What is Practical Life?
Practical Life plays a very important role at PEP Schoolv2. Montessori practical life materials are the first activities a child is introduced to at PEP. One of the reasons for this is because Montessori practical life lessons and the related Montessori practical life activities help support early skill building as well as a child’s desire to be self-sufficient. Montessori practical life skills are those that are based on activities that a child sees around them every day and that adults tend to perform with ease. In this post we share some Montessori practical life ideas with you.
Montessori Practical Life Activities and Montessori Practical Life Materials
Have you ever wondered why your child is fascinated with how you fold the towels, set the table, or mop the floor? Children, like all human beings, want to communicate with others, to do important work, and contribute to society.
This desire is particularly strong in young children as they develop the mental and physical skills to stand, walk, use their hands, and participate in real work.
To capture this interest, and direct it purposefully, Dr Maria Montessori developed Practical Life exercises. These activities help children to understand, and participate in their world, while also assisting them in developing the inner building blocks of their person during the critical first six years of life.
Areas of Practical Life
Within the Montessori Curriculum, activities of Practical Life revolve around five key areas, including: Preliminary Exercises, Care of Self, Care for the Environment, Grace and Courtesy, and Control of Movement.
In the Preliminary Exercises, children learn the basic movements of all societies, such as pouring, folding and carrying.
Care of Self incorporates activities connected with personal care and the maintenance involved in everyday life, such as washing hands, and getting dressed.
Care for the Environment is focused on teaching children how to interact with their environment in a way that exhibits love and respect. Typical activities include: watering a plant, washing a table, and arranging flowers.
Through Grace and Courtesy exercises children learn the skills associated with social interactions. Key activities include greetings, introducing oneself, and how to appropriately interrupt others.
Control of Movement is focused on teaching children to refine and coordinate control of their bodies through activities such as Walking on the Line and The Silence Game.