Who Can Participate In the Program?

Children between the ages 33 months to 6 years old who are toilet independent. We define toilet independent as being dressed in cloth underwear without frequent daily accidents. Mandala Montessori is not equipped to assist children with potty training.  We understand that regression may happen as your child becomes familiar with a new environment and will try to work with you and your child during this transition time if it becomes an issue.  However, if your child has frequent accidents daily we will reevaluate whether or not your child is ready for our program.  

information from “Is My Child Ready For Preschool?”

My child must be toilet independent to attend Mandala. How do I know if she is fully potty-trained?
If your child is staying in the same cloth underwear and clothing all day long 4 out of 5 days per week and she is independently recognizing the need to go to the bathroom a majority of the time, she is ready.  If your child does not initiate going to the bathroom most of the time and is having at least one accident a day or is not using the toilet for urine/BMs, it is best to wait until she is ready. 

What if my child isn’t toilet independent and is having multiple accidents throughout the day?
Will she have to leave and then lose her spot?  No, we have never asked a child and their family to leave due potty-training issues.  We have asked families to keep their child home for a couple of days, a long weekend or additional time if needed if their child is regressing and to return when their child is more confident and independent in the process.

TOILET INDEPENDENCE

  • Is my child recognizing the need to go on her own?  (Adults are not prompting them to go).

  • Are they uncomfortable when they are wet/dirty?

  • Are they able to pull their pants up and down on their own and wipe themselves?

FREQUENT TOILETING issues

We define frequent toileting issues to mean that your child is soiling their pants more than once per day over the course of a 2–3 day period.

Rationale and Tips

Why Is It Important That Your Child Is Toilet Independent Before Attending School?

  • We ask all families to have their children toilet independent before enrolling in preschool.

  • We are not equipped to have children enrolled in our program in diapers or pullups. We do not have changing tables or cleaning supplies for diapering, which can be a health/sanitary issue.

  • Children end up missing out on the fun and interesting things going on at school when they are spending their time focused on changing in the bathroom.

  • It can become a safety issue when children have toileting incidents, as one adult is taken out of ratio leaving the other adult alone with the other children. 

  • We never shame children when they have accidents but sometimes they do feel embarrassed when others notice.  

 Future Students: Tips for Toilet-Learning:

  • Stay near home or a toilet during this transitional time. If you are not consistent, you can slow the process to the point of regression.

  • Read interesting and relaxing books while they are sitting on the toilet.

  • Be consistent, once you decide to make the transition from diapers to underwear do not go back.  Pullups serve the same purpose as diapers and should only be used over night when children cannot control bodily functions while asleep.

  • Set a timer for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.  When the timer goes off say, “It is time to go to the bathroom,” and “Even if you don’t have to go, you can still try.” Lengthen the time as she is successful with the shorter times.

Additional Resources:

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Happens If A Child Is Struggling With Toilet Independence:

 

 

 

 

Part one: Accidents are frequent over the course of a few days or two weeks. Lead guide communicates with you regarding toileting issues, with an email sent to let you know when and how many accidents have occurred. A discussion with a plan moving forward and review of the policy on toilet independence is also included. We may ask you to stay home with your child if she is continuing to struggle with toilet independence.  If this is the case parent will be asked to keep child home for a long weekend to focus on toileting and may return after the long weekend of toilet learning.

 

 

 

Part two: Accidents persist over the course of a few days or week even after parents have kept the child at home and continued with developing toilet independence. Parents will be asked to keep child home for another long weekend to focus on toilet independence.  They may return after the long weekend of toilet learning.

 

 

 

Part three: After two cycles of at home (long weekend/week) support if the child is still not toilet independent we may ask that the family leave the school for a period of time (one week to 1 month) to become toilet independent before returning.  

 

 

 

Part four: If toilet independence has not developed after the above support, child will be released from the contract at the end of that month with no refund given, and invited to re-enroll in the following school year.