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

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.