The Basic Characteristics of Practical Life Activities

Source: Montessori by Hand

Here are the basic characteristics of practical life activities:

• Familiar
  
  Practical life exercises are things the child has already seen regularly in his family life. She mighthave witnessed an older sibling, a parent, or a grandparent perform these tasks on a daily basis. Perhaps she has even done certain exercises before coming into the Montessori environment. This familiarity helps the child orient to her new classroom.
• Culturally Specific
  
  The exercises should be relevant in the child’s day-to-day life. For example, if the child lives in Southeast Asia, the practical life exercises offered by the directress will differ from those offered in France. If the culture eats their meals with chopsticks, it would be useless to have an exercise dealing with setting the table with a spoon, fork and knife. Practical life activities should help the child adapt to her environment.
• Real
  
  Providing the child with real, functional tools and activities conveys to the child that her work isvalued. (Another key point here is that the activities themselves should be purposeful. We must ask ourselves - is tweezing beads from one tray to another really a purposeful activity? Not really. While there are MANY activities that we could come up with that "help the child develop her pincer grip," these don't really have a place on the Montessori practical life shelf. Before putting an activity on the shelf, ask yourself: "Would I do this in my day-to-day life? Is this necessary to maintain my classroom (or home) environment? Or is this simply busy work?" Such busy work that the child enjoys and which helps her concentrate would, however, be very appropriate to place on a toy shelf.
• Physically Proportioned
  
  Well-proportioned tools help the child to fine-tune his motor skills and perfect precise movements. The size, weight and design of the material should be taken into account before offering it to the child. It should be heavy enough to provide tactile feedback to the child about the success of his movements, but should not be unwieldy or awkward in his small hands. Michael Olaf and Montessori Services provide wonderful child-sized items.
• Breakable a.k.a. "Get rid of that sippy cup!
  
  The value of glass in the environment extends beyond its aesthetic qualities; if the child recognizes that a piece of material is breakable, she will show care in her movements. In addition, a glass pitcher weights more than its plastic counterpart, giving the child feedback on her actions. In the event of a breakage, the teacher acts very detached and impartial about the accident. She does not lecture: she simply states that it should be swept up. The teacher removes the broken material and its corresponding exercise from the shelf and waits for several days before replacing it. This gives the children an appreciation of and respect for the material, knowing that it cannot be immediately replaced.
• Attractive
  
  The material should be aesthetically pleasing, clean, and functional. Children are attracted tobeauty and order, and the teacher recognizes this and assures that all of the exercises and materials are ready for the children before the start of the day. (A word about plastic, here. Instead of filling your home or classroom with plastic trays, take a visit to your local thrift stores! Thrift stores, in fact, are the BEST place to look for trays. On one trip a while back, I was able to fill a large box with the most beautiful silver trays - each one original. The advantage of silver trays? You can now put out a silver polishing activity!)
• Color-Coded
  
  Color-coding the exercises to indicate level of difficulty helps the child to choose work independently. It also adds to the beauty and order of the environment. Do not sacrifice beauty for color, however. Like I said, a silver or brass tray is much more desirable than an orange plastic one.
• Orderly
  
  Order is found throughout the practical life exercises. The exercises are presented in order ofdifficulty and then displayed on the shelves in order of difficulty. The teacher places the more elementary exercises on the left of the shelf; the more challenging exercises are toward the right. The presentation of the exercises themselves remains consistent. The steps are clearlydemonstrated in sequential order. In an activity such as table washing, the teacher displays the necessary tools in the order in which they are needed, from left to right. This attention to order helps the child integrate and form connections between things in his environment.
• Limited
  
  The children are presented with enough activities so that their interest remains peaked. This does not necessitate an exceedingly large number of exercises - even less if you are homeschooling! First, the environment should only contain exercises that are pertinent to classroom life. The child would be overwhelmed if presented with too many choices. Giving them a tenable number of choices helps them become decisive and come to understand their own preferences. In addition, the child’s natural tendency is toward repetition; therefore it is beneficial to have a limited number of activities on the shelves. If given the opportunity to repeat an exercise, the child will acquire a level of mastery, and the consequent independence. Instead of placing everything out at once, consider rotating activities to maintain interest.

Only one type of each exercise is on the shelf. If a classmate has already chosen the shoe polishing exercise, the child will have to choose an alternative piece of work. It is an important and constructive lesson to learn that one’s first choice is not always available. The child begins to understand that the classroomcommunity shares its resources.

The Benefits of Practical Life Exercises

The practical life exercises are a beginning point in the Montessori environment. They help the child in his whole development, physical, mental and moral. They form a part of the daily program of “activity” in the day of the child. The exercises are the foundation of classroom development as they aid the child:

• To grow in self knowledge
• To develop the child's concentration
• To develop fine and gross motor skills
• To help children towards independence
• To establish order
• To develop a good self-esteem
• To appreciate and understand the limits of his environment
• To develop a sense of responsibility
• To aid the child in his construction
• To appreciate culture
  

The Sample of Practical Life Curriculum

One of the first goals of Montessori School 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.” Practical life begins as soon as the young child enters the school and continues throughout the curriculum to more and more advanced tasks appropriate to the oldest students.

