Practical Life - What is the importance?

 (By permission of The Michael Olaf Montessori Company, www.michaelolaf.net)

The traditional work of the family is referred to in Montessori as practical life work. It is the single most important area of an education for life. The activities of practical life are generally thought of in three main categories, and looking at the child's life in this way helps to keep a balance in the activities we offer children to master. These areas of practical life depend on the culture in which the child is growing up, and may include, but are not limited to:

(1) care of the environment—cleaning, sweeping, washing clothes, gardening, etc.,  

(2) the care of the person—dressing, brushing teeth, cooking, setting the table, etc., and,

(3) grace and courtesy—walking carefully, carrying things, moving gracefully, offering food, saying "please" and "thank you" and so on.

It is in learning to do such seemingly mundane activities as dressing, dusting, sweeping, preparing and serving food, and fixing or building, work that the child sees going on around her all day long, that she learns to use her body and mind for a purpose, to concentrate, to complete cycles of activity, to finish what she started, and most importantly to contribute to the important work of the family, the social group.
Practical life activities provide superior groundwork for physical, mental, and social development, and teach the work habits that lead to success in all later academic work.

Practical life work provides practice in eye-hand coordination, the control of large and small muscles, the ability to walk and to carry objects with control, and to behave with knowledge of good manners. These are the activities that bring the child's attention to his own progress and development, and that open up a world of important work. Learning to look a person in the eye when speaking, to listen patiently, to exhibit thoughtfulness through good manners, enables the child to be welcomed into a social group, to be happy and to make others happy.

Children have for eons shown an interest in daily life through make-believe cooking and cleaning. It was one of the pivotal discoveries of Dr. Montessori that, given the chance, children usually choose real work over imaginary.

Allowing the child to participate in the daily work he sees going on around him is an act of great respect for, and confidence in, the child. It helps him to feel important to himself and to those around him. He is needed.
We can empathize if we think about the difference in treatment of a stranger, perhaps a dinner guest in our home, who is served and waited upon, compared to that of a good friend who is welcomed in our kitchen to talk and laugh while we prepare the meal together. Children don't want to be the guest, they want us to help them to do it themselves.

Here are some photos of "practical life" here at Peaceful Pathways . . .

   

Flower arranging helps create an appreciation of beauty.  Learning to use scissors properly to cut paper.  Children need time to practice dressing and undressing.

 

Using the shovel and rake build upper body strength.  The bulbs will be ready for spring!

 

Folding classroom towels, table clothes and napkins contributes to the classroom community.  Students in primary and elementary use the washing machine and drier each day.  Sweeping up spills helps keep the classroom clean.

 

Even toddlers can set the table and help prepare snack for the class.

In the elementary class students can work as a community to make a meal.

 

  

Taking care of the outdoors is important too.  Sweeping the deck, watering plants and cleaning windows all contributes to the community.  It builds concentration and takes many steps (in order) to complete a task. 

 

  

Learning to control the hand and arm muscles helps each child to develop confidence in his or her skills.

Praying as a community to thank God for our food and express gratitude builds a community of caring students.

Chess Club

A brand new Chess Club was started in November.  Here are a few photos from the first evening . . .

Coach Darin shows the basic skills to the students.  Names of the chess pieces and ways each piece can move needed to be learned first.

NO SCHOOL - Wednesday, November 11 - Veteran's Day

School Portrait Orders Due

Please remember school portrait orders are due this Tuesday, November 10.

Montessori Madness - A Parent-to-Parent  Argument for Montessori Education

Trevor Eissler

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 ~ 6:30 pm

Eola Community Center (Near Waubonsee Valley High School)

555 S. Eola Road ~ Room 104

Trevor Eissler, father of three children attending Montessori schools, is a pilot and flight instructor. His teaching experience is in a jet airplane cockpit at 40,000 feet. The painfully slow evolution of pilot training was brought home to him while observing 3 year-olds in a Montessori classroom. The learning principles that leading-edge aviation instructors were trying to implement (while running up against entrenched bureaucracy in aviation) were the very same principles already implemented and proving wildly successful in Montessori classrooms.

Researching these learning principles and practices, observing his children's progress, and experiencing a new way of looking at children, family, and community through the Montessori lens convinced him of the urgent need to let other families know about this wonderful education option.

Mr. Eissler and the Presentation Content:

“My goal is to help make Montessori relevant to parents' lives-- adult's lives. When parents are convinced that the universal learning principles of Montessori (concentration, rewards and punishments, prepared environment, community, choice, etc.) are applicable to their own careers and their own learning, they will insist that their children learn with those same methods and philosophy.”

This book makes an aggressive, humorous, and passionate case for a brilliant method of education that has received too little attention, very likely because it is based on a revolutionary, dangerous, and shocking concept: children love to learn!

If you are the parent or teacher of a young child, this book is a must-read!

Cost for the event is $20.00 and includes a copy of Montessori Madness!

Mr. Eissler will be on hand after the event for book signing.

Space is limited ~ Please R.S.V.P by copying and mailing the order form below

or calling Aurora Montessori for more information - 630-898-4346.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Name____________________________ Phone number__________________ Total # attending_____

(Books will be available for pickup prior to the event or be held for you at the event.)

Please return this reservation and payment in the form of a check payable to Aurora Montessori School for $20.00

If you are unable to attend the event, you may purchase an unsigned copy of the book for $10.00.

which will be available for pickup at Aurora Montessori School.

Aurora Montessori School, 3180 North Aurora Road, Aurora, IL  60502    630.898.4346

____________________________________________________________________________

Thanksgiving Break

Wednesday, November 25 - Monday, November 30 (Teacher's Institute Day)

School Resumes - Tuesday, December 1