Ms. Janani, Primary 3 Lead Teacher

The idea that the child constructs himself through Practical Life is eye-opening. The Practical Life area in a Montessori classroom aims to introduce and develop a child’s order, concentration, coordination, and independence through everyday life activities. It originated in Maria Montessori’s Children’s House, where children would spend their day in an environment thoughtfully prepared to nurture their needs and develop themselves.

In an Early Childhood classroom, children often gravitate towards Practical Life. Along with an obvious appeal for this area, there are one too many reasons why this area is important to introduce and foster in a child at an early age. The Practical Life activities allow the child to build control of their movement, understand the steps for a chosen work, and build foundational fine and gross motor skills that they then directly apply in areas like Language and Math in the classroom.

The areas in Practical Life are broadly categorized into care of self, care of

environment, control of movement, grace and courtesy, large motor, food prep, art, and

sewing. These are uniquely prepared to develop the child in specific areas, while also using skills from other areas. For example, in a multi-step activity like scrubbing an object, the child follows the order in the sequence of activities; they apply their lessons of carrying a tray, a chair, pouring, and so on from the other areas such as care of self, care of environment and control of movement. Even a seemingly straightforward activity like spooning has built-in elements that combine a child’s thought, will, and action. To manipulate the material based on their exploration of the work and discover the process on their own are big steps towards child development.

The Practical Life area encompasses more than just activities like pouring, spooning, and sewing. There’s a heavy element of control of movement introduced in works like Walking on a Line and the Silence game. Even a self-taught initiative such as sweeping has far-reaching outcomes. Children often exhibit the instinctive ability to problem-solve when a situation calls for their attention and action. They will work together to bring all the pieces together to make something happen. This sense of community and lack of prejudice are such raw yet strong characteristics of childhood that enable children to become a strong foundation of society. Sweeping or cleaning spills, simple and instinctive activities, instill in the child a sense of well-being and are often collaborative, implanting a sense of community to care for

ourselves and for our environment.

Lessons on grace and courtesy are just as essential for their development as patient, gentle, and kind beings. These often include a focused lesson on how the child can garner a teacher’s attention if they remember to walk up to them and gently tap on their shoulder, leg, or hip. Simple lessons on how to hang up a jacket, where to put their shoes away, and where to store their work also help them acclimatize to the environment, establish a sense of order, and care for themselves. Isolated lessons on how to carry a tray, how to sit in a chair, how to tuck the chair in, and how to roll and unroll a work rug set strong foundational values on care of self, care of environment, control of movement, and grace and courtesy. These lessons find their way into other works, where the first and often the last steps involve these, thus ensuring they are continuously working on honing their coordination and control of movement.

Practical Life also allows for the intricate art and life skill of handwork in an activity like sewing that rightly fits into every aspect of Montessori learning. Sewing reinforces focus, patience, order, coordination, and independence. The handwork involved is fundamental to sewing activities. The satisfaction a child gets when they thread a needle is unparalleled, something unique to the art - the joy begins even before the final work starts to take shape. The nuances in the process, starting from carefully cutting the thread to carefully threading the needle to carefully tying a knot, allow the child to slow down, learn, and practice to be patient and gain confidence. Sewing can also tie into other aspects of the classroom, like shapes, tracing, animals, metal insets, and color tablets, which speaks of how Practical Life mirrors many academic areas in the classroom.

An area as broad and vast as Practical Life, with lessons ranging from walking on a line to sewing, tailored towards the needs of all children in the environment, truly allows each child to challenge their focus, skill, and creativity and embrace imperfections.