Ages 0-1
Infants
Nurturing The Youngest Learners
The Adventure Montessori Nido community is a carefully prepared home-like environment designed for the changing developmental needs of the infant from 6 weeks of age to walking. Nido, the Italian word for nest, is appropriately used in describing the infant room’s safe, cozy atmosphere for beginning life. Each classroom has specific areas for awake time, eating, sleeping and personal care routines. Each Montessori caregiver is attentive to the individual needs of each infant and is highly trained in observation skills and child development.
Montessori Beginnings
Often when families are touring a traditional Montessori Nido environment, one of the first things they notice is the uncluttered, open space. Then they begin to wonder where all the accessory equipment is, such as high chairs, walkers, swings and cribs. The answer is that all these pieces of equipment inhibit the infant’s ability to freely move about and explore his/her environment and are not used in a Montessori classroom.
Even before an infant can crawl, he/she discovers that by wiggling out of the floor bed, exploration can continue! When encouraged and allowed to explore uninterrupted, they absorb a plethora of information about the real world they live in. Understanding about spatial relationships, cause and effect and problem-solving techniques are all foundational concepts learned by moving, touching, seeing, hearing, tasting and smelling.
