Practical life

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I walked into the toddler room after a couple of months as we start to come back to the normal routine. I was scared and nervous at the same time, that I’m going to set up the toddler environment during this pandemic. I had a lot of questions in my mind knowing the fact that it would be hard for them to follow this new normal. I start off with 3 toddlers in my room which was kind of easier for me. I had 2 toddlers, 33 months old, and one toddler 20 months old. So setting up the guidelines was not that hard. The work tables are set up in a way that they are 6 feet apart with their own rug. Toddlers wash their hands quite often during their day. I saw a lot of positive changes in the toddlers the older toddler in an environment helps the younger ones. As the younger toddler walked into the room the older toddler make sure that the younger one washes their hands. He turned on the water and rinsed his hand he poured a small amount of soap in his hand and shows him the picture of a child scrubbing his hand which is placed on the mirror. As he scrubs his hand, the older child then asked the younger one to washes his hands the child was making sure that the young one follows the steps of handwashing correctly.

Similarly, all the Practical Life activities need a precise routine to follow.


But what Practical Life is all about?


I see parents have a hard time understanding the concept of Practical Life curriculum, they sometimes get confused about the Practical Life materials itself because it's a wide branch it covers lots of aspects. Such as dry transfer, pouring, folding towels, rug rolling or watering plants, etc. these are the basic materials you will observe in a Montessori environment, but the fact is that these materials are designed beautifully that linked with our everyday lives. The simple practical activity illustrates the degree of precision and order. For example, dishwashing needs a certain order and steps to follow. One possible routine is described as; For dishwashing, a child will fill the water and gets the dishwashing material from the Practical Life shelf then the child will prepare himself for the dishwashing activity by wearing the apron. Then he adds the soap in the filled water and puts the dishes one at a time and then he starts to scrub the dishes with the help of scrubber. As he is done with the scrubbing, he will fill the water and washes the dishes once he is done he will put the dishes on the drying rack.

There are tremendous precision and order to Dishwashing, as with all the Practical Life and indeed all Montessori materials. Practical Life routines have many purposes relevant to order and development. Practicing these Practical Life routines will help the child to develop a sense of order and later leads to mastery.


How you'll set up/incorporate the Practical Life Montessori materials?


The daily chores you do during your day. It’s not necessary to have a particular designated work out for a child. It will be hard for you to decide what's the appropriate material for your child, or what should I start off with? it's easy, ask your self what my child likes to do during weekends or what's his or her interest in?

Let me explain I had one child who wants to work with broom and mops in the classroom all the time. During the conference when the mother asked me what my child loves to do during his day? I replied,” the only thing he likes is broom and mops” that's what he wants to work with. Mom was upset. But it was a phase he worked with that certain work for about 2 weeks, and then he moved on to another work and that is completely normal because that child was following his everyday routine.

but you can ask the child to help you during the day. For example, Practicing dressing and undressing it's much easier. Instead, a child waiting for you and being dependent on you, ask a child to take off his/her pants and to open the strap of the diaper and then trashed it in the trash can. That’s the first step of practicing the dressing and undressing, asking a child would you like to help me with cutting the apples? You can have a child-size cutter or butter knife and a small cutting board shows the right way of food preparation. Or for younger ones(less than 18 months) you can show how to hold a utensil or hold a cup introduce the potty that's okay if a child doesn't do anything, Practical Life is all about giving the choices and independence. The children at this age are actually at their Sensitive period. Which means they are dependent on the routine and order. Make sure you set up the Practical Life activity in such a way that they follow the same steps every time.



What are the basic Practical Life materials?

  • Dry transfer
  • Pouring
  • Folding towels
  • Rug rolling
  • Dressing and Undressing
  • Nose wiping
  • Handwashing
  • Table Washing
  • Bubble making
  • Window Washing
  • Watering plant






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