The Tadpoles’ Montessori program is an environment for both parents and children to work with a Montessori guide to facilitate the child’s interactions. It is necessary for an adult to attend with the toddler that learning about the Montessori Method can be consistently adapted to the home environment. The prepared space includes four distinct Montessori elements. These are strategically planned across the classroom and take into account that child’s need for freedom to explore the environment, order and structure and to create connections with the real world. The different areas in our Tadpoles classroom include:

• A space for Practical Life tasks to foster independence
• A space for Sensorial Exercises to help form sensory impressions of the world around them
• A rich Language environment to develop ever expanding vocabulary
• A space for Culture encouraging sense of self.

Our Tadpoles develop their concentration skills by immersing themselves in the activities in each of these environments and we are constantly surprised by the intensity of their effort and how they strive for independence. Below you can read about some of the activities that the Tadpole Toddlers engage in each day.

If you’d like to join our Tadpole Toddler group, please download a Toddler Application form found here, and submit this with a copy of your child’s birth certificate and any immunisation records.  Our staff will come back to you regarding days and availability.

In Term 3, we have delved in to the wonders of what lies beneath our feet. The children have been exploring the vegetables that grow underground, observing the busy life in our worm farm and have been fascinated by rocks, minerals and gems on loan from the QLD museum. The little chefs have also been creating delicious soups with vegetables they harvested from the community garden and have embraced the spirit of caring for their environment by getting their hands dirty and planting native plants, kindly donated by the friends of the lagoon.

Well done Tadpole Toddlers!

During Term 2, the Tadpole Toddlers moved out of their old modular building and daily sessions were held in the Library.  Both students and parents (and of course Teacher!) have been enjoying this beautiful space very much and plan to stay there!  There were lots of discussions on the day the big truck took their old Toddler modular room away. What a lot of questions our Toddler students had!

During the term, the students were also surprised by the arrival of a beautiful Classic Car owned by the a family in our community. Vroom! Vroom!

Next term some of our students will be taking on the next educational challenge in their lives and moving up to Cycle 1.  We wish them all the best.

Let’s see what Term 3 has in store!

This term the theme for the Toddler class was The Farm.  We were lucky enough to have a generous family loan their pet Guinea Pigs to our class for a week.  There were lots of cuddles and fun, and we also had some important lessons on caring for animals.

On the 21^st of February, we had an adorable day at the White Ridge Farm.  We met fluffy chickens, we patted claves, fed and groomed goats and the children had a wonderful time. The Tadpole Toddlers have been very busy tending to the community garden.  We have lots of flowers blooming and the children have have been creating some beautiful flower arrangements for the classroom.

Well done Tadpole Toddlers!

This year the Toddlers have been very busy, working both inside and outside of the classroom, trying out a broad range of activities to satisfy their curiosity and help them become more independent. They were introduced to the study of plants, Australian animals, and insects and really enjoyed observing and discussing with wonder and awe many examples of our Australian flora and fauna.  The Toddler Chefs had the opportunity to create delicious morning snacks and quite often the waft of freshly baked bread, biscuits, or even roast potatoes has been detected coming from the Toddler room.

Our wonderful, inquisitive students come daily with boundless energy which we quickly redirect to a daily venture in the garden doing weeding, watering, picking vegetables or beautiful flowers. There has been plenty of trips to the bush adjacent to our grounds, where our toddlers sometimes see frogs, birds, and goannas. Together, throughout 2023, the Tadpole Toddlers have built towers, painted masterpieces, and embarked on wonderous adventures around the beautiful grounds of CMS – a perfect combination of activities planned with Montessori guidance for both parents and children.

We look forward to doing it all over again next year. 

We wish you a Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you all and perhaps some new faces in 2024!

To foster independence, our Tadpole Toddlers take part in both indoor and outdoor activities.  There is bread-making that our toddlers love helping with and also food preparation and sharing.  They also love to help tidy-up, they are taught how to use the Montessori materials which deepen their ability to focus.  Outdoors, they have lots of fun exploring, examining the wonders of nature around out beautiful grounds.  They move and exercise, learning how to use their limbs and recognising their abilities. There’s lots to do at the Tadpole Toddler program.

Our curious Tadpoles spotted some hairy caterpillars on the way into class recently.  They stopped to take a look.  Their natural curiosity helps them to learn about our environment and enables them to focus on detail.

Well done Tadpoles!

The Tadpoles also found some baby toads. Can you spot them?

By doing this the Tadpoles are preparing their brains to focus on minute detail, they are learning about our amazing environment and wildlife and also learning to care for it.

Well done Tadpoles!

Preparing for reading and writing

Question: How does scrubbing a chair develop skills for reading and writing?

This may seem like a strange question.  However, in our Montessori Tadpole playgroup,  we have this activity set up as a prepared environment specifically with this purpose in mind.

The Tadpoles are armed with a small bucket, round scrub brush, sponge and a drying mitt/cloth. The child is shown how to fill the bucket with water add some detergent, then using the scrub brush, he/she learns to make small anti-clockwise circle motions from top/back left of chair over to the right side. Then, they move a little lower, to the next “line”. Once the chair is ‘scrubbed’,  the Tadpole student is then shown how wipe left to right with the sponge, then how to squeeze out the water.  This helps to build-up hand strength. Once most of the water is removed, it’s time to dry the chair in the same fashion.

In this one activity the child is developing so many parts of the body as well as training their brains to focus for longer.

This is a great example of a prepared Montessori environment that accelerates learning.

Well done Tadpoles!

A visit to the garden to see the plants and the chook-house is always enjoyed by our Tadpoles.  They learn with curiousity and delight as the CMS outdoors brings them wonder and deeper connections with their amazing world.  They learn to care for our living things by planting and watering, and their growing independence brings the confidence in themselves and their environment.

Well done Tadpoles!

Our young Tadpole learners love developing their skills and sharing these with others.  Construction of learning takes many aspects and making tea is just one preferred activity for our younger community members to enjoy and focus their skills. They certainly have some wonderful discussions!

Exploration and enjoyment are key attributes to motivated learning.