Our Toddler Program
Are you looking for a Montessori Toddler or Early Childhood Education Program (ECEP) for your child in Guelph? The Montessori School of Wellington is the only CCMA-accredited Montessori school in the Guelph area.
A Montessori school provides a wonderful child-centred learning environment, as an alternative to your typical daycare program.
The Toddler program accepts children between 1 ½ and 2 ½ years of age, who may continue in the program for up to 1 year (until Casa or pre-school age). In our program, parents will appreciate knowing their child will develop their language skills, build independence in hygiene routines, and begin to recognize songs and symbols as their young minds progress through a daily curriculum.
Our classrooms have a two-year age mix specifically designed so older children can help younger ones, younger children can observe more advanced work, and all students can develop a sense of respect for one another.
Signs Your Child Is Ready for Our Toddler Program
When considering if your child is ready for our toddler program, please ask yourself the following questions:
- Is my child beginning to learn how to express themselves through scribbling or playing with toys?
- Are they beginning to understand the relationship between their actions and their environment, such as what happens if they throw toys on the ground?
- Is my child attempting to form words, instead of crying?
Your child is unique in both disposition and their relation to their environment. Even if your child meets the minimum age requirements, there is no definitive time that all children are ready for a Montessori education program. You should be able to identify some of the above behaviour in your child before joining our toddler program.
Montessori Toddler Program
Our Montessori programs for toddlers focus on the seven traditional areas of learning. Every classroom is fully equipped with Montessori materials for these different areas, including:
- Language — The materials and experiences in the child’s environment influence your toddler’s language progression. Toys like puzzles, classifying shapes, matching cards, and reading stories aloud help children’s language skills progress.
- Mathematics — We allow children to move at their own pace through math-related exercises. We make the process of developing logical skills fun, with activities like counting animals, stacking blocks, solving puzzles, and sorting shapes.
- Practical Life — These child-sized materials are designed to help our students understand simple day-to-day adult activities, such as eating, washing, cleaning, and so on. Having mealtimes together help toddlers explore their five senses, develop healthy eating habits, and gain positive social skills.
- Diapering & Toilet Training — Each child has an assigned cubby area to store clothes and diapering items.
- Culture — Cultural materials allow students to explore geography and the different peoples of the world through maps, puzzles, flags, land and water forms, and more.
- Art & Music — Art and music are integrated into our daily classroom activities with drawing and painting, singing, listening to music, and dance.
About Our Montessori School
Founded in 1996, The Montessori School of Wellington is located at 2 Samuel Drive, Guelph, in a beautiful residential neighbourhood.
In each of our classrooms, we have a trained Montessori teacher and a Montessori-trained assistant and/or French teacher, each with their own responsibilities. Our teachers are either A.M.I. (Association Montessori Internationale) or MACTE (Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education) accredited.
In addition, the majority of our teachers hold diplomas in Early Childhood Education and are members of the College of Early Childhood Educators. Each class includes no more than 24 children and maintains a ratio of 1:8 teachers to students.
