Practical Life Activities

When a child enters the casa at two and a half to three years, the area aspect of the Montessori classroom called 'practical life' may be considered the link to the child's home environment and thus an extension of the child's developmental process. The child spontaneously and naturally seeks order in independence through movement and purposeful activity. The practical life materials involve children in precise movements, allowing them to concentrate, to their work at their own pace uninterrupted, to complete their work, and to gain interanal satisfaction. At three, children are more interested in the scrubbing motion of washing a table than they are in getting the table clean.

The practical life materials also fulfill specific purposes in the real world for children: they learn to button their shirts, tie their shoes, and wash their hands, free from adult help. The child also cares for the beauty of the environment: polishing wood, scrubbing the floor, dusting the shelves. The child-sized materials beckon to the child, allowing him or her to grow more and more independent. He or she chooses work as his or her needs unfold.

In addition, practical life centers the child in a social atmosphere where 'please' and 'thank you' and a polite offer of 'Do you need help with your work?' are the mainstays of conversation. A child is treated with respect and is therefore respectful.