Practical Life - From Coordination to Responsibility
If you’ve ever been in my office, you’ll know why I never harbored the illusion that my children would be raised in a Montessori-inspired prepared environment at home. Far from it, as my children and now grandchildren will be eager to tell you. (“Have fun in your messy house!” was one hilarious farewell by the 4-year-old recently.) In spite, or maybe because of this, I was always a natural in appreciating the genius of the Practical Life activities in the Montessori classroom. In the youngest classrooms, direct aims of these activities include pouring, fine motor tasks of all types (pinching, grasping), dressing frames, and sweeping. Foundation literacy and numeracy skills are woven into these activities, too. And, equally important, are indirect aims such as order, concentration, coordination and independence. Practicing discrete skills, learning to move with care as well as dexterity, the child also absorbs a generalized awareness of the satisfaction of completion, competence, and confidence. The child also experiences this journey to proficiency across the curriculum.
Over the years, care of the self deepens and extends to an ever expanding environment that includes classroom and, later, communities. Combined with the Lessons of Grace and Courtesy and the academic curriculum that too are inculcated from the very first experiences, the child builds a world view that is respectful and gracious, and a view of themself as capable of both responsibility and action.
Giving the child a sense of their place in the world, and of their ability to act upon it, is another reason to appreciate the Montessori philosophy. |
