The concept of the “Infant community” stage follows the principles of the Montessori Method and is subject to the guidelines of the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI).
Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) made the child and the individual development of the child at the heart of her pedagogy. She observed that children of the age group 0 – 3, absorb their environment unconsciously and developed materials that serve to promote specific skills and cognitive abilities.
These are made ready, according to the level of development of each child, in what is called the “prepared environment”. They support the Independence of the child, allow him/her to refine his/her senses and acquire linguistic and cognitive skills.
The two mixed-age 0 – 3 groups of MIC GmbH see themselves as "extended family" with 12 children in each group. Three children may in this case be less than 18 months.
The MIC is spatially decorated as an apartment with kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room. The purpose of this division is to provide the child with our culture, appropriate lifestyle and a high degree of order and structure in their everyday lives. Daily activities and processes are performed in the same way in the designated areas and thus contribute to the safety of the child.
There is an area - "Nido" for children from 5 months until the day they can safely run. Here you will find special furniture, supporting the development of large motor skills, materials and activities for fine motor skills, language and movement mattress for even the youngest.
In the "Toddler" area for children up to about 36 months material are available according to their respective levels of development - activities for fine motor skills, language, creative design. Picture books can be watched or read in the book corner.
The Children's Kitchen serves the common food preparation. The children help set the table and have their meals jointly with the teachers. In bathroom the children learn basic hygiene rules. So-called "practical life exercises" promote the independence of the child through every day-related activities.
The children handle in their own benchmark, custom real objects of everyday life and are assisted in their social development.
The exercise are in a logical order, and with inherent order inherent so that the child could/should remember and can successfully carry out the activity.
This supports the brain in its development. A special feature lies in the attractiveness of the materials used. This animates/excites the child to deal with it which in turn helps the child to occupy itself with deep concentration in his work. Another special feature is the so-called error control. It involves the possibility of self-control by the child who can thereby verify his/her result of the work, even without the help of an adult. This arouses curiosity about new discoveries and promotes self-confidence, because making mistakes here means to try out new solutions.