Toddler Community (16 months+)

“The education of even a very small child, therefore, does not aim at preparing him for school but for life.”

-Maria Montessori

Nurturing Curious Minds During the Most Important Years

The first three years of life are a remarkable period of growth and discovery. During this time, children develop more rapidly than at any other stage of life, absorbing knowledge through meaningful experiences, careful observation, and purposeful exploration of their environment.

At St. John the Baptist Catholic Montessori, our Toddler Program provides a loving, faith-filled environment where each child is encouraged to explore, discover, and grow at their own pace. Rooted in the Montessori philosophy and our Catholic faith, we honor every child’s natural sense of wonder while nurturing independence, confidence, and a lifelong love of learning.

These early years establish the foundation for future academic success and personal development. Through hands-on Montessori experiences, children develop language, concentration, problem-solving skills, coordination, and social-emotional awareness while experiencing God’s love through meaningful relationships and care for others.

The Montessori Toddler Experience

Independence & Practical Life

Children gain confidence by learning everyday life skills such as dressing, washing hands, toileting, eating independently, preparing snacks, and caring for their personal belongings. These purposeful activities cultivate responsibility, concentration, and self-confidence.

Gross Motor Development

Daily opportunities for movement strengthen coordination, balance, and physical confidence through walking, climbing, running, jumping, balancing, navigating obstacle courses, and outdoor exploration.

Fine Motor Development

Hands-on Montessori materials strengthen fine motor skills through pouring, transferring objects, grasping, using child-sized tools and utensils, art, and practical life activities that prepare children for future writing and academic success.

Care of the Environment

Children learn to appreciate and care for God’s creation by helping clean their classroom, preparing food, watering plants, caring for classroom materials, and practicing responsibility for their environment.

Social & Emotional Development

In our peaceful Montessori community, children develop grace and courtesy while learning cooperation, conflict resolution, patience, kindness, and respect. Daily interactions help children build meaningful friendships and become compassionate members of their classroom community.

Language Development

Language flourishes through conversation, storytelling, music, singing, vocabulary enrichment, books, and meaningful interactions with teachers and classmates. A language-rich environment helps children develop strong communication skills and confidence in expressing themselves.

A Strong Foundation for Faith and Learning

Our authentic Catholic Montessori Toddler Program nurtures the whole child—mind, body, and spirit. Every experience is thoughtfully designed to inspire curiosity, build independence, strengthen concentration, and cultivate a joyful relationship with learning while introducing children to God’s love through everyday experiences.

At St. John the Baptist Catholic Montessori, your child won’t simply prepare for preschool. They will begin a lifelong journey of faith, confidence, compassion, and joyful discovery in a community where every child is known, loved, and encouraged to reach their God-given potential.During the first three years of life, the child develops more rapidly than any other time. At this time, your child absorbs large amounts of information through observation and experiences within the environment. Since these are the years that lay the foundation for later learning, the learning objectives for this age at St. John the Baptist include developing skills such as language, concentration, problem solving, visual discrimination and physical coordination. We seek to honor a child’s natural passion for wonder, curiosity, exploration and discovery.

Our Mission for Every Toddler

Our program is intentionally designed around the unique developmental needs of toddlers. We strive to: Nourish intellectual growth through rich language experiences, sensory exploration, and an orderly environment that lays the foundation for organization, critical thinking, and lifelong learning.Through our program based on the developmental needs of toddlers, we seek to:

Foster a joyful love of learning and a natural sense of curiosity through hands-on exploration.
Build self-esteem by helping each child experience success, independence, and belonging within a caring classroom community.
Encourage friendships while nurturing empathy, compassion, kindness, generosity, and respect for others.
Maximize each child’s incredible “absorbent mind,” creating a carefully prepared Montessori environment where learning happens naturally through exploration and discovery.
Develop inner discipline and sound decision-making by providing the Montessori balance of freedom within clear and consistent boundaries.
Support deep concentration and purposeful work, allowing children to experience the joy and confidence that come from meaningful engagement.
Feed the child’s intellect through exploration with all the senses, a language rich environment, and fulfilling the child’s need for order (which is the foundation for organizing the mind and critical thinking)

Here is a typical day:

Arrival: Children arrive for the school day between 8:35 and 8:45. Before Care begins at 7:30a.m. They start their day by hanging up their coats, putting on their indoor shoes, and greeting their teachers and friends.

Work Cycle: Children have an uninterrupted morning of hands-on activities, and the staff work with children one-on-one or in small groups. Types of activities include:

Practical Life: Children delight in doing activities from everyday life that are scaled down to toddler size. Examples include peeling and slicing bananas for snacks, washing dishes, flower arranging, and practicing zippers.
Fine Motor: We have a variety of manipulatives like puzzles, shape sorters, and stringing beads.
Language: We offer language objects and picture cards to enrich the children’s vocabulary. We enjoy sharing lots of songs, books, and poems.
Art: Our art philosophy is “process not product” and we have different types of art mediums for children to explore including paint, clay, crayons, and chalk.

Outdoors: We go outside to our natural playscape daily.

Half-day: Half day children go home at 12:00pm.

Lunch: Hot lunch is available for purchase, or children can bring a packed lunch from home. We eat our lunch in the classroom. The children set the table, pour milk for themselves, and clean up afterwards.

Nap: Children rest on cots in a designated nap space.

Afternoon: The children eat a snack. Children go outside again or continue exploring the classroom until their parents pick them up. The school day ends at 3:30 pm and after care ends at 5:30 pm.

Toileting: Using the toilet is part of the routine throughout the day. To facilitate toilet learning, all children wear training underwear (no diapers/pull-ups).