Montessori Practical Life
Theoretical Introduction
By Dorothy Mari de Graaf
In this assignment I will be discussing the importance and different aspects of the Practical Life area in the classroom.
“Watching a child, makes it obvious that the development of his mind, comes through his movements.” (Montessori,1995, chapter 13, page 131.)
The above clearly explains Maria Montessori’s conclusion that it is only through the practice of movement that a child can learn and develop. For this reason she decided to incorporate the area of Practical Life into her classroom, as this is where the practice begins. Through the exercises of Practical life, the child learns to adapt to his environment, learn self-control, see himself as part of a society and most importantly, grow intellectually through working with his hands and master the skills needed for his future.
I will now look into the points of Practical Life:
The link between the home and the school:
There are many links between the home and the school in the area of Practical life.
It is the first section introduced to the new child in the classroom.
Maria Montessori stated that “Children feel a special interest for those things already rendered to them (by absorbtion) in the earlier period”.(Montessori,1995, page 172.)
This explains that the activities in the class are familiar to the child, as many of them are done at home. The child can therefore settle in easily and master the skills with confidence while learning co-ordination of movement and relate back to past experiences at home.
How does the adult and the child learn differently and the reasons for their work.
Standing stated “The adult works with an external aim, to accomplish some change in his environment.”(Standing,1998, page 142.)
This explains that the adult works to live and restore conditions through the division of labour and trying to reach a maximum result with using little effort.
We can see in the words by Standing “The aim of the child’ work is
By Dorothy Mari de Graaf
In this assignment I will be discussing the importance and different aspects of the Practical Life area in the classroom.
“Watching a child, makes it obvious that the development of his mind, comes through his movements.” (Montessori,1995, chapter 13, page 131.)
The above clearly explains Maria Montessori’s conclusion that it is only through the practice of movement that a child can learn and develop. For this reason she decided to incorporate the area of Practical Life into her classroom, as this is where the practice begins. Through the exercises of Practical life, the child learns to adapt to his environment, learn self-control, see himself as part of a society and most importantly, grow intellectually through working with his hands and master the skills needed for his future.
I will now look into the points of Practical Life:
The link between the home and the school:
There are many links between the home and the school in the area of Practical life.
It is the first section introduced to the new child in the classroom.
Maria Montessori stated that “Children feel a special interest for those things already rendered to them (by absorbtion) in the earlier period”.(Montessori,1995, page 172.)
This explains that the activities in the class are familiar to the child, as many of them are done at home. The child can therefore settle in easily and master the skills with confidence while learning co-ordination of movement and relate back to past experiences at home.
How does the adult and the child learn differently and the reasons for their work.
Standing stated “The adult works with an external aim, to accomplish some change in his environment.”(Standing,1998, page 142.)
This explains that the adult works to live and restore conditions through the division of labour and trying to reach a maximum result with using little effort.
We can see in the words by Standing “The aim of the child’ work is