughthis lower age rangemay vary due tolocal regulationsand the school’s de-cision about how itwishes to organizethe program. Gener-ally, the low end offifteen months is followed because by that age, mostchildren are fairly mobile and have become very in-dependent. Most toddler programs will begin with asomewhat older child of eighteen months, or even asold as twenty-four months. These groups will com-monly include children up to thirty-six months ofage, at which time the child is normally ready tomove into a Montessori three-to-six class.

� All-Day Toddler Programs: These programs arequite similar to the half-day toddler class, except thatchildren may remain all day (nine to ten hours).Obviously, inthese programs,accommodationsmust be madefor napping,meals, outdoortime and play,art, food prepa-ration, and otheractivities. Be-cause of the lux-ury of theextended hours,these programsprovide more tochildren.

There are four com-mon types of Infant/Toddler programs offered ...

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