Our Infants Program - Our Montessori School in Yorktown and Carmel




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Philosophy

Ratio

Location, Ages & Hours

Working parents are often hard-pressed to find a place where their baby will be well cared for while they work. We invite you to spend an hour in the Infant Room at Our Montessori School, and you'll discover just how good infant care can be.

At Our Montessori School at 4 Glenna Drive in Carmel, infants six weeks to 18 months have an immaculate room of their own, where they can curl up in a carpeted "nest," climb on a carpeted riser, or cuddle up with the teacher.

Philosophy

We take our lead from Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and educator who saw that babies' minds are like sponges-they learn almost effortlessly in the right environment.

Babies stretch and giggle before a baby-height mirror complete with a pull-up bar, and play with a multitude of toys designed to foster specific motor and language skills. At nap-time, infants are tucked into their very own cribs, decorated by their parents.

Finding the best environment for your child is important, especially during the first few years of life. In those years, a baby learns to trust, to pursue curiosity, and to interact with people.

Dr. Susan Ludington, an authority on infant stimulation and the head of the School of Nursing of the University of California at Berkeley, states that any stimulation provided during the first 12 months has more impact on the brain's growth than at any other time in a baby's life.

Research also shows that babies are capable of real social interaction, and they enjoy and benefit from being together. Children who start playing with others early tend to have the largest "social vocabularies" and enhanced social skills, says Dr. Edward Mueller, a developmental psychologist doing research on babies at Boston University. A mother helps a baby learn from the moment of birth by constant contact, lots of attention, talking, singing, games and other activities. While your baby is in our care, our teachers do the same things in an environment especially prepared for babies, and with loving teachers who can observe babies and deduce their needs correctly.

Ratio

Our ratio of babies to teachers is never more than four to one and the teachers have only one responsibility-the care and well-being of the babies in their charge. This makes it possible for each baby to get the individual attention so vital at this age.

Location, Ages & Hours

Our Infant Program is designed with room for eight babies and is located in a spacious, sunny building surrounded by attractive fenced play areas. The same building also houses a toddler class and a nursery/kindergarten class. The school was designed by Anita Olds Associates, one of the nation's foremost designers of spaces for children. The result is so attractive and child-friendly that the licensing official from the Department of Social Services, has said he uses it as a model for the entire five-county area.

Come spend an hour with us. You'll see for yourself what a Montessori education could mean to your child. As you witness the unfolding drama of young children discovering the world for themselves, you may come to the same conclusion as so many of Our Montessori School parents: there could be no wiser investment in the future of their child.

Our Infant Program accepts children from six weeks to 18 months.

The day runs from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., five days a week. A limited number of two, three and four-day children can be accepted. For the convenience of working parents, our extended day service is available at a nominal hourly cost from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. and from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. We are a non-denominational, non-sectarian, licensed child-care program.