The Practical Life area is the foundation of the Montessori classroom. Key developmental areas aim to strengthen a Child’s sense of order, concentration, coordination and fine motor skills, and independence.
The Practical Life curriculum nurtures each of these skills through works designed as real-world tasks. Activities such as pouring, spooning, and tonging begin simple and cater to even the youngest of children. The activities grow in complexity to require the child to follow a detailed process and further refine their movements. Some of these multistep works include polishing, washing, and advanced food preparation activities.
The Practical Life curriculum has set Montessori works, but can also be customized to the interests of the children and specific learning themes and goals. When learning about care of the self, the children may have opportunities to practice brushing model teeth, washing a doll to practice the bathing process, and a hand-washing activity at the specifically designed hand-washing table.
To learn about care of the environment, the children may be exposed to the responsibilities of pets through caring for a class pet, taking part in maintaining the beautiful classroom environment through sweeping and other detailed cleaning activities, and connecting oneself to nature through tending to plants and gardening activities.
Practical Life works are purposefully created to appeal to the inner child, providing immediate real world application, and promote repetition of each activity until the child achieves mastery.