.png)
Areas of the Prepared Environment
In Montessori education, we often refer to the triad that supports development: the child, the adult, and the environment. The child is the driver of the education urged by their Horme - the impulse inside them to interact with their environment to gain knowledge.
The adult, or guide of the Montessori Prepared Environment, acts as the bridge between the child's urge to learn and the materials that are provided in the space. The adult's main duty is to observe the child, watching for activities they show interest in and developments in their motor development, cognition, and social/emotional emergence.
Through this observation, the adult presents the child with an activity that will meet the development they are exhibiting. It is the child's interaction with the material that aids in education, an experience that provides new information or reinforces something they have encountered.
The main areas that are provided in the Nido Montessori environment are typically:
-
Meal time
-
Napping/Rest Area
-
Psycho-Sensory Motor (fine and gross motor activities)
-
Language
-
Art/Music
-
Toileting
What is "Nido"?
Nido, direct translation from Italy "nest", refers to the prepared environments for the youngest of our children, babies from 12 weeks old up to 15 months old. This space is a loving environment focused on building secure relationships between the babies and the caregivers. Only after a secure bond is built can the child then feel comfort and confidence in exploring their surroundings.
Meal Time
Feeding times are the first done for the child by the adult. The babies are bottle fed by the educarers or by breast feeding parents coming by if they prefer. Once the child is able to sit up independently, we introduce the weaning table. This table is the first chair the child will use independently and will be how they begin to eat solid foods. As they grow, they will transition away from bottle and breast feeding and into solid foods at the table.
Psycho-Sensory Motor
The Psycho-Sensory Motor activities provide opportunities for babies to acquire their gross and fine motor movements. Activities are generally colorful to draw the attention of the child and may switch up the appearance of the activity while still providing an opportunity to master the same skill, keeping interest high for repetition. Some activities include mobiles, rattles, ring with ribbon, and mirror with bar.
Language
The children are immersed in language activities throughout the day. The adult's interactions with the children are a key ingredient to language acquisition. Along with this, the children will have real objects to explore and cloth books. The explanation of what we are doing through care of the baby, reading books, naming objects the child is touching, and how we communicate with the baby are all components of language in the Nido Prepared Environment.
Art and Music
Music is a way for us to joyfully communicate and form community. There is always an instrument out to explore, along with individual singing with a child and group times to sing and move together.
The focus of art in the Nido Prepared Environment is exposure. The children have beginner books of painting and framed art low to the ground for them to look at. Along with the experience looking at these visual arts, the children are also in the very beginnings of developing their visual aesthetic preferences.
Toileting
Learning to use the toilet independently is another important part of the child's independence. The babies will be talked to during changes, letting them know what was in their diaper, that changing is for taking care of their body and being healthy. There will always be a training toilet near by and once the child has begun to stand, they will do their diaper changes standing up and encouraged to sit on the toilet to become familiar with it. This familiarity will aid them as they continue their toileting process in the Infant Community.
