{"id":684,"date":"2026-09-02T09:14:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T23:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/montessoriminds.vic.edu.au\/hoppers-crossing\/toddler-program\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T14:24:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T04:24:07","slug":"toddler-program","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/montessoriminds.vic.edu.au\/hoppers-crossing\/curriculum\/toddler-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Toddler Program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"toddlers\"<\/div><\/div>
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\u2014<\/span> \u2014 Programs \u2014<\/div>

Toddlers (2-3 years)<\/em><\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Nursery age group is active and children adopt an inquiry based approach to introduce Montessori materials to children. It is the period for grace and courtesy, language development, toilet training and assimilating every new piece of information. Our educator’s roles are to support and enrich your child’s learning by being with them providing resources and opportunities to learn and exercise their freedom for exploration.<\/p>\n

Questioning and encouraging children to learn skills to be independent, investigate and solve problems knowing their strengths and weaknesses. Children are encouraged to express their thoughts and feelings refining their communication and interpersonal skills and are evolving to be confident learners.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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\u2014<\/span> Toddlers \u00b7 2\u20133 years \u00b7 Norlane, North Geelong<\/div>
The age of \"I do it myself.\"<\/em><\/div>
If your two-year-old is loving, determined, emotional and fiercely independent \u2014 this is a very normal part of development.<\/div>
Somewhere between two and three, your child stops being a baby and quietly becomes a person. They're walking with purpose. Talking in real sentences. Forming opinions about socks. They want to pour their own water, choose their own jacket, and do almost everything that everyone else is doing \u2014 only themselves. Our Montessori Toddlers program in Norlane meets this stage with the calm, the patience, and the prepared environment that makes \"I do it myself\" beautifully possible \u2014 for your child, and for you.<\/div><\/div>
\"Image\"<\/span>
\u2014 A morning in the Toddlers room, Norlane.<\/div><\/div>
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I.<\/span> The Stage<\/em><\/div>
Two to three is one of the most extraordinary<\/em>stages of human development.<\/div>

In the space of a single year, your child moves from a few dozen words to full sentences. They begin to pretend, to remember yesterday, to picture tomorrow. A clear sense of \"I\" emerges \u2014 and with it, the conviction that \"I\" can do things on their own.<\/p>\n

Our Toddlers room \u2014 in Norlane, North Geelong \u2014 is built around how this stage actually unfolds. Calm, ordered, beautifully scaled. Real materials. Real work. Educators who know when to step back, and when to step in. It's a Montessori early learning environment for families across Norlane, North Geelong and nearby suburbs, with a continuous pathway from six weeks to six years.<\/p>\n

And we know you're tired. That this stage is harder than anyone warned you. We see you. The room your child walks into each morning is also a small kindness for you.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

A guiding belief<\/div>
\u201c<\/em> Inspired by Montessori's belief that children need an environment prepared for their stage of development \u2014 built at their scale, and ready for the work they're already trying to do.<\/div>
\u2014 Reflecting the Montessori approach<\/div><\/div>
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II.<\/span> Inside the toddler mind<\/em><\/div>
Four developmental shifts\nshaping every day in the Toddlers<\/em> room.<\/div>
Each shift is met with carefully chosen materials, a thoughtful daily rhythm, and educators trained to see what's emerging \u2014 and respond.<\/div><\/div>
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\"Image\"<\/span>
\u2014 Pouring at a child-sized practical life shelf.<\/div><\/div>
Psychosocial<\/div>
The drive for autonomy<\/div>
Your two-year-old is working out a profound question: \"Am I capable on my own?\"<\/div>
How the adults around them respond shapes early confidence and self-reliance. Children met with patience develop a quiet trust in themselves.<\/div>

What you'll notice at home<\/strong>The proud, almost startled face the first time they put on their own shoes. \"Me do it\" replacing \"you do it.\" Less help wanted at bath time. More mess.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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\"Image\"<\/span>
\u2014 A self-chosen sorting work, repeated until satisfied.<\/div><\/div>
Cognitive<\/div>
From doing to thinking<\/div>
Late in the second year, something quietly remarkable happens: thinking steps out of the body and into the mind.<\/div>
Children begin to pretend, to use one object to stand for another, to remember sequences and follow simple plans. Open-ended materials and uninterrupted work cycles let young thinking practise, repeat, and refine itself.<\/div>

What you'll notice at home<\/strong>
\nA wooden block becomes a phone. A tea towel becomes a baby's blanket. They want to read the same book three times in a row \u2014 and notice if you skip a page.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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\"Image\"<\/span>
\u2014 Reading together, named objects, real conversation.<\/div><\/div>
Language<\/div>
The vocabulary explosion<\/div>
Between roughly twenty-four and thirty-six months, the average child moves from short phrases to full, complex sentences.<\/div>
Real conversation \u2014 not background noise \u2014 strongly supports growing vocabulary. So we talk. Educators name objects precisely, narrate routines, sing, read aloud, and engage in long back-and-forth conversation. Language isn't a session in the schedule; it's the fabric of the day.<\/div>

What you'll notice at home<\/strong>
\nNew words every week, then new sentences. Sudden questions. The first time they describe what happened earlier today, in the right order. The phrase you didn't know they'd remember.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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\"Image\"<\/span>
\u2014 Co-regulation: calm presence at the child's level.<\/div><\/div>
Social & Emotional<\/div>
Big feelings, small bodies<\/div>
Tantrums, \"no,\" and powerful preferences are not misbehaviour. They are evidence of a child building a self.<\/div>
Two-year-olds feel their feelings intensely, and don't yet have the brain architecture to regulate them alone. They borrow ours. Educators stay close, name what they see, and offer simple choices. We let the feeling pass \u2014 and we stay.<\/div>

What you'll notice at home<\/strong>
\nThe cup is the wrong colour. The sock has a seam. The whole world ends. And, an hour later, they're laughing again. This is exactly right.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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III.<\/span> What families tell us they notice<\/em><\/div>

Three quiet shifts, often in the first<\/em> few months.<\/p><\/div>

Outcomes vary from child to child, and every child develops at their own pace. But these are the small changes families most often mention.<\/div>
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i.<\/div>
A growing concentration<\/div>
The ability to settle into one piece of work and stay there, on their own, for longer than you might expect a two-year-old can. It's the foundation of everything that comes after.<\/div><\/div>
ii.<\/div>
A quiet competence<\/div>
Pouring their own drink without spilling. Hanging up their own bag. Knowing where their shoes go. The small autonomies that change the texture of everyday family life.<\/div><\/div>
iii.<\/div>
A richer way of speaking<\/div>
Not just more words, but more interesting ones. Precise nouns. Real conversations. The first time they describe their day to a grandparent in a way that surprises everyone.<\/div><\/div>
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\u2014<\/span> \u2014 Quick answer<\/p>\n\n

\n Montessori Minds Hoppers Crossing<\/strong> is a Montessori long day care\n centre and funded kindergarten at 483 Sayers Road, Hoppers Crossing, VIC 3029, serving families across City of Wyndham. We care for children across Babies, Toddlers and a mixed-age 3–6 Kindergarten, and deliver a Victorian Government funded\n kindergarten program of 15 hours a week for eligible children, taught by a teacher\n registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching.\n Open Monday to Friday, 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, 52 weeks a year excluding public holidays.\n Phone (03) 8742 2349<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n\n