I.

INTRODUCTION
IMPORTANCE OF PRACTICAL LIFE ACTIVITIES

Practical life activities give the child an understanding of his environment and how it
works. The child enjoys all types of work. He also enjoys keeping the environment
beautiful for all to use. This work builds the child's self-esteem, making him feel of
value. In addition, practical life activities also develop manual dexterity.
 
In the school and home, adults must never complain about their work in front of the
child. At a young age he learns by imitating the adult. If adults dislike work, the child
will learn that all types of work are to be avoided. He will apply this to school
learning as well as manual skills. He must have a respect for all types of work well
done.

Introduction to Practical Life

What is Practical Life

Practical: means basic, useful, purposeful

Life: means the way of living.

Practical life Exercises are just that, they are Exercises so the child can learn how to do living
activities in a purposeful way.

Meaning and Purpose of Practical Life

The purpose and aim of Practical Life is to help the child gain control in the coordination of
his movement, and help the child to gain independence and adapt to his society. It is therefore
important to “Teach teaching, not correcting” (Montessori) in order to allow the child to be a
fully functionional member in hios own society. Practical Life Exercises also aid the growth
and development of the child’s intellect and concentration and will in turn also help the child
develop an orderly way of thinking.

Exercice Groups

Practical Life Exercises can be categorized into four different groups: Preliminary
Applications, Applied Applications, Grace and Courtesy, and Control of Moment.

In the Preliminary Exercises, the child learns the basic movements of all societies such as
pouring, folding, and carrying.

In the Applied Exercises, the child learns about the care and maintenance that helps every day
life. These activities are, for example, the care of the person (i.e the washing of the hand) and
the care of the environment (i.e dusting a table or outdoor sweeping).
In the Grace and Courtesy Exercises, the children work on the interactions of people to
people.

In the Control of Movement Exercises, the child learns about his own movements and learns
how to refine his coordination through such activities as walking on the line.

Reason for Practical Life Exercises

Children are naturally interested in activities they have witnessed. Therefore, Dr. Montessori
began using what she called “Practical Life Exercises” to allow the child to do activities of
daily life and therefore adapt and orientate himself in his society.

It is therefore the Directress’s task to demonstrate the correct way of doing these Exercises in
a way that allows the child to fully observe the movements. Montessori says, “If talking don’t
move, if moving don’t talk”.

The directress must also keep in mind that the goal is to show the actions so that the child can
go off and repeat the activity in his own successful way. Montessori says, “Our task is to
show how the action is done and at the same time destroy the possibility of imitation”. The
child must develop his own way of doing these activities so that the movements become real
and not synthetic.

During the child’s sensitive period between birth and 6, the child is constructing the inner
building blocks of his person. It is therefore important for the child to participate in activities
to prepare him for his environment, that allow him to grow independently and use his motor
skills, as well as allow the child to analyze difficulties he may have in the exercise and
problem solve successfully.

Montessori also saw the child’s need for order, repetition, and succession in movements.
Practical Life Exercises also helps to aid the child to develop his coordination in movement,
his balance and his gracefulness in his environment as well as his need to develop the power
of being silent.

Characteristics of Practical Life

Because Practical Life Exercises are meant to resemble everyday activities, it is important
that all materials be familiar, real, breakable, and functional. The materials must also be
related to the child’s time and culture. In order to allow the child to fully finish the exercise
and to therefore finish the full cycle of the activity, the material must be complete.

In the environment, the Directress may want to color code the materials as well as arrange the
materials based on difficulties in order to facilitate the classification and arrangements of the
work by the children.

The attractiveness is also of utmost importance as Montessori believed that the child must be
offered what is most beautiful and pleasing to the eye so as to help the child enter into a
“more refined and subtle world”.
What are practical life activities?

Practical life activities are applicable for all ages, even infants, and change depending on
what the child can do at each stage of development. The activities can start with something as
simple as pulling pants up or washing hands and can get as complicated as baking a dessert,
or even developing a business plan in the elementary or middle school years.

Why are practical life activities necessary? 

