Practical Life Exercises and Child Development

If you were to ask Montessori teachers which part of “curriculum” is the most important, my guess is most teachers would say Practical Life. Practical Life is the foundation for everything that follows in a Montessori classroom. It is also the one area of the classroom that does not require special materials and tools (other than adjustments for size). The materials used are the easily found in your own home, because the activities are the very same ones we partake in every day in our homes– things like sweeping, washing dishes, folding laundry, combing our hair, getting dressed. Children already want to do these things when they see adults doing them– they want to be part of our world, they want to feel grown up and important. We then simply alter the materials and environment so it suits their smaller size, and let them go to work!

The genius of the Practical Life exercises is two-fold:

You are teaching the child how to care for himself and his environment, thus giving him independence (doesn’t have to rely on an adult to tie his shoelaces or comb his hair) and a sense of pride at being able to do these things all by himself.
The exercises are practice for the child’s fine and gross motor skills, allowing him to become better coordinated and learn how better to control and use his own body. This is an indirect preparation for later, more complex exercises and activities that require fine motor control and concentration.

Practical Life exercises teach children to care for themselves, for others, and for the environment. They involve a wide variety of activities such as carrying objects, walking, polishing, sweeping, dusting, lacing, mainly activities that are done in day to day living. It is divided into four major areas namely: movement, care of self, care of environment, and grace and courtesy.

These activities are Montessori’s response to the child’s need for movement, order, independence, among many others; they are basic activities that