Toddler Program

An academic program for students 18-36 months old.

A Beautiful Environment

In a Montessori environment your toddler will be with teachers – loving, nurturing and rigorously trained in child development – who create peaceful and supportive and safe environments for your youngest children. In these spaces a child’s natural passion for wonder, curiosity, exploration and discovery comes alive.

At the Santa Monica Montessori School we provide a beautiful environment year-round for our two and three year olds to explore and develop at their own unique pace. The children begin to work on socialization, toileting, and using the research-based tangible Montessori educational materials. These materials help the child gain independence, increase hand-eye coordination, and develop a positive self-image.

A Community

Our students grow together into a close-knit, caring community. When children work, learn and grow together, they learn much more than any of them could learn alone!

“Help Me To Do It Myself”

Your child has a natural drive to be independent which we encourage by creating an environment where everything is just the right size for her to do things on her own. Child sized tools that fit her tiny hands allow her to prepare a snack and serve it to friends. A miniature broom empowers her to clean up on her own. She is taught the skills of self-care and toilet training. Your child learns a set of concrete life skills and self-confidence – but, more importantly, develops the belief that she can choose to make a genuine impact on her world.

A Beautiful Environment

Our bright and sunny toddler classrooms are specially designed for your child between the ages of 18 and 36 months. It is a world scaled down to your child’s size. Here, your child paints, cooks, waters the garden, sings songs with friends and plays with materials that develop fine and gross motor coordination.

Absorbing Language

We surround your child with rich and stimulating conversation to support this once-in-a-lifetime period of rapid language development. Your child, trying to blow bubbles, might be encouraged with “Blow! Can you make the air move just like the wind?” Your child’s mind effortlessly absorbs the new vocabulary, which plants the seeds for reading, writing and self-expression in the future.

A Joyful Experience

Maria Montessori once said, “One test of the correctness of the educational procedure is the happiness of the child.” Take a peek into our Toddler classroom and you will see children who are happy, engaged and deeply connected to their friends and teachers. As a result, your child develops a deep affinity for school and a true love-for-learning.

Ready To Move Up

Sometime between the ages of 2 1/2 to 3 years of age, your child’s language skills and self-expression will develop rapidly; he will express a growing confidence in independence and a keen interest in broader concepts; he will want to know what lies ahead, outside of the Toddler Classroom. At this point, he is ready to move up to the Early Childhood Program, for children from the ages of 3 to 6.