Early Tasks (Age 3-5)
Dressing oneself
Learning home address and phone number
Pouring liquids without spilling
Carrying objects without dropping
Carrying liquids without spilling
Walking without knocking into furniture or people
Using knives and 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—table manners
Folding cloth: napkins, towels, etc.
Simple use of needle and thread
Using common household tools: tweezers, tongs, eye-droppers, locks, scissors, knives
Increasingly precise eye-hand coordination
Simple cooking and food preparation
Dish washing
Weaving, bead stringing, etc.

This process continues logically so that older students will learn such practical tasks as:

Caring for animals
Sewing
Cooking complex meals
Working with tools
Making simple repairs
Basic auto maintenance
Getting around on their own: Metro, buses, cabs, hiking
Self-defense
Computing tax forms
Making consumer purchase decisions, comparison shopping, budgeting
Maintaining a checkbook
Applying for a job
Earning spending money
Mastering test taking strategies
Caring for young children
Interior decorating
Making clothes
Furniture refinishing
Wilderness survival
Running a small business enterprise
Gardening

Ketrampilan Praktis dalam Kehidupan

Ketrampilan praktis setiap budaya selalu berbeda-beda. Namun Prinsipnya sama. Ketrampilan praktis membuat orang mandiri dalam memenuhi kebutuhan sehari-hari dan dalam bermasyarakat. Latihan ketrampilan praktis dalam kurikulum Montessori memfokuskan pada gerakan manusia yang paling dasar.

Contoh pertama adalah aturan sederhana. Anak berlatih berperilaku yang benar di luar dan di dalam kelas. Anak berlatih berbicara tetapi tidak terlalu keras. Berlatih berjalan, tetapi tidak lari ketika di dalam ruang kelas. Pelajaran serupa adalah Permainan Diam, dimana tujuannya adalah berdiri diam setenang mungkin. Anak-anak di Indonesia mengenal permainan menjadi patung.

Berikutnya adalah latihan memindahkan furnitur dari ruang kelas ke tempat yang ditentukan. Latihan membawa dan menggunakan material. Latihan menyelesaikan pekerjaan. Dengan kemampuan konsentrasi dan bekerja sendiri, anak melatih ketrampilan yang lebih fungsional. Misal, manipulasi gagang pintu dan pegangan laci. Mencuci dan mengeringkan tangan. Menggunakan toilet. Dalam proses, anak belajar bagaimana merawat barang milik bersama yang setara dengan barang milik umum ketika nanti dewasa.

Setelah prinsip dari sederhana ke kompleks, fokus kehidupan praktis pada ketrampilan motorik yang halus dan koordinasi antara mata dan tangan. Misalnya: Anak belajar membawa obyek dengan garpu dan penjepit mur dan sekrup. Membuka dan menutup botol dan kotak. Memegang gembok dan kunci. Melipat dan memotong kertas. Anak kemudian merawat diri sendiri. Latihan berjalan akan melatih berjalan menyusuri garis lurus. Berbagi ruang kerja dan berinteraksi dengan teman memupuk kesadaran bermasyarakat dan saling menghargai. Latihan mengurus keperluan pribadi mengajarkan bagaimana melepas dan memasukkan kancing baju, membersihkan rambut dan gigi, dan kuku, dan bagaimana menutup hidung ketika bersin di tempat umum.

Ketrampilan bermasyarakat merupakan agenda latihan kehidupan praktis berikutnya.Anak bermain peran seperti menyapa dan menyela, sopan dan berterima kasih, bereaksi terhadap lawan bicara, menerima tamu, berperilaku di acara sosial dan di perjalanan, dan bahkan menghidangkan dan berbagi makanan.

Practical Life Skills

The Montessori Practical Life exercise are seen as the cornerstone of the Montessori Method. The exercises provide the opportunity for purposeful work and they assist children in their development; physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally. They give children the independence they need to function in society later.

Practical skills differ across cultures, but are equally essential to survival anywhere in the world. They are designed to teach children life skills. They help young children develop intelligent and resposible contact with their surroundings. They enhance the children'scontrolover their movement, exercising the muscles of the whole body with understanding and willed purposes. The Practical Life exercises in the Montessori Curriculum focus on the most basic human movements.

First on the list are simple rules of decorum. Children learn what behaviours are proper inside and outside the classroom. They may role-play speaking audibly, but not loudly, and walking, instead of running, when indoors. A well-liked extension of the lesson is the Silence Game, whereby the goal is to stay as still and as quite as posible.

Next are exercises in moving furniture around, in working within allocated spaces, in carrying and using materials, and in completing work cycles. With the ability to concentrate and work alone, the children proceed to develop more functional skills, like manipulating door knobs and drawer handles, washing and drying hands, and using the toilet. In the process, they learn how to take care of shared property, which moulds them into gracious adults respectful of public property.

Following the simple-to-complex principle, the prior focus of the Practical Life Exercises on gross motor skills now shifts to fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The children learn to carry objects using spoons and tweezers, to open and close bottles and boxes, to handle nuts and bolts and locks and keys, and to fold and cut paper.

The children next learn how to take care of themselves. Walking exercise train them to walk upright and in a straight line. Sharing work spaces and interacting with one another nurture social awareness and mutual respect. Personal grooing exercises teach them how to zip and button their clothes, how to clean their hair, teeth, and nails, and how to blow their nose or cough in public.

Social skills are next on the Practical Life agenda. The children role-play graceful and courteous ways of greeting and interupting, of reacting to an offence, of hosting guests, of behaving at social events and on field tripps, and even of serving and sharing food.