Montessori Practical Life at Home

Success in life is directly correlated to the degree in which people believe they are capable as well as independent. And how do we learn to be capable and independent? We practise the skills that are necessary until we no longer need help and can act and do accordingly.

Allowing children to gain independence and self-discipline is the purpose of the Practical Life activities in the Montessori classroom and at home. I say “home” because Practical Life activities have the purpose of allowing students to gain independence and self-discipline. These skills cannot be practised only at school. What happens when a child is allowed to prepare their own snack, slice their own apples, pour their own drink, and wash and dry their own dishes in the Montessori classroom, but at home is told “Oh, you’re much too young to use a knife. You will spill that if you pour it. Let me do it for you”? The mixed message is clear. The skills that are being taught at school are not allowed at home, thus creating a dichotomy in the child’s thinking: I am capable and independent at school, but at home I am not. Later, when Montessori teachers comment about how independent a child is, how he enjoys taking care of his environment and keeps his work area neat and tidy, the parents shake their heads and wonder why these skills are not being demonstrated at home. The answer is clear; the well-meaning and loving parents have done for the child what he is clearly able to do himself.

Practical Life activities are the traditional works of the family and home. They can be broken down into four categories:

1. Preliminary activities – carrying a tray, pouring water, spooning grain, walking on the line, etc.

 

2. Care of the environment – cleaning, sweeping, dusting, gardening, raking, polishing.

3. Care of self – dressing, toileting, brushing teeth, bathing, combing hair, preparing food, setting the table.

4. Grace and courtesy – using table manners, greeting others, saying “please” and “thank you”, learning to control one’s own body.

Each activity is carefully analyzed and broken down into successive steps so that the child may practise each step repeatedly until he has mastered the skill. Adults must model these activities, not just the mechanics of the process, but also the joy that is to be found in a job well done. If the adults lack enthusiasm, the child will learn that it is not a worthwhile task and will not want to continue. We can delight together in dishes that are clean and ready for use at our next meal or in a well-set table.

So, what can be done to extend the Practical Life activities in the home? First off, make sure that the materials you use are child-size. Why is this important? Well, I think about it this way. As an adult, I have several paring knives that I have bought or received over the years. My favorite, however, is the very first one I ever received, even though the tip is broken off and the blade is wobbly. Why is it my favorite? Because it fits my hands just right. The other ones just don’t “feel” right to me. This is the difference between a child learning how to work using materials that fit her just right and trying to adapt an adult-size tool to a child-size body.

Remember that Practical Life activities are the routines and rituals that adults perform daily in order to maintain their environment. Here are a few examples of how to invite your child to continue these valuable Practical Life lessons at home:

Preliminary Activities

• Pouring and transferring liquids and dry ingredients without spilling 
• Using scissors
• Opening and closing lids
• Screwing and unscrewing jar lids
• Stirring

Care of the Environment

• Wringing a wet cloth
• Washing a table or countertop
• Sweeping the floor with a broom and dustpan
• Mopping the floor
• Vacuuming
• Polishing silver or brass
• Polishing wood furniture
• Polishing shoes
• Sorting laundry by color
• Matching socks
• Folding towels and wash cloths
• Folding napkins
• Ironing handkerchiefs or pillowcases
• Sewing on buttons
• Washing dishes: pots and pans; plasticware; silver (flat) ware; glasses; plates
• Watering and caring for houseplants
• Flower arranging
• Caring for pets
• Cleaning up spills
• Putting materials and toys away
• Sorting recycling materials

Care of Self

• Washing hands
• Washing face
• Washing hair
• Blowing nose and properly throwing away the tissue
• Sneezing
• Brushing teeth
• Combing hair
• Trimming fingernails
• Running water in the bath
• Hanging up towels after use
• Dressing oneself (including learning how to button, zip, snap, tie, buckle, Velcro)
• Putting on a jacket
• Hanging a jacket on a low hook
• Putting clean clothes in a drawer
• Measuring liquid and dry ingredients
• Peeling fruits and vegetables
• Using kitchen tools (fork, spoon, grater, blunt knife, ice cream scoop, bulb baster, peeler, chopping board, rolling pin, whisk, pitcher, cookie cutters, melon baller, apple corer, etc.)
• Spreading (like butter, peanut butter, a mixture)

Grace and Courtesy

• How to greet someone
• How to answer the telephone
• How get up from the table
• How to carry a chair properly
• How to open and shut a door quietly
• How to interrupt when necessary
• How to excuse oneself when passing or bumping into another
• How to hand someone something
• Table manners
• Carrying objects without dropping or spilling
• Walking without bumping objects or people

When we remember to present these activities with enthusiasm and break them down into sequential steps, a child will feel encouraged as he practises them independently. We must remember that “Adults work to finish a task, but the child works in order to grow and is working to create the adult, the person that is to be.” (Montessori) As adults, we work to finish tasks efficiently and quickly so as to move on to the next task at hand. A child, however, is working to master the activity. He will practise repeatedly to perfect his abilities and then, may turn his attention elsewhere.


Text from NAMC.

Knobbed Cylinders

Visual Sense
Discrimination of Size
Matching

Materials:
Four blocks, each containing ten cylinders or 5 cylinders with knobs, with each cylinder fitting into its respective hole in a given block. The four blocks, varying in one, two, or three dimensions, form the following graduation of exercises from easy to difficult, simple
to complex.

#1 The cylinders are equal in height, but decrease in diameter.
Two dimensions vary: length and width.
#2 The cylinders decrease in height and diameter.
Three dimensions vary: length, width, and height.
#3 The cylinders increase in height while decreasing in width.
Three dimensions vary: length, width, and height.
#4 The cylinders are equal in width, but decrease in height.
One dimension varies: height.

Direct:

Development of concentration, order, coordination, and independence.
Responds to the sensitive need for order in the child.
Encourages problem-solving techniques.

Indirect:
Education of voluntary movement.
Preparation for writing in holding a pencil.
Preparation of the mathematical mind.
Ten cylinders as a preparation for the decimal system. (The one on this photo has only 5 cylinders)

Control of Error
Each cylinder will fit in its proper place only.