Infants
from birth to 18 months
“The baby’s fundamental need - precisely that he is a human being, is to be loved. But it takes a mature person to love a baby, because love takes time, love takes patient, love takes fortitude. The baby needs time to be understood: he needs time in everything he does.”
In the Montessori Method, there are 4 critical areas of infant development:
1. Movement
2. Sensory Perception
3. Language
4. Order
By preparing an environment that allows infants to explore these four areas, an extraordinary amount of development can happen in the very first year of life. Below are three ways we prepare an environment conducive to this development.
sign language
We teach and use sign language. This is an important preverbal and emerging language skill which enables babies to communicate needs and desires quickly and with less frustration while helping them learn early verbal communication.
Nutrition
We are very particular about what infants consume as their nutrition is equally important to their care and learning. We take great care in food handling and delivery, whether it is mother’s breast milk or formula, and have a strong emphasis on cleanliness. Additionally, at TenderNest Childcare we feed infants and children only high quality, natural and fresh homemade foods. By following the food pyramid guidelines, we satisfy all the nutritional needs of your little one. We also satisfy parents’ needs by providing vegetarian and vegan food.
Music and Rhythm
Infants are rocked with soothing songs and comforted with developmentally appropriate music that soothes and relaxes. This attunes their ears and bodies to rhythm and nurtures a deep appreciation for the cadence of music and speech, which is an important language prerequisite.