When taken seriously and presented as an approachable, impactful challenge, these activities
hold inherent dignity. It’s not “just” getting dressed or "just" juicing an orange if one is doing
it oneself. The child is learning to follow a complex motor sequence, independently, in order
to fulfill his or her own desires and needs. These skills, when taught early in life, allow
children to believe in themselves as well as develop the self-discipline needed for success
throughout their lives.

Those who are unfamiliar with the Montessori method may question why a child is
doing something like washing the dishes over learning something more academic like
mathematical

concepts. The practical life Montessori curriculum teaches the child things they need to (and
are motivated to) learn anyway, and does it in a way that is of a piece with the more academic
disciplines, developing the same key fundamental executive and emotional skills. Math,
reading, and language all require one to have the ability to focus, to be able to follow logical
and sequential steps, to make intelligent choices, to see a task through from start to finish, to
persist when one makes a mistake, and to correct one’s mistakes—and all of these are present
in the process of learning and practicing the practical life activities. 

What types of practical life activities are there? 

 Care of Self: These activities provide the means for children to become physically
independent. Activities in this area may include learning to wash one’s hands or
learning to put on one’s clothing. For an 18-month-old, it could be as simple as
assisting in pulling down his own pants, but for an elementary student, it could be
packing lunch or an overnight bag. 
 Care of the Environment: Keeping a clean, orderly classroom is important in a
Montessori environment. The practical life activities teach children how to take care
of the space around them—from physically cleaning to, on a deeper level,
appreciating one’s environment. These activities may include how to set the table,
how to clean dishes, or how to water and care for plants. For example, in the
Montessori table washing activity, the child would be shown how to go to the correct
area of the room to gather cleaning supplies, take a pitcher to the sink and fill it with
water, and then methodically scrub the table. Another example: toddlers love learning
how to put out a flower arrangement in the classroom. Not only is it beautiful, but
they get to make choices about what will make it the most beautiful, all while
performing a very involved sequence of tasks with a naturally mandatory order
(separating the flowers, filling vases with water, etc.)
There are multiple layers to these activities! They may seem straightforward and repetitive,
but a lot is going on under the surface.

First, as mentioned, for children, these activities are complicated, multi-step processes that
pave the way for a problem-solving mindset and a fulfilling experience. But second, there are
often subtle curricular integrations within these tasks. Washing a table has an immediate
purpose because the child is learning to clean up after herself—but there’s also an indirect
purpose because the child learns to wash, in a Montessori classroom, from left to right, and
then top to bottom, thus habituating motor control and attention in the direction of English
reading and writing.

In doing practical life activities, the child can develop a high level of concentration, develop a
sense of order, take pride in completing a job, increase independence, develop respect for his
or her community and surroundings, and improve fine motor skills—both in general and with
an eye to the particular skills that a child will need for more cognitively demanding work
such as reading, writing, and mathematics.

The practical life activities should be taken seriously as children are working
diligently to perfect and master specific skills. This fundamental range of work has
many layers of purpose that include joyously earning mastery over the "mundane," as
well as constructing and practicing core human faculties
 
The child must not be conditioned to work only for
himself. As a mature adult he will choose the type of work
that he is good at and that he enjoys. In doing this work he
will earn a living, but at the same time he will be
contributing to the society in which he lives. By working
well, he will retain his self-esteem and be happy. All types
of necessary work, done well, contribute to the good of the
whole society. Young people should adopt the kind of
work that they enjoy doing. Academic, medical, manual,
and most other types of work are creative.
 
In the home and school, children should be encouraged to
put things away in the right place and to clean up any mess
they have inadvertently made in working. In this, the adult
sets an example. In the home or school there must be
shelves, etc., supplied at the child's height so that he can do
this.
 
The number of possessions or occupations must be limited to the few basic ones. No
one can choose from among too many things. Very few people can keep a great
number of possessions in order. Only well made, well designed, worthwhile
occupations should be given to a child. To give him masses of cheap, trashy toys is an
insult to his developing intelligence and prevents him from learning.
 
