A toddler program and community that supports your growing child.

Are you searching for a nurturing community, highly-trained teachers, and a school that feels like a second home? Then join us at Butler Montessori. Our faculty know and love your children and they're committed to helping your child learn the skills that will help them thrive now and in the future. Learn more about the Young Children's Community and how it can serve your child in this video.

How are we different than the daycare or preschool down the street?

Our AMI-certified Young Children's Community (YCC) Guides (teachers) are trained to support the social and emotional growth of children ages 1.5–3 years. We spark the love of learning by creating a caring and prepared environment for learning. In this video, discover how Butler Montessori's YCC program supports your child more than a traditional daycare or preschool. 

Practical Life

Children learn through observing what the people around them do and our practical life activities allow children to practice the skills they see adults using. All of these activities support fine motor or gross motor development while children practice real-life skills. We have simplified activities with realistic but child-sized versions of tools.

Toilet Independence

Opportunities for toilet independence are a significant part of the children’s time in the Young Children’s Community. Most children are physiologically able to begin practicing bladder and bowel sphincter by the time they begin walking. Toileting is a natural and normal part of our daily routine and the children quickly acclimate to the toileting process. We work collaboratively with parents to support toileting independence at home and offer parallels between home and school for the child.

Nature

We strive to spend time outside everyday with the young children by going on walks, playing on the playground, or working in our garden bed. Spending time in nature offers many opportunities for sensorial experiences like smelling dandelions, walking in sand, or tasting mulberries. As children walk around our beautiful campus they practice gross motor coordination while walking up hills and along paths.

Language

We read daily with the children and foster a love of reading by modeling a love of books and exposing the children to a diverse array of children’s literature. We have language activities that focus on acquisition and expansion of vocabulary, as well as sharing poems and songs that exemplify the beauty of words.

Watch this video to learn how food tasting is a part of building language skills.

Art

Young children are more process-oriented than product-oriented and benefit from the opportunity to freely explore the artistic medium available. Art activities like coloring and clay support the development of fine motor skills, and the chalkboard and easel support the development of gross motor skills.

Music

In the classroom the children have access to an array of instruments to use for musical exploration. We also sing daily with the children and as they hear songs repeated over multiple days, they  exercise their memory. Music supports the foundations of literacy in young children through uniquely framed phonetics and often artistic use of vocabulary. Songs that involve movement offer the children opportunities to coordinate their movements and thoughts, often following external directions given by the lyrics of the songs. Music is also a tool for human connection and is a way to share our own feelings and learn about the feelings of others.