Our Prepared Environments

The "prepared environment" is Maria Montessori's concept that the environment can be designed to facilitate maximum independent learning and exploration by the child. In the prepared environment, there are a variety of activities and a great deal of movement. Our Montessori classrooms also have an emphasis on order and beauty. Order, because the young child is seeking to make sense of all the impressions they are taking in, and they find comfort in an orderly environment. Beauty, because the young child is absorbing their environment in totality; a lovely aesthetic environment, with natural materials and artistic sensibility, becomes part of the child’s foundation for life.

Montessori Work

The toddlers are offered individual and group lessons, or activities, during the Montessori “work” time and are free to choose their own activities from the shelves. During all activities in the Toddler Community, the use of movement and language is encouraged. By offering real life tasks that require independent movement and increasingly difficult skills, the 12- to 36-month-old becomes confident in using their language and his body. Singing, story-telling, and book reading are offered during planned group gatherings, as well as spontaneously initiated during work time. Purposeful activities, like setting the table, preparing snacks, and washing dishes, mirror adult work and give toddlers in our program a sense of competence and belonging to a community.