The Practical Life area is the entry point for any child that comes to The Montessori House. This area is the foundation of the Montessori classroom. It is intended for the child to adapt to her environment and provides a bridge from home to school.
Practical Life activities include Control and Coordination of Movement, Social Graces, Care of the Person, and Care of the Environment. These activities foster independence and instill care for themselves, for others and for the environment. Children participate in real life tasks they see as part of their daily life.
Dr. Maria Montessori found that children had an innate desire to do the tasks and work of the adults in their environment. The Practical Life area is unique to the Montessori Method, offering children child-sized tools and teaching them sequences for physical activities of daily life.
Control and Coordination of Movement activities give the children an opportunity to coordinate and refine movement related to locomotion and equilibrium. These activities relate directly to the development of self-discipline and the capability for total concentration because they give the child the opportunity to bring movements under the direction of their own mind. Activities include walking on the line and silence.
Social Graces consist of exercises, which isolate and model appropriate movements in relation to others. These lessons focus on functional independence and how to gracefully share space with the group. Children learn such courtesies as greetings, apologies, thanking, and asking for help.
Practical Life activities include Control and Coordination of Movement, Social Graces, Care of the Person, and Care of the Environment. These activities foster independence and instill care for themselves, for others and for the environment. Children participate in real life tasks they see as part of their daily life.
Dr. Maria Montessori found that children had an innate desire to do the tasks and work of the adults in their environment. The Practical Life area is unique to the Montessori Method, offering children child-sized tools and teaching them sequences for physical activities of daily life.
Control and Coordination of Movement activities give the children an opportunity to coordinate and refine movement related to locomotion and equilibrium. These activities relate directly to the development of self-discipline and the capability for total concentration because they give the child the opportunity to bring movements under the direction of their own mind. Activities include walking on the line and silence.
Social Graces consist of exercises, which isolate and model appropriate movements in relation to others. These lessons focus on functional independence and how to gracefully share space with the group. Children learn such courtesies as greetings, apologies, thanking, and asking for help.
Care of the Person activities relate to how the children care for them selves. Some activities include grooming, hygiene, care of clothing, and care of personal items. The children develop cognitive skills by following a sequence of movements, while practical skills are being built along the way.
Care of the Environment activities are a response to the children’s spontaneous impulse to take care of their environment and all of the simple exchanges of social life. The children create a relationship with the environment and an understanding that caring for the environment could also include beautifying it, possibly even leaving it in better condition that it was found. This is the beginning of Ecology and the understanding that we can have an impact on the environment through our actions.
Practical Life activities are practice for life. They develop attention to detail, concentration, carefulness, and independence. This work also creates a sense of pride as the child can care for himself and the environment, “all by himself.” Activities are designed in a sequence of steps through which the child comes to order and logic in activity. The Practical Life activities prepare the child for all other areas of The Montessori House.
Care of the Environment activities are a response to the children’s spontaneous impulse to take care of their environment and all of the simple exchanges of social life. The children create a relationship with the environment and an understanding that caring for the environment could also include beautifying it, possibly even leaving it in better condition that it was found. This is the beginning of Ecology and the understanding that we can have an impact on the environment through our actions.
Practical Life activities are practice for life. They develop attention to detail, concentration, carefulness, and independence. This work also creates a sense of pride as the child can care for himself and the environment, “all by himself.” Activities are designed in a sequence of steps through which the child comes to order and logic in activity. The Practical Life activities prepare the child for all other areas of The Montessori House.
Practical Life
“It is evident that the child carries out these actions not with the same aim that adults have which is to clean the vessel…the child carries out this action upon the object, because it is a means of concentrating the attention on a series of movements. For the child the purpose of the activity is the activity itself. The action upon the object is not a purpose, a name in itself, but a means for the child to develop his own personality.”
―Maria Montessori