Why Practical Life
If we are “doing Montessori the right way” Oops! I meant to write - When we practice Montessori principles with intention and reflection - we easily understand that practical life is meaningful.
The experiences we curate for children’s exploration are not just “activities” they are pursuits of the soul.
They nourish the child on many levels (physical/emotional/cognitive/social/spiritual) and satisfy their need for movement, repetition, and exploration. Above all the practical life experiences we offer to toddlers are real and they are culturally relevant.
“The child has a different relation to his environment from ours. Adults admire their environment; they can remember it and think about it; but the child absorbs it. The things he sees [and experiences] are not just remembered; they form part of his soul. He incarnates in himself all of the world around him that his eyes see and his ears hear…the child is transformed by them.” ~ Maria Montessori
When we, examine this quote, and truly understand how what we are offering to children really does have an effect on the child they are creating themselves to be (and any side quest to explore current research on brain development will reveal that Dr Montessori was “bang on” with her concept of the absorbent mind) it would be hard to imagine offering fake or meaningless activities in place of real life learning*.
A Toddler planting seeds at Aroha Nui Montessori
In the germinating seeds video above we can observe the deep engagement of Master R (19 months). We can see the possibility of concentration already emerging well before the age of two.
Fine and gross motor movement are promoted and during the earlier presentation of this material R was introduced to the vocabulary of all the items and the actions involved in planting these seeds.
Moments like these are truly heart warming! And yes between each step I was on hand to guide him through the next step, after all it was only his second day in the environment. Hopefully it is also clear how much I stepped back and allowed his free exploration of the materials as I watched the magic unfolding before me.
After a few scaffolded experiences we have faith that he will go on the plant seeds himself when impulse arises, leading to our most important “why” for practical life - which is that it lends itself to the possibility of children making meaningful contributions to their community.
Practical life leads to belonging. Imagine later when we are giving gratitude for a meal we have created as a community, and we can thank those who planted the seeds, from which grew the tomatoes that are now nourishing our bodies.
He may not outwardly remember that exact experience but when we make the memory real by saying “I remember when R planted tomato seeds, I wonder if these are the tomatoes you grew - thank you R for helping to keep our kai/food basket full” we are laying a foundation for self-esteem and genuine gratitude.
We must become reflective of all of the experiences we choose to offer, and when we create these practical life experiences we need to ask ourselves.
Would I want to do this activity myself?
Does it contribute is someway to our everyday life?
Is there a skill I am supporting the child to learn/develop (eg pouring/using a spoon) if so what real life application can I offer to encourage this skill (in our video R was scooping the soil into the pot (there were no pompoms in sight) providing real life application for mastery of a spoon. Food preparation is also brilliant for supporting these kinds of skills).
Be methodical and reflect on what you are offering, there is no need to change everything in one day if you think your practical life area needs an update, making small but meaningful changes are much more effective in the long term. And feel free to check out our GROW tab if you need a bit more help on the journey.
Aroha Nui
Carli
*I do not mean in any way to diminish the importance of allowing toddlers opportunities to engage in imitative/pretend play (true imaginative play comes a little later in life and is greatly enhanced by a solid foundation of real experiences and exposure to sensorial input (which both also come from real life)) as they naturally do - I simply mean that we do not need to create those kinds of activities - the creative nature of the child will find play naturally if we give time and freedom to potter without interruption.
Play should be unADULTerated as in not directed by adult influence. (UnADULTerated is a term I have borrowed from my friend Kimberley Crisp).