If a child does not want to put his things away for himself, or before he understands
how to do so, the adult must give generous help. "Shall I help you?", "If you don't
want to, I will do it today.", "Who would help Johnny put his things away?", etc. In
this way, the children learn to help each other and the child who is helped will be the
first to help others later and to do the job himself.
 
At home, it should not be "Clean your own room," but "Let us all clean the kitchen
today, and tomorrow the living room, and perhaps the next day your room." The
mother soon has plenty of willing help and older children think of household tasks
with pleasure. They will also have learned how to do the work properly. Later as older
children, when their developmental need to do this work is over, they will help
willingly and cheerfully, knowing that everyone helps to run the home which belongs
to all the family.
 
These activities must be taken seriously and taught seriously. The child must be given
the dignity of a worker, for he works very hard.
 
We do not praise him, that is to treat him as an inferior, but we take pleasure in his
achievements. he feels our interest and delight. We can say such things as "Oh! It is
nice to have such a clean table!", "What a beautiful, shiny bell." "It is so nice having
someone to help me."
 
In giving the exercises of practical life, we treat the
child as a serious student. In his early years, he goes
through a period when he wants passionately to learn
to do all the work he sees the adult doing. At first, he
likes to learn the work of the home. This age will
pass, but if it is used, the child will know how to do
everything well in the home environment. He will
grow intellectually. It requires real intelligence to
run a modern home. We should admire the
housewife who runs a home well, making a
comfortable and beautiful environment for a happy
family. This work requires a high degree of
intelligence and skill.
 
The children in our care are preparing for maturity. When fully mature, they will
probably take on the responsibilities of a home and family. From the beginning then,
one of the first aims must be to raise children with the skill to do this well. Nature
urges the child to acquire these skills. The child who, as a small toddler, is allowed to
help his mother in the house, and learns these skills from her, grows in intelligence, is
deeply satisfied, and develops confidence and a good self-image. He knows he is
doing useful work, and that his work is of value. He feels that he contributes to
helping in the home. He knows he is independent and able to manage for himself.
Great harm is done to his development when he is told, "I am busy. Go and play." It is
like saying, "You are of no use for anything. Here is
a toy. It is not worth giving real things to you. The
real things are mine."
 
The child who really lacks confidence has lost the
confidence and courage every child starts with in the
first years. One of the reasons is that his help was not
acceptable to the mother or adult in charge. Children
lose the urge to learn these skills by the second period of development. They like then
to learn to cook, to use electric machines, but not to do things they should have
learned earlier.
 
Nature allows a certain time to learn each thing. Dr. Montessori called these "sensitive
periods." If this time of special sensitivity is not used, it is lost. It does not come
again. We must understand the force of the urges and also that they are transient.
There is no time to go back. We must go on to the next stage of learning. If we have
not made use of the first stage, how is the second stage to be successful? The
foundation is not there; it is more difficult for the child and those who teach him.
 
If, in a Montessori school, we accept children of 3 years for part of the day, we must
understand that the practical life activities are of prime importance. We must teach
each step correctly and intelligently. We ourselves must know the right way to do the
activities.
 
We must teach all the household exercises needed to run a good home. We must
analyze each exercise to be taught and give the necessary steps in order that the child
can practice each step repeatedly until he has gained the skill and knowledge to go on
to the next step. We ourselves must enjoy these activities. The child must feel we
enjoy them. He will not want to learn work the adult dislikes.
 
In the western world, a number of people suffer mental breakdowns today. They are
cured when they begin to enjoy work. No amount of play helps. We must bring the
children up to enjoy all forms of work. They will imitate us closely. We must enjoy
what we are doing in front of them.
 
Children must feel that the school belongs to everyone in it, just as a good home
belongs to the whole family and to all who stay. In Spain, when you visit a house,
even as a stranger, you are greeted and told, "This house is yours." This is the feeling
we must give the children."This belongs to everyone in the school. Not, "This belongs
to the school," but,the school belongs to us all."
 
Dr. Montessori called her schools "Casa dei Bambini." The English translation is "The
Children's Home." This is the atmosphere we must create for the children under six
years in our schools. They must practice and learn those things they would learn in a
good home. In English we have this very special word, home. We do not say, "This is
my house," but, "This is my home." There is a world of difference.
 
