Vancouver Montessori School--A better choice for early childhood education and development in the greater Vancouver/Portland area.

Toddler Community Program Description

The Honeysuckle Room at Vancouver Montessori School hosts our toddler community. The children enjoy their beautiful environment furnished with tables, chairs, shelving, sinks, counters and toilets just the right size for them. Well-planned materials to work with meet their growing needs for exploration, movement, practical life, language, socialization, personal care, wonderment of nature, independence, and self-awareness. The atmosphere is stimulating, nurturing and respectful, allowing each child to experience learning through exploration, while feeling safe, confident, and participating as a member of their community.

We offer a year-round program for children ages 12 months to 36 months. Our minimum staff ratio is one adult per seven children. We may have up to 14 toddlers in our program. However, we believe that larger groups of toddlers benefit from having a third staff member present. Children do not need to be walking or toilet trained to enter our program. We offer a half or full day option for either four or five days per week. The foundation of the toddler community is the wide range of the children’s ages (younger children learning from older children) along with a prepared environment and trained staff. Our program builds upon the child’s natural desire for independence (with appropriate limits) and self-awareness.

Our toddler graduates are well prepared to enter their Children’s House (primary level) classroom. Vancouver Montessori School has three Children’s House classrooms. Cascadia Montessori Elementary and Middle School is located a block away from our school.

Our staff is comprised of very dedicated Montessorians. They are very nurturing, supportive and respectful of the children. Their skills in observation allow them to give the children just the right work or assistance they need.

The Honeysuckle Room children may choose from a rich variety of classroom activities. The children love slicing fruit, peeling eggs, scrubbing vegetables, sweeping, washing windows, washing dishes, folding laundry, setting the table, cleaning up water spills, caring for plants etc. There are a multitude of puzzles, shape sorting, pounding, lacing, magnets, object matching and language exercises as well as a comfortable library and a window bench for the children to enjoy. Various art mediums,storybooks, poetry, singing, listening to and moving to music, and exploring nature are also favorites of the children. All materials and activities aid the child in his/her developmental, physical, emotional, social and cognitive needs.

The bathroom is a social area where the children gain experience with dressing and undressing themselves, using the toilet that is just their size, bathroom etiquette, and effective hand washing techniques. The children’s spare clothing and underwear/pull ups are at their level. Staff helps the children to help themselves. This may mean helping children gain confidence, dexterity and muscle strength to dress or undress themselves, or simply to observe a child struggling to pull their pants over their feet and allow them to experience success with minimal interference and guidance.

The children’s resting mats are prepared each morning and left out throughout the day. Parents supply pictures of people and pets that are important to their child. The pictures are then made into a booklet which accompanies the rest mat. Children often know when they need to rest or just need some time away from others. Their mat is a way to meet this need. We often see children go to their mats spontaneously for rest or quiet time.

Our outdoor environment has a generous patio for activities like riding the tricycles and playing basketball. We have additional areas for playing on the grass, driving trucks in the rocks, and climbing tire towers. The children love to help with weeding, planting, watering and picking the flowers, vegetables and fruits from their gardens. We enjoy putting food out for the birds and squirrels. Worms, slugs, spiders, butterflies, etc. are daily favorites to observe.

We offer parents an array of opportunities to be involved in their child’s school. Parent Nights, with topics such as toilet learning, behavior issues, and independence are examples of evening presentations. Conferences are available throughout the year, with a main conference scheduled around the time a child turns two years old. There is an observation window at the classroom entryway. Parents may schedule an appointment to be in the classroom to observe if desired. Parent volunteers are always appreciated. They may sign up to take classroom laundry home, bring in library books, flowers, and hard-boiled eggs. Parents and their child also enjoy bringing items in to share such as produce, bubbles, chalk, bird food, etc. We enjoy a fall and spring picnic with all of our Vancouver Montessori School families.