Grace and courtesy

Ans 62: Purpose of the grace and courtesy activity:

 To establish and maintaining a peaceful community in Montessori environment by setting

the ground rules of behaviour.
 To make children comfortable in their environment and their interactions.
 To help children gain independence, build self-esteem, and preserve dignity. It also allows
children to experience freedom.
 To encourage the children to know and absorb social graces in order to be comfortable and
adept in their environment by following the procedures that order social interaction.
 Children who have learned social courtesies will tend to use them spontaneously.
 Grace and courtesy activities allow children to learn the vocabulary, actions, and necessary
steps to respond to those around them.
 Practicing social graces helps children become more aware of the world around them.

Ans 63: Dr. Montessori believed that social graces should come from the heart.

Ans 64: Montessori teacher often present grace and courtesy activities at the beginning of the school
year to establishing and maintaining a community in the classroom, as these activities set the ground
rules of behaviour in the Montessori environment. A Montessori environment can be peaceful when
children will clearly understand social courtesies and behavioural expectations. Children become
more comfortable in their environment and their interactions when children can communicate
courteously and comprehend social behavioural rules. When children understand properly how to
contribute to the classroom in a courteous manner, it helps them gain independence, build self-
esteem, and preserve dignity. Moreover, it allows children to experience freedom. But it is
important for the teachers not to coerce children into being courteous nor should they punish or
reprimand them for forgetting to use social graces. Children who have learned social courtesies will
tend to use them spontaneously because of their inner need of order.

Ans 65: “Excuse Me” Game:

 At first the teacher will invite children to stand in a line and hold hands.
 Then the teacher will approach two children and says, “excuse me.” These two children will
drop hands and allow the teacher to walk between them.
 The teacher joins the end of the line and holds the final child’s hand.
 The game repeats with the child at the front of the line taking a turn.
 The game continues until all the children have had a chance to participate.

Ans 66:

Ans 67: It is very important to lower yourself to the child’s eye level when greeting her. The purposes
are discussed below.

 to make the child understand that this warm reception is only for him alone
 she is important and I am giving my full attention only to her.
 this greeting is genuine.
 to make the child feel welcome and respected in the environment and setting a positive
tone for the day ahead.

Ans 68: I will extend my right hand to greet a child to the classroom.
Ans 69:

Ans 70:

Ans 71: According to the activity Drawing a person’s Attention, the child should wait patiently
without speaking after placing his hand on the teacher’s shoulder.

Ans 72: The child should wait longer quietly, with a hand resting lightly on the teacher’s shoulder if
the teacher cannot give him attention right away.

Ans 73: The teacher should acknowledge the waiting child by saying, “Thank you for waiting.” and
then listen and respond to his question.

Ans 74: In the activity saying please, thank you, and you’re welcome, the child will response by hand
over the book to the teacher and will say, “yes, you may.”

Ans 75: The child will complete the conversation by saying, “You’re welcome.”

Ans 76: The teacher should repeat this activity “saying please, thank you, and you’re welcome” with
other children in the group so that every child can learn properly how to respond with these words
spontaneously. It will also help children to gain awareness of others and develop self-independence.

Ans 77: I would have considered the following two snacks:

 1.Cucumber slice
 2. Cheese slice

Ans 78: Before introducing the activity Offering Food to Others, the children should learn the activity
“saying please, thank you, and you’re welcome.”

Ans 79: When the child will receive their snack, after that the teacher should remind the children to
wait until everyone has a snack before they begin to eating.

Ans 80: The story behind the creation of the activity Blowing One’s Nose:

One day Dr. Montessori was at the Casa dei Bambini, she discreetly took out her handkerchief and
ever so softly blew her nose into it. She was surprised by the children paying attention and after the
presentation the children applauded and thanked Dr. Montessori for the lesson. At that time Dr.
Montessori realized that how children experience difficulty to blow their noses and they often
scolded for not doing it properly or someone else wipes it harshly for them.

From this incident, Dr. Montessori realized that children have a great sense of personal dignity and it
is more beneficial to teach the children to do things themselves than doing things for them.

The children were so glad to have finally been taught how to blow their noses themselves because
they understand that being given the skills to care for their own needs is a sign of respect.

Ans 81: In the activity “Blowing One’s nose”, the teacher should wipe her nose with the tissue by
bringing her fingers together down the nose, then fold the tissue closed and wipe her nose a second
time.

Ans 82: The teacher should dispose the tissue into the wastebasket.
Ans 83: At the end of the presentation both the teacher and the child should wash and dry their
hands.

Ans 84: In the activity coughing and sneezing, the teacher should demonstrate sneezing by turn her
head away from the child and sneeze into her upper sleeve, keeping her mouth covered.

Ans 85: In the activity coughing and sneezing, the teacher should say, “Excuse me” after sneezing.

Ans 86:

Ans 87: When presenting the extension Dialling a Universal Emergency Number, the teacher should
emphasize to the child that she must never dial this number unless it is a real emergency.