The practical life activities will be those the children see done in their own homes.
They will be carried out in as realistic a manner as possible. Most modern classrooms
are built with a sink and faucets. The practical life materials can be stored in the sink
area in much the same way as a woman stores these things in her own home. The
various cleaners can be stored under the sink. Brooms and aprons can be hung within
easy reach. Tableware can be kept in a partitioned drawer. One or two of the
preliminary exercises can be kept ready on trays on a low shelf, but most of the
materials will be stored as they would be in a home.
 
When the teacher wishes to show a child a particular activity, she will collect the
materials needed for the exercise with him, showing him where they are kept and
which to select. After the lesson, when the child has finished using the materials, the
teacher will help him return them to their place in good order.
 
When a child wishes to practice an activity, he will need to remember which materials
and cleaners were used. He will need to select them for himself from among the other
cleaners and materials.
 
The child will need to act intelligently; he must remember the
cleaner and the type of brush or cloths needed. When he
works in this way, he works as an adult does in the home, the
way he sees his mother and father act. The exercise has
meaning for him. Nature is urging the child to imitate and so
learn the adult's work, to orient himself in his environment, to
become independent.
 
The work satisfies these needs when it is real life experience.
When these exercises are not related to life, they are
meaningless, dead.
 
Little children like order and neatness, so there is a place for
everything. However, with lively, active, intelligent children, it is not a meticulous
neatness. Everything is clean, but it is not the hygiene of a hospital. It is hard to
describe the difference between normal neatness and order and an over-concern with
the exact care for the storage and preservation of the materials. We all know the
difference between a well-run home, which everyone can use and enjoy and a house
which has such a fastidious housewife who keeps everything so perfect that one feels
uncomfortable.
 
In a class of little children, there is a hum of activity. There is activity, concentration,
work, socialization, laughter, and movement. At the end of the day everything is
miraculously back in its place, nothing is lost or broken, but the room does look as if
it had been used. The materials look a little worn through much handling.
 
Children of this age like order. They make a great effort to remember where
everything is kept and to return things to their right places after using them. Making
this effort is an exercise for the mind. The children need to be observant. They must
memorize the environment. They must be aware when something is out of place. If
the environment contains too many things, they cannot do this; there is too much to
remember. If the environment is cluttered with materials, it is too confusing. There is
too much choice and the children do not work well. In a good classroom, there is
everything necessary for the development of the children using the room, but very
little else. Materials not in use are kept in a stock cupboard outside the classroom.
 
The children will memorize the environment and remember where everything
belongs. The teacher must not make it unnecessary for them to remember by color
coding materials or outlining the place for each piece of equipment with masking
tape. The child will not learn true order. These practices prevent the child from seeing
the order of the whole and, instead of the child's building a good self-image because
he knows where everything is, and he knows how to return things to their proper
place, and he understands it is a good way to act, and he chooses to do so, the child is
forced to do what is not natural and normal, because the adult dictates what he should
do and exactly how he should act.
 
Every exercise of practical life must have
a useful purpose. The purpose must be
understood by the child or the exercises
become boring and burdensome. For
example, before a child can help bake
cookies, he must know how to sift the
flour, crack and whisk eggs, measure wet
and dry ingredients, etc. These skills are
learned and practiced separately, but the
child must know the purpose of the
exercise he practices. The child who loves
to sift flour must know that flour must be
sifted for making cookies; otherwise, his actions would be aimless and foolish. He
would not feel he was a worker. The flour he sifts must be placed in an airtight
container and stored for baking purposes.
 
Before this exercise is introduced, the teacher should make a simple recipe with the
children watching and helping. Bread making would be a good choice, as every child
could have a piece of dough to knead and form into a loaf. The teacher should read
the recipe to the children, and demonstrate exactly how the ingredients are measured
and how the flour is sifted. After this, the exercises for sifting flour and measuring dry
and wet ingredients should be shown to individual children and they can practice,
knowing the reason for doing so.