Explain how practical life exercises in the home and Montessori school can provide the ideal setting to compliment both psychic and social embryonic development.
Children who are educated through the Montessori Method are fulfilled and happy. The main reason is, the child gets pleasure through work and the practical life exercises, and it provides a child with clear meaningful tasks. The practical life activities are a fundamentally important part of the Montessori environment. The activities help the child master the skills that he needs in order to become independent. He learns activities of everyday living.
Dr. Montessori observed that the child’s mind is like a sponge. But unlike a sponge which in time dries up, the child’s mind incorporates what it soaks up. She called this ‘The ‘Absorbent Mind’. The ‘Absorbent Mind’ of the child is soaking up his entire environment unselectively. In the first 6 years of a child’s life, his mind absorbs unconsciously specific things at specific times; she called these times ‘The Sensitive Periods’
Dr. Maria Montessori developed her philosophy of education based upon actual observations of children. She stated that children prefer work than play, and they can only be in their natural self, when their natural self is satisfied through work. It is also through work in which they acquire independence, order and the power of concentration. Exercises of the practical life area were introduced and were recognized at the very heart of Montessori education for it provides the opportunity for the child’s development of physical co-ordination, social skills and emotional growth.
Children learn according to their abilities. In the first six years of their life, they are able to learn by imitating those around them. In order to support this, the Montessori Method provides the child with the suitable physical and social environment,
Bibliography: http://www.justmontessori.com/practical-life/ http://ami-global.org/montessori/montessori-quotes http://montessoricommons.cc/purpose-of-exercises-of-practical-life/ http://www.montessoriprintshop.com/Montessori_Practical_Life.html http://schoolworkhelper.net/dr-montessori-language-the-absorbent-mind/