Why do you teach "Practical Life Skills" ?
One of the first goals in a Montessori classroom is to develop in the very young child a strong and realistic sense of independence and self-reliance. Along with love and a stable environment, this is the child's greatest need. This area of the curriculum focuses on developing skills that allow the child to effectively control and deal with the social and physical environment in which he lives. There is a growing pride in being able to "do it for myself."
There are other benefits to practical life that are equally important. The children are learning to take a task from its beginning to its completion. They are learning precise hand/eye/muscle movement control that they will need for all types of future learning tasks including writing and use of the computer. They are integrating order, outcome, and understanding into the beginnings of inner self-control.
Practical Life begins as soon as the young child enters our school. It continues throughout the curriculum to more and more advanced tasks appropriate to the oldest students.
Early Tasks (Age 3-6)
Children at this age are very interested in learning practical tasks such as:
- Dressing oneself: buttoning, zipping, snapping, buckling, bow tying
- Learning home phone number
- Pouring liquids without spilling
- Carrying objects without dropping
- Carrying liquids without spilling
- Walking without knocking into furniture or people
- Using scissors with good control
- Using simple carpentry tools
- Putting materials away on the shelves where they belong when finished
- Working carefully and neatly
- Dusting, polishing, and washing just about anything: floors, tables, silver
- Sweeping and vacuuming floors and rugs
- Flower arranging
- Caring for plants and animals
- Table setting, serving yourself, others, table manners
- Folding cloth: napkins, towels, etc.
- Courtesy: eye contact, handshake, introductions, greetings, offering assistance, getting the attention of someone engaged in a conversation
- Simple use of needle and thread
- Using common household tools: tweezers, tongs, eye-droppers, locks, sponges, basters, spoons
- Increasingly precise eye-hand coordination
- Simple cooking and food preparation
- Dish Washing
- Weaving, bead stringing, etc.
Elementary Age (6-12 years old)
Elementary age children seek to develop such practical life skills as:
- Caring for animals
- Dog training
- Sewing
- Cooking complex meals
- Working with tools
- Making simple repairs
- Getting around on their own: bikes, running, hiking, buses
- Self-defense
- Making consumer purchase decisions, comparison shopping, budgeting
- Earning spending money
- Mastering test taking strategies
- Caring for young children
- Making clothes
- Running a small business enterprise
- Gardening
- Solving computer problems
- First Aid/CPR Training
- Wilderness survival