Bozeman Montessori Nido Program

Nido Program Snapshot

Nido offers a loving, thoughtful, and safe environment for your child as they embark upon the journey of young life 

• For ages six months to about a year and a half

• Children attend up to 4 days per week, Monday through Thursday

• Cloth diapering service is provided; families bring food and milk/formula from home.

What to Expect at Bozeman Montessori Nido

Everyone wants the best for their babies. When baby is away from home for part of the day, we try to mirror the home environment at Bozeman Montessori as best we can. In the environment for the infants and the non-walking children, we create four areas that are found in homes: sleeping, personal care, eating, and living/playing. What you will NOT find in our environment are contraptions that hold or restrain children — such as bouncy seats, high chairs, or swings. To best support physical development in this important time of life, our infants are independently engaged on the floor, or within the arms of a loving guide. For this reason, our ratios are very low — no more than 4 infants per adult, often lower.

There is an area just for sleeping; a cozy, quiet area, with beds on the floor available to the children whenever they need to rest. Personal care and hygiene also has its own space. Bathing, changing, dressing, and everything that belongs with developing the awareness and necessity for caring for our own bodies is included in this space.

The eating or food area has a small sturdy table and chair presenting the child with a different way to eat. Plates, utensils and even drinking cups are all part of the eating area.

Every home has one area where the family gathers. Like home, our space provides the child with opportunities to play (and work) at developing the skills, both fine and gross motor, they will need to move on to higher learning and engagement.

Did you know? Nido is the Italian word for “nest” — reflecting the safe, nurturing environment we provide for infants and toddlers.

Particularly with this age group, our partnering with parents is of utmost importance. Whether our teachers are involved in giving prenatal information, or helping parents to create a beautiful Montessori-inspired environment for their child at home, we provide support to make the infant and toddler years productive and happy for the whole family. Contact us to learn about our Parent-Child class. 

With a Child in the Nido Room

Our infant children begin their day by changing from whatever diapers were worn at home into the cloth diapers provided by the center. Then they are invited to the small infant sized handwashing sink, where they enjoy the feeling of the water as they learn to wash their hands to prepare themselves for the day.

When the snack table opens and infants are welcomed to come as they feel hungry. With small bibs on, they sit at a small table with low chairs while a teacher joins them, usually sitting on the floor so as to be at the same level as the children. We use very small plates and cups as young children learn how to take sips from an open cup. Sometimes water is spilled, and this part of the learning process. In Nido, parents bring all food and beverages from home, including breast milk or formula for their little ones. Our staff communicate daily with the families in regards to how eating is developing, as families introduce more solid foods over time. Snack time wraps up with scraping off uneaten food into the compost container that is included in our school’s composting program. Again, children wash their hands (and now, their faces, too) at the small hand washing area, learning to check themselves for any spots to wipe on their faces with our small, soft cloths.  

Nido offers up to two naps each day, depending on the needs and schedule of the children. As the children grow a bit older, they move towards one nap, in the afternoon. Morning nappers are invited into the napping area of the room and most transition from our Lotus Crib to a floor bed, covered with cotton sheets, quite smoothly. All bedding is kept separate for each child, and the staff take great care in helping the transition to rest, with a gentle sound machine near the resting children. 

Children who no longer nap in the morning may go outside during this time for a walk or a bit of play in our play yard, which supports the nappers’ transition to waking. Once back inside, the children who are awake choose from a variety of activities that await them on the low classroom shelves. The Montessori approach also involves welcoming the children into the homey routines of caring for the community. There are fish to be fed, plants that need water, toys that are picked up off the floor and put into the disinfecting bin. While the teachers lead these activities, they narrate what they are doing with the children so they feel a part of the day. All are invited to contribute where they can. 

As our children are rapidly moving through tremendous developmental epochs, the materials they interact with need to respond to their unique needs. As the hand develops, the things they reach for shift from being easy for even raking grasp towards a developing pincer grip. Items are rotated regularly so there is never a crowded feeling of too many things on a shelf at one time. Carefully chosen, small board books are also included on the shelves, often reflecting seasonal themes. Teachers sing to the children often throughout the day, which supports language development, builds connection as a community, and sets the tone for the atmosphere of the room. Teachers also sign to the children, which helps lower frustration for the children as they learn to express their needs in a non-verbal manner, as well as to support language development.

Lunch time again includes foods from home, but always together at low tables reflecting a family meal time with plates and cups. After the lunch transitions involving clean up, children start to shift towards the afternoon nap cycle, with lowered lights and, soft music or a soft sound machine. When the children rise from nap, they again wash hands before enjoying afternoon snack, more time to enjoy their books and materials in the classroom before they transition from the school’s cloth diapers into whatever diapers they use at home. Because staff can share so much information through our communication app, Transparent Classroom, parents are updated on eating, sleeping and diapering routines throughout the day. But a quick check-in about how the day went is exchanged with the family at drop off, before our little ones are off and into the late afternoon routines with their families at home.