Locations, Hours & Schedule

ToTH Montessori has two toddler classrooms at our 5th Street campus located at the Arthur Capper Recreation Center and one toddler classroom at our Potomac Ave. campus (opening spring 2025).  

Toddler Program Hours

• 5th Street campus: 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Potomac Ave. campus: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Toddlers may be picked up from school any time between 3 and 5:30 p.m. Children eat lunch and nap at school. Snack is provided in the morning and the afternoon.

All of our programs are five-day-a-week programs. We do not offer the option of partial week schedules.

Sample Daily Schedule

• 8:30-8:45 a.m. Arrival to classroom
• 8:45-10 a.m. Work Cycle, Morning Snack, Circle Time
• 10-11:45 a.m. Playground Time/Neighborhood Walk
• 11:45 a.m.-12 p.m. Music
• 12-1 p.m. Lunch, Toileting and transition to nap
• 1-3 p.m. Nap
• 3-3:45 p.m. Afternoon Work
• 3:45-4:15 p.m. Outdoor Play
• 4:14-5 p.m. Snack, Afternoon activities, Circle Time
• 5-5:30 p.m. Music, stories and dismissal

Curriculum

In a Montessori toddler classroom, daily routines and the essential tasks of caring for oneself provide the foundation for the curriculum. At this stage in their development, children have an absorbent mind and they are capable of rapidly taking in information through their senses. Our guides and teachers carefully prepare the environments and provide opportunities for the children to explore, concentrate and build confidence and independence, all at their own pace. The adults observe the children in order to learn about each child’s interests and capabilities so that they may introduce new materials and lessons that stimulate the child’s innate desire to explore and learn. Children work on developing and refining:

• Language: vocabulary development, verbalizing needs and wants, describing images, having conversations, singing
• Care of self: toilet learning, hand washing, dressing, eating, napping
• Care of environment: cleaning, putting away materials, dishwashing, food preparation
• Fine motor skills: developing hand muscles through picking up and transferring objects, working with tools and utensils, making art works
• Gross motor skills: climbing, balancing, rocking, spinning, running, walking carefully in a line, doing art at an easel
• Socialization: Talking to adults and other children, participating in group circle times and games, learning names, learning manners, practicing empathy and care for others

The Environment

Depending on the size of the classroom, our toddler rooms have between 10 and 16 children enrolled with 2-3 adults at all times. Each classroom is led by a guide who has earned, or is in the process of earning, an infant/toddler Montessori teacher credential from a MACTE-accredited training program. Please check out our staff profiles page for more information about our teachers and their credentials and experience.

Our carefully prepared and beautiful toddler environments are meant to feel like home, with everything sized for a toddler's height and accessible so that children feel both comfortable and empowered. The classrooms feature dedicated areas for children to work independently or together using a variety of materials. There are areas designated specifically for movement, art, reading and meals. The ensuite bathrooms have low toilets and sinks and an area for stand-up diaper changes. The environments are designed to be peaceful, orderly and full of beauty, with items such as real plants, flowers, and art for the children to experience with all of their senses.

Playtime, Meals and Community

Every day the children gather for circle time where teachers read stories, sing songs and engage the children in dancing and movement.

Outdoor playtime is essential and each class has at least one to two hours of outdoor playtime daily. We utilize the on-site playground and also take the children on short neighborhood walks to other nearby play spaces such as Canal Park and the Virginia Avenue Playground.

Children eat snack and lunch together at communal tables. Healthy and balanced snacks are provided by ToTH in the morning and afternoon and lunches are brought from home each day. ToTH is a nut-free school. We serve whole milk in our toddler classrooms. Families who prefer their child have alternative nut-free milk or snack option may bring those items from home to be served to their child.