Practical Life is the Foundation of the Montessori Classroom

This water transfer activity was a favorite this week. It is a incredible sensory experience for every age. The action of squeezing the baster, helps develop hand muscles and fine motor skills. Carrying this work also takes an incredible amount of concentration and control. We have had a few spills between the shelf and a table, but that only brings the opportunity to clean up a spill after oneself.

Food Preparation

Food preparation has been a large part of our Practical Life classroom. The "egg work" and "banana work" have been staples at our morning snack. Children age 2 1/2 through 5 have displayed satisfaction after completing the multi-step process, including peeling, slicing, eating, and cleaning up for the next person. The children also get a chance to offer what they have prepared to others friends around the room!

We have prepared vegetable trays a few times for morning snack. Here we have a 3 and 5 year old peeling and slicing carrots and cucumbers for their friends.

A full tray lasts a couple days, allowing the children time to experiment with trying new foods. Different protein and dairy based dips have been offered along with these foods, including hummus, cream cheese, and pimento cheese.

The Children Learn to Care for Their Environment

Most of the practical life curriculum is caring for oneself, for others, and for the environment. These children were actually excited to vacuum the carpets in the classroom! We have added vacuuming as a job on our job chart. Using the job chart as a guide, the children take turns completing classroom care responsibilities, which teaches them to be contributing members of a community.